Search - Dolly Parton :: The Grass Is Blue

One of the best albums out of Nashville this decade!

Duane Gordon (duane1@prodigy.net) | Canton, MS | 10/27/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dolly Parton's 61st full-length album captures the freshness and vibrancy of the mountain music known as bluegrass. "The Grass is Blue" is a superb collection of swift, rambunctious tunes and soft, gentle melodies meshed together by genius instrumentation and Dolly's exquisite vocal style. From the rowdy opening cover of Billy Joel's "Travelin' Prayer" to the elegant a capella closing of "I'm Ready," the disc offers 13 delectable slices of heaven. Gathered together are the premiere artists of the genre - top pickers Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush and Stuart Duncan to name a few plus the harmonies of Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless and others - with one of America's true musical treasures belting out some sorrowful "high lonesome sound." Other pick tracks include the steamrolling "Train, Train," a mournful "Silver Dagger," the humorous "I'm Gonna Sleep With One Eye Open" and Dolly originals "Will He Be Waiting For Me," "Steady as the Rain" and the title cut. "The Grass is Blue," released on Sugar Hill Records and Dolly's own Blue Eye Records, is a true gift for her fans and enough to transport even a hard core rock fanatic into bliss in the hills of Kentucky."

Just May Be Her Best Work Ever

Leonard Fleisig | Here, there and everywhere | 10/14/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I do not know what roads Dolly had to travel to get her back to her bluegrass musical home - but I am sure glad that she got there. This is Dolly's best piece of work since her collaboration with Linda Rondstadt and Emmylou Harris on Trio.



This is a wonderful, wonderful piece of work. I have listened to Dolly through the years and have always admired her talent and her personality. It has saddened me to see Dolly's career pushed down the rather tired formulaic Nashville path. It appears a return to blue grass was an excellent way of taking a nice long detour around Nashville.



I am not much of a blue grass listener but the Grass is Blue transcends confinement to any one genre of music. The arrangements are wonderful. They are free of the typicallly overdone wall of sound Nashville glitz that has transformed country music from its distinct roots into a slightly down home version of standard American pop music.



The back-up musicians and singers are perfect and complement Doly in fine fashion. In a strange way - The Grass is Blue is to Dolly Parton what Supernaural is to Santanna. Its a return to their artisitic roots - but with a stunning freshness that leaves the listener yearning for more of the same.



All the tracks on this CD are worth listening to. Cash on the Barrelhead stands out as does Train, Train. The closing track, I Am Ready find Dolly at her most soulful. It is sung as a prayer and has a mournful, yet joyous quality, that Dolly's voice renders perfectly.



This is one of the great CDs. You do not have to like or have any knowledge of bluegrass musc to love this CD."

Help! I can't stop playng this CD!

J. R. SOUTH | Albany, New York USA | 02/18/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"And I never thought I would go for bluegrass, always conjuring up images of "The Beverly Hillbillies" in my mind. Leave it to Dolly to educate me. This music is extraordinary: very intricate all-stringed arrangements headed off by Parton's lovely, shimmering vocals. The lyrics are pretty much standard, straight-on country, but the singer is so heart-felt, she invests them with so many colors and nuances, she might as well be performing Shakespeare. Thanks, Dolly, for a truly GREAT CD!"