The new Dolly Parton album, Halos & Horns, is the third part of a trilogy which began in 1999 with the release of The Grass Is Blue. She had been released from her contract with a major label and signed with up-coming independent Sugar Hill Records which has been the source of her three bluegrass albums. These albums have been perhaps the best records of her long career, and Halos & Horns continues the tradition.
The album starts with the title song, a waltz which would blend seamlessly if played immediately after the last song on Little Sparrow, which in turn continued effortlessly from The Grass Is Blue. This is not to say the albums are all the same. The musicians have changed, the songs are new, but Dolly is Dolly and her crystalline voice is as pure as a Tennessee Mountain stream. She pays tribute to her new home with a new song entitled "Sugar Hill" a folksy remembrance of an imaginary childhood swimming hole. The harmonies, whether double-tracked by Dolly, or sung by the band members are a sparkling feature of this album. The last verse of "Sugar Hill" turns into a choral, and then a breakdown. The effect is remarkable.
Randy Kohn's dobro and Brent Truitt's mandolin are highlighted in the ballad "Not For Me". "Hello God" is Dolly's post 9/11 song; she questions whether God is still on the side of right and truth. It's a bit tired for an anthem, but Parton's naivete carries the tune to a swift conclusion. A sweet rendition of the David Gates classic "If" follows, with singing dobro and fiddle. The interplay of stringed acoustic instruments (played by Nashville cats Gary D. David, Robert Hale, Kent Wells, Jimmy Mattingly and Bob Carlin) is stunning, and sets off Dolly's voice to its best advantage. This is a beautiful album to listen to.
Dolly has recorded some of these songs in the past, but never in such stripped-down versions. Some are new songs, written in a short term burst of inspiration; and a couple are cover versions, like the old Bread song. Dolly even plays two parts in the song-story "These Old Bones". She is the narrator, telling the story of a crazy old lady, but she is also convincing as the crone, putting her own spin on the tale. But the song that is perhaps most remarkable, (and the one that caused me some consternation when I heard that she had recorded it), is the album closer, Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven". That's right! "Stairway to Heaven"! And you know what? It works. Dolly sets it in the same context as the rest of the album with acoustic guitars and harmonies, and it is beautiful. She manages to pull it away from Plant and Page and take possession of the song in a way that I never thought possible. The lyrics take on new meanings as Dolly sings them. Her country voice trembles and then soars. The song starts with guitar and fiddle, a little mandolin and some harmony. The dobro underlines the melody before an increase in overall volume, and some extra vocals. If you want to understand musical dynamics then listen to this track, it is extraordinary.
I thought that perhaps I was just caught up in the experience, so I played it for a friend. He's a guitar player, who greatly admires the Zeppelin version of the song. He laughed when I told him what I was going to play for him, but then he sat quietly and listened. His face open, he shook his head, "This is really good!" he ventured. The instrumental break came, played by dobro and banjo instead of Jimmy Page, "Wow!" A choir joined Dolly for the vocals. "This is powerful stuff!" Then Dolly alone, "and she's buying a stairway to heaven..." and silence.
Congratulations Ms Parton, for a stunning new record (and thank you Sugar Hill for letting Dolly do what she does best).
