MY MUSIC

‘Better Day’

Published June 28, 2011 / Last Updated August 23, 2015
Team Dolly is a collaboration of writers, editors, and publishers assembled by Dolly Parton Productions. Each member is dedicated to accurately publishing the latest news and historical archives of the living legend that is Dolly Rebecca Parton.

Managing Editor - Jacob Timmons
Creative Director - Sarah Chapman
Team Dolly

Dolly releases 41st solo album, “Better Day”

Dolly released her 41st studio album “Better Day” on June 28, 2011, her fourth on her Dolly Records label. “Better Day” was Dolly’s first album of entirely original material since 1998’s “Hungry Again.” All but one of the songs, “Country Is As Country Does” (written with Mac Davis), were exclusively composed and written by Dolly. Four of the album’s tracks were versions of songs she wrote for the Broadway musical “9 to 5” but had recorded–“I Just Might,” “Shine Like the Sun,” “Get Out and Stay Out,” and “Let Love Grow.” Randy Owen recorded “Holding Everything” on his 2008 debut album “One on One” while “Together You and I” was released as a duet with Porter Wagoner on the 1974 album “Porter ‘n’ Dolly.” The other four songs appeared for the first time on “Better Day.”

Writing more contemporary songs was one of Dolly’s goals,

“I always think every album is better than the last one… at least I strive for that. I wrote all the songs for this one, plus, I think it may be a little more contemporary than what I usually do.”

Dolly wrote the “Better Day” songs amid world crises and conflict which influenced her writing,

“Everybody’s so down in the dumps, and all this doomsday attitude with the economy so bad and all the wars and the bad weather… People really need to be uplifted a little bit right now.”

Dolly succeeded, as Steve Leggett wrote in his review,

“‘Better Day’… is an energetic, spiritual, and hopeful outing that rocks and soars with enough musical sunshine to light up even the grayest day.”

“Better Day” reached the Billboard Top 200 debuting at No. 51 (it debuted at No. 11 on the Top Country Albums Chart).

 

Team Dolly‘Better Day’

‘Blue Valley Songbird’

Published November 1, 1999 / Last Updated August 23, 2015
Team Dolly is a collaboration of writers, editors, and publishers assembled by Dolly Parton Productions. Each member is dedicated to accurately publishing the latest news and historical archives of the living legend that is Dolly Rebecca Parton.

Managing Editor - Jacob Timmons
Creative Director - Sarah Chapman
Team Dolly

‘Blue Valley Songbird,’ made-for-tv movie, inspired by Dolly’s song of the same name

Dolly starred as Leanna Taylor in her made-for-television movie, “Blue Valley Songbird” and worked behind the scenes as the film’s executive producer.

The movie aired on Lifetime in November of 1999. Leanna Taylor is a Nashville singer who uses her music to face her troubled upbringing. Dolly’s inspiration came from her song “Blue Valley Songbird” on her album “Hungry Again.” Dolly said,

“As soon as I wrote the song, I had full intentions of making a movie from it… In my mind, I thought, ‘This is like a screenplay.’”

Dolly took a hands-on approach to the project.

“I was very involved… And I promoted shooting the movie in Nashville from day one. I was thrilled that we could film it here… I felt it was very important to find Southern people to write this script… The writers we chose were both from the South, so they had an understanding of it.”

While there is no official soundtrack, a number of the songs in the movie are available on Dolly’s album “Hungry Again.

 

Team Dolly‘Blue Valley Songbird’

‘Hungry Again’

Published August 25, 1998 / Last Updated August 23, 2015
Team Dolly is a collaboration of writers, editors, and publishers assembled by Dolly Parton Productions. Each member is dedicated to accurately publishing the latest news and historical archives of the living legend that is Dolly Rebecca Parton.

Managing Editor - Jacob Timmons
Creative Director - Sarah Chapman
Team Dolly

Dolly releases 34th solo album, “Hungry Again” 

On August 25, 1998, Dolly released her 34th studio album, “Hungry Again” on the Blue Eye/Decca label. The album has been looked at as a precursor to her return to bluegrass and her roots.

Dolly wrote track 12, “Shine On” as a tribute to her friend and singing partner Tammy Wynette. Additionally, “Blue Valley Songbird” is featured in a made-for-television movie of the same name starring Dolly.

Dolly saw the album as a return to a hungrier style of music making,

“I spent all last summer writin’ these songs. I went back to my old home place, wrote all those songs and they just came straight from my heart.”

“Hungry Again” reached 167 on the Billboard 200 and 23 on the Top Country Albums chart.

Team Dolly‘Hungry Again’