Dolly Parton News

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.