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Dolly captivated the audience at Radio City Music Hall last night in New York City, playing to a nearly sold-out crowd of over 5,000 people. Norah Jones, along with Kyan Douglas and Carson Kressley from Queer Eye For The Straight Guy, were among the celebrities in attendance at the hippie-styled show. Dolly talked and joked with the audience throughout the show, and gave some insight as to why many of the songs she covered from the 60’s and 70’s meant so much to her. The crowd went wild for standards like “9 To 5″, “Here You Come Again” and “Two Doors Down”, but Dolly was also very well received on many of her recent cover songs.

The highlight of the night came when she performed a selection of back-to-back songs from her upcoming album, Those Were The Days, starting with “Turn, Turn, Turn” and working up to “Blowin’ In The Wind” and “Imagine”. Although she tried to shy away from the strong political overtones that many of the songs carried, she also managed to revitalize them in a way that made them relevant in today’s current sociopolitical climate which garnered a surprisingly strong and positive reaction from the audience. Despite some technical difficulties with the microphones and curtain at the opening, the lighting and stage design were among the best of any of her previous stage productions. Dolly capped of the show as usual with “I Will Always Love You” before returning for an encore of “Hello God” with a worked-in chorus of “He’s Alive”.

1. Those Were The Days
2. 9 To 5
3. Jolene
4. Crimson And Clover
5. Me And Bobby McGee
6. My Tennessee Mountain Home
7. Coat Of Many Colors
8. Smoky Mountain Memories
9. Marry Me
10. Applejack
11. Little Sparrow
12. Here You Come Again
13. Two Doors Down
14. PMS Blues
15. If I Were A Carpenter
16. Turn, Turn, Turn
17. Blowin’ In The Wind
18. Imagine
19. I Will Always Love You
20. Hello God
21. He’s Alive

Dolly plays the Mohegan Sun Casino tonight in Uncasville, Connecticut and the Mann Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania tomorrow. Check back soon for more Vintage tour photos!

Dolly is scheduled to perform songs from her Those Were The Days album live on Good Morning America on the album’s release date of October 11th in New York City.

New tour dates in Boca Raton and Clearwater, Florida have been announced and added to the tour schedule on the front page of Dolly Parton On-Line. It has also been announced that tickets for Dolly’s Sept 18th show in Birmingham will go on sale to the general public on August 20th.

More information on Dolly’s upcoming album Those Were The Days has been released. In addition to their vocal contributions to the project, Tommy James and Roger McGuinn also play guitar on their respective tracks. Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) plays acoustic guitar on Dolly’s cover of his “Where Do The Children Play,” but he does not contribute vocally, and the legendary record producer David Foster plays piano on Dolly’s cover of “Imagine.” In a statement released today, Dolly said of the album, “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.” Check out Dolly Parton On-Line’s Those Were The Days page for all the info!

Dolly took time out of rehersals for her upcoming tour to pay a visit to her dear friend Rhonda Vincent. Rhonda recently had surgery to have part of her intestine removed, thus Dolly felt it neccessary to pay her pal a visit to help cheer her up. According to reports on Vincent’s official website, Dolly spent the night at Comfort Suites on Sunday night, and arrived bright and early on Monday morning at Vincent’s house in Greentop, MO. Dolly was very gracious to the townspeople of Greentop, allowing photos and autographs wherever she went. While in Greentop, Dolly posed in front of several Greentop landmarks and businesses, including their welcome sign. Vincent and Judy Collins provide harmony vocals on the track “Both Sides Now” on Dolly’s upcoming album Those Were The Days.

A package of two concert tickets and backstage meet-and-greet passes are being auctioned off through Ticket Master for Dolly’s second tour stop in New York at Radio City Music Hall on August 18th. The auction runs from Tuesday, August 9th at 1 PM and closes Tuesday, August 16th at 7 PM. All proceeds over the ticket value of $150 will be donated to the Dollywood Foundation.

Also, Dolly’s Vintage tour will be making a stop in Tallahassee, FL on September 16th at the Tallahassee Leon County Civic Center. Tickets to the concert go on-sale at 10 AM this Friday (August 12th) at Ticket Master.

Dolly Parton On-Line is proud to be the first to bring to you the entire track listing and album cover for Dolly’s upcoming album, Those Were The Days, to be released Oct. 11th on Sugar Hill Records. The track listing is as follows:

1. Twelfth Of Never (duet with Keith Urban)
2. Blowin’ In The Wind (with Nickel Creek)
3. The Cruel War (with Alison Krauss, Dan Tyminski and Mindy Smith)
4. Where Have All The Flowers Gone? (with Norah Jones and Lee Ann Womack)
5. Turn, Turn, Turn (with Roger McGuinn)
6. If I Were A Carpenter (duet with Joe Nichols)
7. Crimson And Clover (with Tommy James)
8. Both Sides Now ( with Judy Collins and Rhonda Vincent)
9. Me And Bobby McGee (with Kris Kristofferson)
10. Those Were The Days  (with Mary Hopkin and The Opry Gang)
11. Where Do The Children Play (with Cat Stevens)
12. Imagine

It should be noted that only “If I Were A Carpenter” and “Twelfth Of Never” are full-blown duets, the rest of the tracks simply feature the guest artists on harmony vocals. Special thanks to Sheena for her help with this story.

Sources confirm that Dolly has been hard at work recently on the 9 To 5 Broadway musical. Pat Resnick, who wrote the original screenplay, is currently working on the book for the musical and the two have been working together in the past few weeks on the project which will be based on the movie and still set in the 1970s. Dolly has written several new pieces of music for the musical, which is scheduled to debut on Broadway in 2007.

Drag Queen Amnesia Sparkles has conducted an interview with Dolly for the current issue of New York City’s Next magazine. Dolly discusses her upcoming Vintage tour, her new album, the upcoming Broadway musical version of 9 To 5 for which she is writing new material, and her affinity for drag queens and the gay community. Amnesia has posted a hilarious audio excerpt from the interview on her official website.

Dolly’s recording of “If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body (Would You Hold It Against Me)” with the Bellamy Brothers from their album Angels & Outlaws has made the Billboard Hot Country Singles Chart at #60. David Bellamy says of the recording with Dolly, “Dolly was not only an incredible professional in the studio; she was the also the most fun! Howard and I have always been her biggest fans so it was like Christmas having her sing with us on one of our hits. ‘Beautiful Body’ has always been an enduring hit but, with Dolly’s interpretation, it’s new all over again.”

Although they have not been confirmed, possible tracks for upcoming album Those Were The Days include: “Both Sides Now” (recorded with previously-announced guest star Judy Collins), “Where Do The Children Play” (written by and recorded with previously-announced Cat Stevens), and the public domain song “The Cruel War.” More information will be posted as we receive it.