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Songs:
Little Sparrow
Shine
I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby
My Blue Tears
Seven Bridges Road
Bluer Pastures
A Tender Lie
I Get A Kick Out of You
Mountain Angel
Marry Me
Down From Dover
The Beautiful Lie
In the Sweet By and By

Sugar Hill Records
PO Box 55300
Durham, NC 27717-5300
SUG-CD-3927
c 2000

While Claire Lynch's "Out In The Country" puts a bluegrass artist in the country field, Dolly's album puts a country singer deep in the heart of bluegrass. This is Dolly's second foray into bluegrass, but as she details in her liner notes, this is the music of her roots. Dolly says, "This is the music I would have been doing all along, if I could have made a living at it."

Dolly has a distinctive voice, capable of great warmth that wraps itself around the words and spills out the stories like a mountain stream. With a talented group of harmony vocalists, all famed in the bluegrass field, and an equally talented group of musicians, Dolly has assembled an album of songs true to the tradition, but made even stronger by her formidable talent. Seven of the songs were written by Dolly Parton including the title song, "Little Sparrow." "Little Sparrow" has echoes of the old folk song, "Fair and Tender Maidens" but in Dolly's hands, the story of a sparrow who flies so high and feels no pain is a song for all who aspire to rise above the ordinary.

The dobro and fiddle just add to the heartache and hope. Dolly's storytelling skills flow into the lives, loves and characters that seem universal. There's the sad story of the "wicked, handsome stranger" who brought the "Mountain Angel" from a charmed life to that of a ghost wandering the hills in sorrow for her child and lost love. "Marry Me" is the joyous hope of the growing up girls in search of the future, and "Down From Dover," another hoping for love song that sounds like a traditional tune complete with backing from Altan.

There's even a Cole Porter song, "I Get A Kick Out of You" that sounds like it might belong in some distant holler. I found it hard to pick a favorite song - everything is fine-tuned and well-presented like a 12 course banquet. The album packaging deserves some mention. The CD is a tri-fold holder with a small booklet inserted in one third, behind a three panel view of the (presumably) Tennessee hills.

Dolly's pictures in black and white are featured on the three front panels seated in a wooden chair and leaning out the window of a wood cabin home. The homey views are in contrast to some of her earlier album covers in red dresses and outstanding hair.