Coat Of Many Colors
Three decades after Dolly Parton began exploiting (and mythologizing) her hardscrabble East Tennessee childhood, the best of her autobiographical songs, "Coat of Many Colors," which threads the Biblical story of Joseph into her own, remains a moving testimony to mountain pride and ingenuity. It may also be one of the truest pieces of Americana, but the 1971 album on which it appears, long out of print until this 1999 CD reissue, is a real eye-opener, and not just about how deep-dish country used to be. Along with the hit "Traveling Man," a maternal twist on the old farmer's daughter saw, Parton explores such gothic topics as whoring ("She Never Met a Man (She Didn't Like)"), sexual voyeurism ("If I Lose My Mind"), and good old-fashioned lust ("The Way I See You"). Whew! No wonder she left country for the pop crowd!--Alanna Nash