Glorious Glitz: Dolly Parton gives her fans her savvy, gifted self
Tuesday, November 9, 2004

By Ed Bumgardner

JOURNAL ARTS REPORTER

Dolly Parton is going to work hard to get your attention, one way or another - a fact that was abundantly clear Sunday night as she brought her "Hello, I'm Dolly" tour to Joel Coliseum.

The tour was a small-budget, big-production affair - a schizophrenic performance that hovered somewhere between Las Vegas rhinestone glitz and the cheese of a 1970s-era TV variety show.

It was all about gaud and country.

The tone for the evening was set before Parton even walked out. Her 10-piece band - six members of which made up The Grascals, the evening's opening act - broke into a slow, mountain-music version of "Hello Dolly!" given extra heft by a slide-show montage of photos from Parton's rural mountain upbringing.

It was clever play on the familiar that briefly recast Parton's gaudy image into something warmer and more nostalgic. But that glow had to go. The band slipped into a swinging, way-off Broadway version of the show tune and Parton made her entrance - a glittering drag queen's dream of hooker heels, bright-red lipstick, a feather boa, a teased, towering and spiked blond wig and a skin-tight costume that enhanced those and accentuated that.

And that is Dolly Parton - part country girl, part Broadway tramp, part smart, consummate entertainer who uses her enormous talent to try to be all things to all people in 90 minutes.

It's something she has to do, as her career has taken her from country-music star to countrypolitan movie star to bluegrass diva. She can sing pitch-perfect in a variety of styles. She can play many instruments - she played guitar, autoharp, harmonica, banjo, piano and fiddle on Sunday - and, as she illustrated throughout the show, she plays them well (and with three-inch fingernails).

And as she went from song to song, hit to hit - from "Two Doors Down," "9 to 5," and "Here You Come Again" to "Jolene," "Coat of Many Colors" and "I Will Always Love You" - it became apparent that she is also among the most gifted and savvy songwriters in country-music history.

The show is all about the show and all about the business - "I certainly appreciate your money," she quipped, giggling. But it is also all about Dolly Parton, an overview of her life and a glimpse into the performer and the person.

She came armed with plenty of Dollyisms: "If I pull a Janet Jackson, I'm going to take out about four rows." And she took a couple of stabs at production numbers - there was a song about PMS and a gospel song. There was "Baby It's Cold Outside," which she performed draped on a grand piano. Then there was the new "Last Night I Dreamed About Elvis," complete with Elvis imitator, which was sweet corn on a shtick.

Then there were the odd mountain-tinged interpretations of rock classics - "Me and Bobby McGee," "Imagine" and "Viva Las Vegas," a full-blown bluegrass version, performed with The Grascals, that worked far, far better than you could possibly imagine.

The show's best moments came when she was simply being herself, from a barn-raising version of "I Will Always Love You" - a song that she said Elvis Presley wanted to record - to the pure mountain music of the haunting "Little Sparrow" and "Tennessee Mountain Home." "Smokey Mountain Memories" and "Coat of Many Colors" were written about and dedicated to her late parents.

And there was no doubting her convictions when she sang the patriotic "Welcome Home" and "Hello God."

It wasn't a perfect show, but it was honest and entertaining. Take Parton, strip away the rhinestone suit, high heels, wig and make up, and you will still have a beautiful person with an equally attractive soul

And that's what the show was all about.

i went and saw this show when she was in San Jose and I was floored by how talented this lady is..she played 8 instruments through-out the show...From piano to fiddle, to some country wind instrument to harmonica to guitar to :gasp: her fingernails?

she explained that she wanted to use a typewriter for effects while she was thinking of the them for what would end up being 9 to 5..So couldnt find one around so she compromised by scratching her nails together and the rest was history....

she has since replaced the elvis number with a cute version of "i got a brand new pair of rollerblades" which had everyone on the floor...the highlight for me though was hearing her do a beautiful soul rendition of "little sparrow"..it was a sparce arrangment with just her singing and her fiddler weaving in and out accompaning her...she set the song up by explaining how as children the family didnt have much money so to entertain it would be commonplace for someone to start singing an ole tune and have a relative (who might have just learned how to play a certain instrument) would pick up and accompany them...guess her grandfather was a music teacher so they all would learn different instruments...and then she sang "Little Sparrow" like she was a cowboy on the range grieving alone....even now i sorta get emotional thinking of it..

now, when this tour was first announced i know some of you all said you were gonna go....e-74? anxiety? did you get to go? im surpised to say it my favorite concert experience this year (and i went to tons of musicology shows).....

do not deny the funk that is ms. parton..

Ive got this sudden hankering for milk and cookies.

plastic surgery is a bitch

dreamfactory313 said:

hey..look at here me tori amos fan....dont fuck with the true diva!!!!

You bet yer ass I went! We were like 10th row senter or some crazy shit!

I LOVED it. It convinced me that I have to travel and see her the next time she does a tour of smaller venues (she NEVER plays MPLS).

Did she do the "little kenny" routine in your show? That had me DYING laughing!

GREAT big titties, honey, hanging down like watermelons.

LaWanda "Aunt Esther" Page
from "Mutha Is Half A Word"
[Edited 12/22/04 19:16pm]

sosgemini said:

y do i have the feeling that somebody has photoshopped dolly's breast?

vainandy said:

Nipples like carrots.

endorphin74 said:

lil kenny? no.....what was that? and nope..those are dollys real bazzombas.....no photoshop there...

The show was a lot of fun. Not great, but certainly entertaining. I have to admit that I was disappointed in the amount of pre-recorded vocal tracks. It was especially bothersome during the finale of Hello God. An otherwise powerful song about losing and finding your faith was all but ruined by a cheesy video screen of a choir singing along in church.

The boob jokes will never get old for me. And, yeah, I cried during Coat Of Many Colors, like I always do. The highlight was easily the a cappella version of Little Sparrow. Her voice was stunning, and the performance itself was very moving. I know an Org'er who missed this number cuz they were gettin' refreshments.

RipHer2Shreds said:

ps to Dan- explain the "little kenny" routine, please! It sounds like it's been dropped from the show which is too bad!

endorphin74 said:

It was Mini Kenny Since Kenny couldn't be there in spirit, he was there via puppet, and she performed Islands in the Stream with a dummy version of Kenny Rogers on her knee. It was kinda cheesy, but totally cute and funny. "Kenny" made some crack about having a hard time performing with a hand up his back, and Dolly used the moment to make a crack at her showbiz upbringing: "I did it for years on the Porter Wagner show." Ouchie!

It is too bad that it was dropped from the show. I hadn't realized that. I guess I can see why, because it sorta brought the energy of the show down, and not everyone liked it. There seemed to be a lot of silence during that number.

RipHer2Shreds said:

yeah..it was dropped..did she do the "brand new pair of rollerskates" for you guys? with the pigtails and piano? that was the korniest she got with us...wait, she did do a duet.....but it from rod stewarts new album....."baby its cold outside"..

sosgemini said:

Yeah, she did Baby It's Cold Outside, and it was plenty cheesy. She didn't do the rollerskate number. Too bad, cuz it sounds like a lot of fun.