Backwoods Barbie [PA] [Digipak] (CD - 2008)

Personnel: Dolly Parton (vocals, background vocals); Kent Wells (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Tom Bukovac (guitar, electric guitar); Paul Franklin (guitar, steel guitar); Biff Watson, Bryan Sutton (acoustic guitar); Derek Wells, Jerry McPherson, Rob McNelley, Brent Mason (electric guitar); Lloyd Green, Terry Crisp (steel guitar); Aubrey Haynie, Jimmy Mattingly (mandolin, fiddle); Connie Ellisor, Karen Winkelmann, Carolyn Bailey, Zeneba Bowers, Mary Kathryn Vanosdale, Carl Gorodetzky, Pamela Sixfin, David Davidson , Alan Umstead, David Angell, Catherine Umstead, Janet Askey (violin); Christopher Farrell, Jim Grosjean, Monisa Angell, Gary VanOsdale (viola); Kirsten Cassell, Anthony LaMarchina, Sarighani Reist, Carole Rabinowitz-Neuen (cello); John Mock (tin whistle, harmonium, bodhran); Paul Hollowell (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, organ); Lonnie Wilson, Steve Turner (drums, percussion); Sam Bacco (percussion); Jennifer O'Brien, Darrin Vincent, Jamie Johnson, Alecia Nugent, Rhonda Vincent, Sonya Isaacs, Terry Eldredge, Vicki Hampton, Richard Dennison, Marty Slayton, Carl Jackson (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Drew Bollman; Justin Niebank.

Audio Remasterers: Alex McCullogh; Jim DeMain.

Recording information: Blackbird Studios, Nashville, TN; Emerald Studio A; Kent Wells Productions; Sound Kitchen.

Editors: Kyle Dickinson; Brian Willis; Patrick Murphy.

Photographer: Kii Arens.

Arranger: Kent Wells.

The inaugural release on her own Dolly Records finds the ever-mercurial Dolly Parton moving away from the bluegrass/acoustic-oriented sound she explored on her albums for the Sugar Hill label from 1999 to 2005. Never content to stay in one place, she traverses a wide array of styles on BACKWOODS BARBIE. Opening track "Better Get to Livin'" has an anthemic, contemporary-country feel that's overtly radio-friendly. The jazzy, piano-flecked "The Lonesomes" adds an easy swing to the proceedings. "I Will Forever Hate Roses" and "Made of Stone" offer proof that Dolly still has a way with a good old country ballad.

While most of the tunes on BACKWOODS BARBIE (including the incisive, autobiographical title track) come from Parton's own pen, she shows her customary flair for covers as well, lending a surprising folk-pop flavor to the Fine Young Cannibals' '80s dance-pop hit "She Drives Me Crazy" and putting a touch of twang into Smokey Robinson's classic soul ballad "Tracks of My Tears." Even in her sixties, the country icon shows no signs of settling into a rut.

It's been three years since Dolly Parton released a new album, and nearly two decades since she put out anything close to a mainstream country offering, so Backwoods Barbie ought to get some serious media attention, although it remains to be seen whether the now 62-year-old Parton will get much play on the new country stations. The first single from the album, the cloyingly wise "Better Get to Livin'," is certainly catchy enough, but the fact remains that Parton's voice isn't quite what it used to be and she wasn't exactly Patsy Cline in the first place. What she is, and has been all these years, is a true iconic presence in country music, a shrewd marketer, an astute businesswoman (Backwoods Barbie appears from her own Dolly Records), and a frequently brilliant if understated songwriter (nine of the 12 tracks here are Parton originals). Unlike her last couple of albums, which were bluegrass-based, she isn't trying to reinvent herself here, but works in her usual pop and country hybrid style (even tenderly covering Smokey Robinson's "The Tracks of My Tears"), not trying too hard to be contemporary, although the production touches are there (the album was co-produced by Parton and her bandleader, guitarist Kent Wells), certainly, and her version of Betsy Ulmer and Craig Wiseman's "Jesus & Gravity," even more than "Better Get to Livin'," could well find itself in regular rotation on new country radio stations, at least in a fair and equitable world. Other highlights here include the title song, which shows Parton still in tune with her public image (she really always has been, of course), and the beautiful and delicate original "Only Dreamin'," which shows that, beneath all the big wigs and glamour, Parton is still a fine songwriter with an uncommon sense of grace, economy, and wisdom. Backwoods Barbie might not break the bank out there, and it would take a good deal of marketing and luck for any of these tracks to hit the top of the new country charts, but it shows that Parton can still deliver the package in fine style and only the fools among us would ever count her down and out, no matter how many bluegrass albums she does. ~ Steve Leggett minimize