Just Because I'm A Woman: Songs of Dolly Parton

Performer: Various Artists
Distributor: Welk

Notes: Includes liner notes by Emmylou Harris. Despite her numerous accomplishments as a performer, actor, and all-around media mogul, Dolly Parton has often said that she views herself primarily as a songwriter. JUST BECAUSE I'M A WOMAN goes a long way towards highlighting the craft of Parton's extraordinary songs. Unlike some cash-in tribute albums, this disc showcases artists who clearly love and respect the music in question, making for a record that bears no trace of crass commercialism. Most tracks on the album strip the songs down to their bare essence, framing the tunes in a newgrass-like acoustic setting typical of many Sugar Hill Records releases. Notable exceptions are the two final, and most interesting, tracks. While Allison Moorer's take on "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" boasts a spooky, ethereal production that perfectly suits her husky voice, Me'Shell NdegeOcello completely deconstructs "Two Doors Down," turning a fairly straightforward 1980s pop song into a mysterious, funky, and brooding lament. Perhaps the album's best moment, though, is Joan Osborne's stunningly pure, straightforward version of "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind," which at once showcases the unaffected beauty of the singer's voice, and makes crystal clear why Dolly Parton truly deserves a tribute album.

Entertainment Weekly (11/7/03, p.70) - "...Sterling results....[the tribute] runs the Shania-to-Sinead gamut..." - Rating: A- Uncut (1/04, p.116) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[T]he post-Porter Parton finally gets a golden handshake from her peers. And some line-up it is." Mojo (Publisher) (1/04, p.94) - 4 stars out of 5 - "In storytelling and melody, the elegance, economy and heartfelt clarity of Parton's writing deserves comparison with not only Hank Williams or Johnny Cash but George Gershwin or Irving Berlin."

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