Rare and previously unreleased early Dolly Parton tracks

Though the first three tracks of this collection are sung by an unknown vocalist, the remaining sixteen are by all accounts sung by Dolly Parton. More importantly, seven of these tunes (tracks 4-10) are rare, previously unreleased tracks that appear to be from Parton’s years with Monument. The remaining ten tracks are drawn from her out-of-print Monument albums Hello I’m Dolly and As Long as I Love. Though no credits are provided, the seven newly discovered tracks sound as if they were recorded during the pre-RCA years in which Parton tried out country ballads and honky tonk, often with pop, jazz, folk and blues inflections. Several of the songs were recorded by other singers (George Morgan recorded “Not From My World,” Kitty Wells issued a single of “Only Me and My Hairdresser Knows” and Tammy Wynette waxed “Send Me No Roses” for a 1967 album), but this appears to be the first time that Parton’s versions have been widely released. Though the audio quality is variable (better for the unreleased cuts than the previously released album tracks), this is a real treat for Dolly Parton fans, and one that may not be on the market for long. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]