The disc can be divided into three distinct sections. The first includes the first seven tracks, and easily qualifies as the best moments on "Ultimate." Here, Dolly's Smoky Mountain-bred sensibilites mesh into the "countrypolitan" leanings of musical partner Porter Wagoner to create some of the early '70s best country hits. Tracks like "Jolene," "Coat of Many Colors," and the anthem "I Will Always Love You" secure Dolly's place in country music history and shold not be missed.

Tracks 8 though 16 follow Dolly's rise in popularity, and a general mainstreaming of her sound. This era is capped by great tracks like "Here You Come Again" and "9 to 5," but like her "Islands in The Stream" singing partner Kenny Rogers' music from the late '70s and early '80s, much of what you hear from this period is better forgotten. What stareted as well-intended country crossover degenerated into bad schmaltzy pop, which never holds interest for long.

The last few tracks show how Dolly redeemed herself from the horrors of Carter administration -era soft rock to reclaim her rightful position as the queen of modern country. The aforementioned "Stream" is a delight, as is "To Know Him Is To Love Him," with the equally endearing Linda Rondstat and Emmylou Harris. The last track, "Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That," is a nod to the "hot country" that would dominate the 1990s, but Dolly wisely decided to sidestep the rat race of contemperary country radio and forge a stunning bluegrass-tinged fourth musical era. None of that is covered on "Ultimate," but it's worth the trip to seek out some of Dolly's most recent output.

Buy this album without hesitation, and check out her new music as well.


Captures most of her number one hits but not all of her best   July 7, 2003
James E. Bagley (Sanatoga, PA USA)
15 out of 16 found this review helpful

Ultimate Dolly Parton is a chronological retrospective containing twenty of Parton's most successful singles from the 1970s and 1980s. Aside from "Coat of Many Colors" (her greatest composition), all of the enclosed recordings hit number one on the country charts.

Leading off the set are the colorful, uptempo sagas of crusty "Joshua" and that tramp "Jolene," as well as the simple but effective devotionals "I Will Always Love You" and "Love Is Like A Butterfly" from the early-to-mid-70s. This period comprises Parton's best recordings, the most consistent work by a female singer-songwriter in country music history. Also included from this era is her biggest hit with longtime music partner/mentor Porter Wagoner, "Please Don't Stop Loving Me" (I prefer their heartbreaker "If Teardrops Were Pennies").

With "Here You Come Again" from 1978, Parton went pop, or more precisely, middle-of-the road. The six tracks that follow it, like "Starting Over Again" and "You're The Only One," are sluggish, bland soundalikes - usually written by others - that failed to exploit her immense personality. Thankfully, the collection emerges from this sonic coma with Parton's spunky, self-penned "9 To 5" (1980) and the delightful yodelfest "Tennessee Homesick Blues" (1984).

Mid-80s collaborations with Kenny Rogers on "Islands In The Stream" plus Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris on "To Know Him Is To Love Him" (the exquisite Parton-centered "Wild Flowers" should be here, not this ordinary, Harris-led effort) amply exhibit Parton's harmonizing skills, while other country chart-toppers from this period (the Rogers' duet "Real Love," the enchanting "Think About Love") are inexplicably omitted from this set. Instead, it's left to 1989's "Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That" (licensed from Sony) to brings things to a rousing conclusion.

So, you ask, does this cd truly represent Parton's "ultimate" work? No way. Check out Essential Dolly Parton, Volume Two (which concentrates on her late '60s-through-mid-70s recordings) or her recent bluegrass efforts for that.


Only Half of the Story   January 14, 2005
Scott (Abingdon, VA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

The last few years have seen a flood of "ULTIMATE" or "DEFINITIVE" collections from many beloved artists from the last few decades of music. Each one attempts to present a comprehensive, career-spanning retrospective of that particular artist's music. With this ULTIMATE DOLLY PARTON collection you only get half the story. This 20-track collection will give you most of Dolly's #1 country hits, but it misses out on other essential better-known songs. You will NOT hear "Two Doors Down" but instead will get "You're The Only One." You will hear "I Really Got The Feeling" instead of "The Seeker" and "Single Women" takes priority over "Applejack" and "Me and Little Andy." And while "To Know Him Is To Love Him" was the #1 hit from her TRIO album, it's an Emmylou Harris song with Dolly providing back-up vocals. They should have included one of Dolly's solo numbers to represent that album.
The problem is that Dolly has had such a long and prolific career that it is impossible to do it justice on one CD. There is a 2-disc version of this collection available as an import that includes 16 additional songs and I recommend that you seek it out instead of this 1 disc American version.
The CD closes with "Rocking Years", a #1 duet with Ricky Van Shelton from 1991. Since then, Dolly released a live album, two more trio albums (one with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette) and had great success by going back to her bluegrass and traditional country roots. You won't get any of that stuff here.
This may be a good collection for the casual listener, but if you are a long-time Dolly fan I'd pass this one up and hope for a long overdue box set or anthology collection later on.


5 stars -- for what it is   March 13, 2005
Music Fan Jeff (San Francisco, CA United States)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

I think this is an excellent, single-disc overview of Dolly's biggest hits. What sets this collection apart from the many other hits collections that have been previously released is the sound quality. Mastering engineer Vic Anesini brings out the warmth in this original recordings. Compare these versions with what's on the two volumes of the "Essential" Dolly Parton discs and you can easily hear that the latter have a thin and bright tonal balance. The "Essential" discs just don't sound as musical as this "Ultimate" disc.

I sympathize with some of the other negative reviews. There needs to be more Dolly mastered like this. I understand that Vic Anesini also did the 2-cd German import version of this title, so I might check that out. Steve Hoffman of the now-defuct DCC label previously mastered Dolly's "Here You Come Again" album, and that also sounded terrific but is now very difficult to find. We definitely need more well mastered Dolly music available. Here's hoping that BMG is already having Vic Anesini work on more Dolly tracks.