Dolly Parton – The Great Pretender (1984) Vinyl LP Record
£16.99
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Dolly Parton – The Great Pretender (1984) Vinyl LP Record
£16.99
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Product Description
Track Listing
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Album Introduction
The Great Pretender is a studio album by Dolly Parton, released in 1984 on RCA Records. Born in Sevier County, Tennessee, Parton had by this point established herself as one of the most commercially successful and artistically versatile performers in American music, with a career spanning country, pop, film and television. The Great Pretender is an all-covers album, drawing on the full breadth of the classic pop and country songbook — from Buck Ram's The Great Pretender (1955, originally by The Platters) and Johnny Cash's I Walk the Line (1956) through to Holland-Dozier-Holland's I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) (1965, originally by The Four Tops) and Tony Hatch's Downtown (1964, originally by Petula Clark). Pete Seeger's Turn, Turn, Turn — adapted from the Book of Ecclesiastes and made famous by The Byrds in 1965 — and Gale Garnett's We'll Sing in the Sunshine (1964) complete a selection that demonstrates Parton's deep roots in the classic American popular song tradition and her ability to bring her own warmth and personality to any material she touches.
Stand-Out Tracks
- The Great Pretender — Buck Ram's 1955 classic, originally recorded by The Platters and one of the defining songs of the early rock and roll era; Parton's reading brings her own warmth and emotional directness to the familiar song, giving it a country-inflected intimacy that suits her voice's natural expressiveness with complete ease.
- I Walk the Line — Johnny Cash's 1956 debut single and one of the most immediately recognisable songs in the American country canon; Parton's reading is warm and completely assured, and the song's lyric of romantic fidelity and self-discipline gives the album one of its most emotionally direct and immediately recognisable moments.
- Downtown — Tony Hatch's 1964 composition, made famous by Petula Clark; Parton's reading gives the familiar song a country warmth that suits her voice perfectly, and the song's message of urban escape and romantic consolation gives the album one of its most immediately joyful and melodically generous moments.
- Turn, Turn, Turn (To Everything There Is a Season) — Pete Seeger's adaptation of the Book of Ecclesiastes, made famous by The Byrds in 1965; the song's message of cyclical time and acceptance gives the album one of its most philosophically resonant and emotionally affecting moments, and Parton's reading is warm and completely sincere.
- I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) — Holland-Dozier-Holland's 1965 Four Tops classic, one of the most joyful and rhythmically irresistible songs in the Motown catalogue; Parton's reading gives the familiar song a country-pop warmth that is completely her own, and one of the album's most immediately charming and replayable moments.
Record Details
- Artist: Dolly Parton
- Title: The Great Pretender
- Year: 1984
- Label: RCA Records
- Catalogue No.: AFL1-4940
- Format: Vinyl LP
- Pressing: US pressing
- Genre: Country / Pop
- Decade: 1980s
- Barcode: 0035628494016
Condition
Condition: VG/VG — see our Condition Grading Guide.
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