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| Those Were the Days | 
 enlarge | Artist: Dolly Parton
Label: Sugarhill
Category: Music
List Price: $17.98
Buy New: $6.63
You Save: $11.35 (63%)
New (39) Used (18) from $3.68
Avg. Customer Rating:  73 reviews
Sales Rank: 13791
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 4.9 x 0.5
MPN: 4007
UPC: 015891400723
EAN: 0015891400723
ASIN: B000AQDQ7S
Release Date: October 11, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Those Were The Days | | • | Blowin' In The Wind | | • | Where Have All The Flowers Gone | | • | Twelfth Of Never | | • | Where Do The Children Play | | • | Me And Bobby McGee | | • | Crimson And Clover | | • | The Cruel War | | • | Turn, Turn, Turn | | • | If I Were A Carpenter | | • | Both Sides Now | | • | Imagine |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Like 1996's Treasures, this covers collection by Dolly Parton might seem, on the surface, to be a gimmicky filler in her prestigious catalog of some of country's finest originals. Yet it's a vast improvement. Those Were the Days, largely bluegrass-inspired and featuring a plethora of famous duet and harmony partners, has more than a few sterling moments. And that's not just because songs like "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?," "Blowin' in the Wind," "Both Sides Now," and "Twelfth of Never" find her paired with the likes of Norah Jones, Lee Ann Womack, Nickel Creek, Judy Collins, and Keith Urban. If Parton takes John Lennon's "Imagine" too far over the top, she rescues Tommy James's overly processed "Crimson and Clover" from its original reverb hell, her understated banjo/Dobro/fiddle arrangement imbuing it with dignity. Other selections seem an obvious fit. "Me and Bobby McGee" (with a charmed Kris Kristofferson) resonates with longing and loss, while "If I Were a Carpenter," a duet with Joe Nichols, finds sensual heat smoldering above its solid musical underpinning. But the gem here is her rendering of "The Cruel War," on which Alison Krauss, Dan Tyminski, and Mindy Smith add feathery harmony vocals to Parton's gossamer lead--a performance so authentically poignant and heartfelt as to melt an Arctic ice cap. No matter how this odd collection hits you, give the Cantilevered One credit for being brave enough to tackle it, as well as extra kudos for coaxing two very special guests into the studio--Parton's old partner and one-time nemesis Porter Wagoner on the title track, and Yusuf Islam, a.k.a. Cat Stevens, who plays acoustic guitar on his own "Where Do the Children Play." You just never know what the Wigged Wonder will do next. --Alanna Nash Recommended Dolly Parton 
Trio, with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt | 
The Grass Is Blue | 
Little Sparrow | 
The Essential Dolly Parton | 
Mission Chapel Memories 1971-1975 | 
20 Greatest Hits, with Porter Wagoner |
Album Description
A year in the making, this album of era-defining songs from the 1960s and 1970s is an astonishing collection of indispensable classics, performed in Dolly Parton's signature style with a top-notch list of friends.Parton, who produced the album, invited several of the artists who wrote or made these songs famous to sing with her. Renowned musicians Roger McGuinn (of the Byrds), Kris Kristofferson, Judy Collins, and Tommy James make appearances on Those Were the Days. She also asked recent chart-topping artists Norah Jones, Keith Urban, Nickel Creek, Lee Ann Womack, Rhonda Vincent, Joe Nichols, and Alison Krauss to join her in the studio.The Country Music Hall of Famer, Grammy winner, and Oscar nominee said, "I am really very proud of this album. I love all of these songs and all of the artists who performed, it just felt special from the moment the concept came to my mind. I knew I had to produce it myself in order to get all of my ideas across exactly as I wanted them to be presented. I really hope people enjoy it. I know I enjoyed making it." Recorded in Nashville, Those Were the Days retains the bluegrass-inspired sound that earned her two Grammys and a new generation of fans for her previous four albums on Sugar Hill Records. The album includes a group sing featuring a menagerie of Grand Ole Opry legends. Capping off the album is Parton's unique version of "Imagine."
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| Customer Reviews: Read 68 more reviews...
 Not Dolly's Best October 12, 2005
41 out of 58 found this review helpful
Dolly On-Line Review
By Chris Barnes
Fresh off of a critically-successful series of acoustic/bluegrass themed albums, Dolly's upcoming album Those Were The Days takes Dolly in a more contemporary direction, while keeping some of the bluegrass flavors of her past few albums.
The album begins with its title track, the Mary Hopkin classic "Those Were The Days," which features a cast of Grand Ole Opry legends adding nostalgia and fun. The voices of Porter Wagoner, George Jones, and Jeannie Seely are clearly heard singing along with Dolly during select parts of the song, including a gang sing on the chorus. However the vocal contributions from Hopkin and the Moscow Circus seem to distract from the song rather than adding to it.
Dolly's highly-anticipated duet with Keith Urban on the hokey "Twelfth Of Never" pales in comparison to her duet with Joe Nichols on "If I Were A Carpenter." Dolly's high soprano and Joe's low, Haggard-esque vocals complement each other perfectly on the classic Johnny Cash & June Carter duet.
Norah Jones & Lee Ann Womack both add stunning harmony harmonies to "Where Have All The Flowers Gone." Dolly and Lee Ann's voices are so similar that it is hard to tell who is singing which part during much of the song. Kris Kristofferson lends a hand on Dolly's cover of his classic "Me And Bobby McGee." Dolly performs the song in the style of Janis Joplin, who had a big hit on the song in the 1960s. Tommy James also lends a hand on her updated cover of his hit "Crimson & Clover," which proves to be one of the albums major highlights.
Another highlight on the album is its first single, Cat Stevens' "Where Do The Children Play." If you can get past the somewhat-corny lyrics, the message and Dolly's strong vocals are sure to tug at your heart and make you think about the current times.
While most of the older 1960s songs on the album seem fresh and current, "The Cruel War" does not. While Dolly's vocals (as well as those from Alison Krauss & Mindy Smith) are stunning, the song comes off as being very dated.
Although the two are hard to hear at times due to the overly loud bluegrass instrumentation, the weathered voice of Judy Collins complements Dolly perfectly on "Both Sides Now."
The album closes with Dolly's powerful cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" backed by an orchestra, choir and David Foster on piano.
Although the album could have been assembled better, Dolly's amazing vocal performance on many of the tracks makes this album worth buying alone. If you don't mind a little corn here and there, Dolly's Those Were The Days is definitely for you.
Classic Dolly! October 11, 2005
38 out of 39 found this review helpful
"Those Were The Days" marks Dolly's third full album of cover songs, although she has included cover material on albums thruout her career. The first full cover album was 1984's "The Great Pretender" in which Dolly covered songs from the late 50's and early 60's. Although "Pretender" is a good album, it suffers from the typical 80's production, heavy on the synthesizers. The next like album was 1996's "Treasures" which was kind of a mixed bag of genre's and era's. With "Days" Dolly sticks pretty much to the late 60's and early 70's. The songs are all done in bluegrass-y style of her most recent work. For the most part the results are fantastic. A few of the songs take a few spins to grow on you, "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" and "Both Sides Now" have been sped up a bit but work once you become accustomed to the faster style. For me the stand out tracks are the title track, which has always been a favorite of mine, "Me & Bobby McGee", "Where Do The Children Play" and "Imagine".
After 40 years of making music, Dolly is making some of the best albums of her career. That's very rare for any artist. Although she didn't pen any of the songs on this album, that in no way detracts from it. This is a great album and a fun listen. Essential to any Dolly collection.
 Dolly's Blue State Album October 18, 2005
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
THOSE WERE THE DAYS is Dolly Parton's first studio album since 2003's FOR GOD AND COUNTRY, an album which surprised many Parton fans well aware of her long deliberately apolitical stance for it's strong if unintentional right-wing undercurrents. This new album seems to be a very discreet peace offering (no pun intended) to her more liberal, pacifist fans. This is a collection of pop/rock and folk songs that were big hits in the days when Dolly Parton was just making a name for herself as a country star in the late 1960's singing some of the most stone-hard country music of any woman of the period (check out her wonderful 1968 album JUST BECAUSE I'M A WOMAN which is available on CD). While Dolly was singing her heart out in songs about lost love and ruined reputations, the "hippies out in San Francisco" as one country song from the era dubbed them were singing about for free love and against injustice in many songs that were more folk (and thus, country) than rock n'roll although certainly neither group would acknowledge this fact. Several of these songs in fact were covered long ago by country artists. "Me and Bobby McGee", written by Nashville's Kris Kristofferson, has been recorded by a slew of country singers, Country's own flower child of the era, Skeeter Davis, recorded "Both Sides Now" on an album, and Johnny Cash and June Carter had a hit with "If I Were a Carpenter".
Most of these songs are legendary peace anthems from the era, although some are pure mainstream pop (The Twelfth of Never) or slightly eccentric rock like the title track. Dolly at 59 remains a powerhouse singer and most of these songs fit her like a glove. The main reason this album is so much better than FOR GOD AND COUNTRY is simply these are better songs than most of what was on that album, excepting the evergreen religious standards. There were other good folk songs from the era that could have more easily fit into this collection, notably "If I Had a Hammer" which was sung during the era by several country stars like Johnny Cash and Wanda Jackson. Although Dolly's most arch-conservative fans may be in shock at her covering John Lennon's "Imagine", long a notorious song in some Christian circles for it's one line against religion, "Turn, Turn, Turn" more than proves there was a spiritual degree to the peace movement. And when Dolly wraps her heartfelt vocals on the thought-provoking lyrics of "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone", the humanity crosses all political borders and becomes a deeply moving experience. These are other tracks her show yet again that underneath all that gloss and glamour and campy humor, the deep soul and real heart that is the real Dolly Parton.
Shockingly good October 20, 2005
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I thought that this album would be a 'cheesy' tribute album like one of those oldie groups re-doing all of thier old famous songs in the same exact way, but with updated, and rinkity production and weaker/newer vocals. But I was wrong. These songs were all done with a very unique and fresh spin. I was sick of the originals of most of these songs...for most are very well known to all of us, but Dolly puts all heart, and grace into the vocals in a way that makes these old birds fly again. It's really nice.
I never thought that I would enjoy a fast blue grass version of Twelth of Never, but it works. This whole album is "but it works". It shouldn't, but it works. And how the hell did Dolly Parton get Cat Stevens? aka Yusuf Islam? He hasn't played music, to my knowledge for over 20 years, and he was just recently deported out of the country while traveling to the US with his daughter in a case of mistaken identity, still with no apology from Tom Ridge, or the Department of Homeland Security. It's absolutely shocking to me that he agreed to play with Dolly on this. But then again, it's not. Because who is sweeter then Dolly?
And this album is in deed very sweet, and goes right up there now, shocking so, with her Christmas Album with Kenny Rogers ,which is a consistent staple in my house when we decorate the tree each year.
Shockingly Good!
I don't know if the sound bites do this album justice. The songs are very well done, arrangements, musicians, vocals, production, etc.
I'd like to give it 4 and half stars, because of her choice of overly peace loving/campfire songs, but she pulls it off.
Great Singing, but choices of songs abit weak. October 27, 2005
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
It was a tradition in country music during 50-70s to issue an album every 6 months, at least by the "heavyweights" of the period. They often covered each others songs. Most of the time the arrangements were just about the same. Yet each singer's fans wanted these classics by their favorite star.
This cd has that feel. Dolly has never sung better and her backup singers do a great job. Yet the songs overall are not the best of the period.
"The Cruel War" has never been more appropriate to our current situations as it was during Vietnam when Peter, Paul and Mary (and many other folkies) did it. I liked it before I was a Vietnam Vet, during and after.
I agree with one reviewer who stated she should stick to classic country, but Dolly has always done "her own thing, " and isn't that one of the reasons we love her.
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