csberry

I've enjoyed Dolly Parton's music, but this was my first time to listen to one of her albums (well, since the 70's when my parents played their copy of Here You Come Again). I was very pleasantly surprised by this album. Sure, it is short (less than 30 minutes) but during those 10 songs, we hear country-boogie ("Traveling Man"), ballads ("If I Lose My Mind"), spirituals ("The Mystery of the Mystery"), and the full breadth of what could be considered country music. Yes, there are songs about a cheating husband. OH! And not just a man that walked out on her. In "If I Lose My Mind," Dolly tells her momma - "But he done things to me I couldn't understand/ Why he made me watch him love another woman/ And we tried to make me love another man."

If you are going to have a Dolly Parton album (not just a hits collection), then Coat of Many Colors really deserves to be the album you get.

Songs I knew I liked: "Coat of Many Colors"

Songs I didn't know but now like: "Traveling Man," "My Blue Tears," "She Never Met a Man (She Didn't Like)," and "A Better Place to Live"

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: "The Mystery of the Mystery" - not a fan of the lyrics and I didn't even have to look at the songwriting credits to hear Porter Wagoner's voice in those words.