The prolific Dolly Parton is back!!
Promoting new album Blue Smoke, the legend took title track and Home to the Today Show. Blue Smoke was a little too "country" for me, however Home was dilute enough for me to get into. Still, even though the songs weren't 100% to my taste, I'd have to be an animate brick not to appreciate the musicality of Dolly and her awesome band.
Now, Miss You, Miss Me, another album track, is more my kind of thing- being a stripped back affair with just Dolly and her guitar. It's a song she gave a live showing of at the The Queen Latifah Show last year, so check that out too.
Even if you don't care for the music, peep the interviews; sharp,witty, and warm you can't help but love this woman!
Thoughts?
Seriously it looks like Insidious/Conjuring. Im speechless really.
ReplyDeleteI love this, her voice cracks fit the song perfectly.
ReplyDeleteFinally!!! Thank you very much for throwing a little love and attention Dolly's way.
ReplyDeleteI love the new album. Especially the first five tracks: Blue Smoke, Unlikely Angel, Don't Think Twice, You can't make old friends (with Kenny Rogers) and Home but also If I Had Wings and the duet with Queen Latifah He's Everything.
The duet with Willie was sweet as well.
LOL Come to think of it..I liked almost everything. Except Banks Of The Ohio. Thought that was actually a surprisingly weak cover compared to the original.
As for Dolly as a person...indeed you can't but help love this "sharp,witty and warm" woman. And be impressed by both her musicality and her business savvy.
Here's a woman in control of her career, in Country of all genres, from way back when. In fact, she was one of the first women in the music bizz taking such control as she did.
Anyway, my favorite of the album is definitely this Dylan cover with the Isaacs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkNd4kKivCA
While I did agree that the cracks did complement the song; if she keeps singing like that it will do something to her voice... Still love the song regardless. :)
ReplyDeleteI fell in love with this woman just weeks ago and i couldn't help but to say i missed a lot of things. I never knew she was the original singer of I Will Always Love You until 2 or 3 years ago and i didn't even bother giving her version an ear but when i did weeks ago i was "dumbstruck and taken aback" her rendition IMO was far more emotional than Whitney's. The original was subtle, soothing, delicate, vulnerable, and really pretty.
ReplyDeleteNow I am very particular with country, guess it ain't my favorite genre, but hearing some of her new stuff, i might also buy the album along with Mariah's. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS-F4rfU4ns
wow i actually don't really like her music all that much but that performance sold me, i love artists who's voices crack, not so much when it does accidental but when its just part of a singers voice, i know its bad etc but i feel it adds lots of emotion to the piece.
ReplyDeleteActually she wrote that song as well. You should read her Wikipedia entry Joshy and see the amazing accomplishments this woman has to her name.
ReplyDeleteFor one, her song Coat of many Colors "was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry
list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or
aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United
States."
Also she is the recipient of both The Living Legend Medal by the U.S. Library Of Congress on April 14, 2004, for her contributions to the cultural heritage of the United States and the National Medal of Arts the highest honor given by the U.S. government for excellence in the art.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhwhDlWM-ig
Regarding Banks Of The Ohio, this is my favorite rendition
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpt-Fah4D10
as i said to a few friends a few days ago , i honestly think dolly is the bar in which a diva's success should be measured, a business woman who employs thousands, 45 albums and still a capable performer at her age. plus she's a nice person, god knows what mariah or Christina will sound like at that age lol, but i guess Rihanna is going for 45 albums by the age 40 haha.
ReplyDelete42 albums ;-)
ReplyDeletecorrected :).
ReplyDeleteOr you could just leave it and be correct in a few years. :-)
ReplyDeletehaha i was going to say that lol, i wonder if he will stop at 50 !.
ReplyDeleteShe says she's not planning to stop. ;-)
ReplyDeleteGawd, Michelle, belt, belt, belt!
ReplyDeleteI always wonder, do artists like her or Cher that have released so many albums really remember all their lyrics? It seems like you need a titanic memory for that!
ReplyDeleteShe so refreshing. She may have aged but her spirit is so young and i love her sense of humbleness. Also i have to give her credit for still sounding good after all these years and that song is really personal and special. I think i should buy her greatest album first, so i will really warm up to her hardcore songs haha. BTW already checked her wiki weeks ago and 450 million dollars not too shabby, there are even reports of 950 mil but there's no proof of that. Also 8 grammys out of 46 noms, 2 Academy Award noms, and i could go on and on. The woman is simply marvelous.
ReplyDeleteI'd say you only need to remember the songs you put on your concert playlist at any given time. ;-)
ReplyDeleteBut I do know that many country singers have quite a lot of songs in their head. I am always even more impressed when they know songs they themselves never recorded on top of their own songs.
And sometimes they fuck the lyrics up. And that is okay as long as you just laugh it off.
I do know Lucinda Williams, also a very prolific songwriter, always has all the lyrics of the songs she sings on a stand with her on stage. But it is said it is more an insecurity thing than that she actually needs them.
And recently a dj asked Anouk because he said Bruce Springsteen (who also wrote a great number of songs) claims to know them all. Anouk said she thinks she knows them all.
Of course Dolly wrote an enormous amount of songs. But many which she recorded are also classic tunes. On this album she sings several covers. Think Twice is a famous and quite old Bob Dylan tune and Banks of Ohio is a staple in her neck of the woods and was written in 1899.
probably this was way more info than you were asking for LOL
I think she knows most lyrics and if not of the top of her head, hearing the music will bring them back.
LOL I actually wasn't counting her material wealth as an accomplishment tbh.
ReplyDeleteSome extremely rich people who really "accomplished" little besides that amassing of material wealth..
I was thinking more of career stats and cultural status and such.
Poor Michelle
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5dgWwSEdxY
Thankfully I am an atheist and we atheists can say "no" to Jesus very well. And this particular atheist can also say "NO" to this song.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's not because it is a "gospel" song. But it is in part because of the message.
Well, it's not that hard remembering lyrics, because music engages both sides of the brain, so it's easier to recall. Plus they really only need to know the songs they're touring with :P
ReplyDeleteSome of those transitions were a bit painful to listen to, but I liked this performance, and I've warmed up to the song.
ReplyDeleteKnowing you a bit, i know that's what you meant, but i wanted to go somewhere you didn't hahaha.
ReplyDeleteHuh, and when Mariah and Christina perform like this, they get criticized and picked apart. What exempts Sia from this?
ReplyDeleteVocals were absolutely painful and cringeworthy, she sounded like she has some real technical issues as well as damage. Sounds a bit like the studio version, but her voiced sounds pushed and shouty here.
Gotcha! You did. :-)
ReplyDeleteI love the way she sounds, so broken, cracking, voices like this deliver so much more raw emotions than voices with perfect sounding like Mariah. I feel like the perfection lays in inperfection !
ReplyDeleteSia's unlike Mariah and Christina in the sense that they seem to try to market themselves as perfect (dubbed performances in Mariah's case), and therefore pretty much duping the audience whereas Sia doesn't do so. Even if her voice did crack and sound painful at least she was being honest about the state of her voice.
ReplyDeleteThat's not exactly what I meant. What I meant was that, when they deliver poor performances, they get flack, but Sia doesn't.
ReplyDeleteIt's because Sia's been singing this way for who knows how long. Mariah is known for her near perfect intonation and clear tone, so cracking notes just wouldn't fly with her.
ReplyDeleteDon't mistake severe vocal flaws for emotion. Struggling to hit a note can be misconstrued as emoting, but they are from being the same.
ReplyDeleteI have a funny story to tell, at least funny to me. Last Friday this guy I was Facebook friends with posted something about how amazing Sia is, and at the same congratulating some other guy who didn't know. I wrote that I cannot "love" her as her singing makes me nervous, not knowing if she'll be able to hit the notes or not and she sounds drunk. The guy that was tagged got all upset and started calling me names. It turns out it was Sia's manager, LOL. I told him good for him that Sia is making money and hope that (the action of making money) gives them artistic fulfillment. The other guy, the one I was Facebook friends with is a musical theater singer, friend of a friend, who moved to LA almost two years ago to try to "make it". He was also upset, mainly because it turns out Sia's manager was his ex boyfriend. He told me I would never make it in the music business by bashing a celebrity (as if factual criticism is bashing) So, without actual malice I asked him "How come you know this guy intimately, he has all the contacts with Christina Aguilera through Sia and he won't even help you get to the blind auditions to The Voice? Apparently sucking up to celebs isn't helping you either". He un friended me :P
ReplyDeleteStellar in what sense?
ReplyDeleteIt's so weird hearing Beyonce' play second fiddle in a group number. It's the strangest thing. I was expecting her sing a few of the higher notes in the chorus when she took the middle of the song.
ReplyDeleteAs for the second, I'm not a fan... it's pretty repetitive.
Artistically or emotionally.
ReplyDeleteMariah has been singing poorly for upwards of 10 years....
ReplyDeleteI laughed so hard. Harsh truths, tough love you got there.
ReplyDeleteMariah performs a lot of creaks and breaks in her voice too... the difference is that she does them intentionally.
ReplyDeleteYeah I know, but people still think she was the Mariah she once was. She set a high standard for herself as a technical vocalist.
ReplyDeleteIt's true though! She is a good artist but can't sing very well from a technical perspective. I'm not hating on her because I actually like the song and "Breathe Me" and "Titanium". But the guy wouldn't tolerate criticism, even though I don't even think Sia herself would get that upset.
ReplyDeleteAnd sucking up to celebs or sleeping with "connections" doesn't do much to help anyone in the end. The only thing that can make someone be where they wanna be is work work work work and a little bit of luck.
I don't think delivering a crappy performance can ever be artistically stellar unless the song itself, its story, the character you created for it, are raw and unpolished. In that sense, sure.
ReplyDeleteIt's subjective too. Rock and metal bands have awful and painful technique, yet some people love their performances..each to their own I suppose
ReplyDeleteThat's simply not true. The rock style sounds like barking, but the best rock singers actually have a solid vocal technique. For example Ann Wilson, Annie Haslam, Monica Naranjo, Freddy Mercury, Linda Ronstadt, Vanessa Amorosi, etc.
ReplyDeleteLike I said, each to their own. You're obviously not going to like it because you're not a hard rock person, but someone who only has death metal on their playlist will make something of a death metal performance. The people you listed are not metal either, they're classical, soft, or alternative rock.
ReplyDeleteHere's an example of very rough rock singing that is still technically sound, notice how she goes from a growled middle belt to a belted A5 that is completely clean and back down again.
ReplyDeletehttp://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sxv6nlL6SJg
Listen to the clip I posted and tell me that's not some true rough rock singing
ReplyDeleteLOL no, not that kind of rock. She is obviously trained operatically to some degree. This is the kind I mean. Throat gargling, hair pulling type of rock. People love the performances, but I have no clue why, even with awful technique...I guess the same can be said about Sia. Just something about the way she sings
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8-sMJZTYf0
Tbh I still stan for Michelle. I'm not religious and my true heart stays with Beyonce. But I'm loving what we've gotten from the new album so far, and I do love her big belts with her raspy voice. This song in particular OBSESSED with this song but it's a fun #party song that doesn't take itself to seriously.
ReplyDeleteI actually don't hear Bey very well in the harmonies either, it kinda sounds like she might be taking the lowest harmony but it's kind of a reach.
ReplyDeleteThis absolutely slaughters anything Mariah has done in the last 10 years imo. Absolutely breath taking performance.
ReplyDeleteThis wasn't poor though.
ReplyDeleteTo all the people saying things along the lines of "if she keeps singing this way she will destroy her voice" Newsflash, she has been singing like this since I used to see her at my local pub 15 years ago!! I think she's going to be alright lmao
ReplyDeleteFrom a technical standpoint? She was struggling to hit notes, literally croaked at the top of her range. Head voice was labored, runs were clumsy, belts were pushed.
ReplyDeleteAnd are you sure Sia isn't doing them intentionally? This is the first time I have ever heard her sing so take that question with a gain of salt but it certainly sounds to me like she is trying hard to be "artistic" with her voice. I think the result is awful but I'm not willing to conclude based upon one sample that that it's not deliberate. Singers sometimes do stupid things vocally in pursuit of their art.
ReplyDeleteShe is doing in intentionally ! It is her "artistic" choise ;)
ReplyDeleteDolly really needs a profile here badly! Though I understand trawling through all her recordings to estimate her vocal range would be pretty bloody daunting lol.
ReplyDeleteor the last 20
ReplyDeleteI have the same opinion about Sia but dear gawd LOL that was hilarious.
ReplyDeletehttp://i.perezhilton.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/rihanna-laughing-at-iheartradio-music-awards-ariana-grande.gif
I think the uncontrolled, raw vocal actually goes with the lyrical theme of the song, so I can't fault her for that. But from a purely technical perspective, it's not good. From an artistic perspective, it's right on the money.
ReplyDeleteVery true, I like to think I have pretty decent technique/control (most of the time lol) and I couldn't even imagine being able to get my voice to crack in the way her's does.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever heard Sia hit those notes cleanly live, consistently?
ReplyDeleteShe's über great. She's like the Joyce Carol Oates of songwriting, with that blue-collar work ethic.
ReplyDeleteOn a non-musical note, ugh! If hydrolic acid, botox and those other injections existed in her time :'(.
A young artist with the same kind of lyrical proficiency that Dolly has would be, I guess, Taylor Swift. It'd be funny if TS starts doing that to her face/body, too :).
LOL!
ReplyDeleteI thought the performance was already but I was too busy looking at Maddie... so Maddie *WAS* suppose to be naked in the video. Because now she's wearing a nude leotard with a panty on.
ReplyDeleteEllen's intro about Sia facing the other way just made me roll my eyes.
Listen to the crack at 1:03-1:04 and tell me how that's artistic..
ReplyDeleteIt's easier than you think but they also cheat too :P
ReplyDeletetotally agree.. I love DP duets
ReplyDeleteThey say Dolly is E3 - D6 http://www.concerthotels.com/worlds-greatest-vocal-ranges
ReplyDeleteI guess concerthotels is a very popular site as all of a sudden their ridiculous and inaccurate list pops up in every discussion as some kind of proof for whatever the discussion is about. I wouldn't put much stock in it Milia. It's supposedly a list of best selling acts arranged on range. Which A: is a meaningless list to compile because range has F all to do with quality of a singer and B: the list is missing people like Streisand, Celine Dion, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank "The Voice" Sinatra. It also claims that Robert Plant and Mick Jagger have the same range.
ReplyDeleteLove the song, but I cannot take the whole "I don't want to be famous so I sing away from the camera" schtick when I've seen her perform on David Letterman before.
ReplyDeleteYet despite all your huffing and puffing you refuse to produce any better list yourself. People work from the best available information. If you have better info, link to it. If not, shut up.
ReplyDeleteI think she was happy before when she wasn't well known, being a totally alternative artist
ReplyDeleteBut then when she got some notoriety by producing music for Christina, the tabloids started following her and exposed she is a lesbian, which she wanted to keep private, so, I think she avoid the spotlight since. But she is not willing to go back to being all indie either, since she hasn't even talked to the places that first supported her 10 years ago such as J radio in Australia.
I know how to do it, but I don't like to do it. And the people who follow my singing always freak out when I (intentionally) use bad technique to convey the character within the song I'm singing, they think I either had a bad lapse or something. People kind of expect a certain vocal quality after all, even if I give them a lot of tonal variety.
ReplyDeleteLOL Troll alert!
ReplyDeleteThere is only one word.... LEGEND!!!!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree on those two points. But their range might be accurate at least for some artist.
ReplyDeleteActually I have no doubt it IS accurate for some artists. Of some the range is well researched and documented by different people. :-)
ReplyDeleteDolly, if you search online, you will find, little research has been done. You hardly find any info. Not like your big belters in pop music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFtV4c8bqBU
ReplyDeleteI can hear her in the harmony, but yeah, she isn't very loud. She's taking the lower harmony. :)
ReplyDeleteI want to like her, I want to very much.
ReplyDelete