The Fairest of Them All (album)
Dolly Parton's first album with mostly solo-written songs.
Dolly Parton’s fifth solo studio album, The Fairest of Them All, came out on February 2, 1970, through RCA Victor. Bob Ferguson produced the record, which marked the first time Parton wrote most of its songs alone. It reached number 13 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, and its lone single, “Daddy Come and Get Me,” peaked at number 40 on the Hot Country Songs chart.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Dolly Parton
- Released
- February 2, 1970
- Recorded
- September 10, 1968–October 31, 1969
- Studio
- RCA Studio B (Nashville)
- Genre
- Country
- Length
- 27:50
- Label
- RCA Victor
- Producer
- Bob Ferguson
Facts from the source article.
Track listing
Side one
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daddy Come and Get Me | Parton, Dorothy Jo Hope | 3:01 |
| 2 | Chas | 2:24 | |
| 3 | When Possession Gets Too Strong | Parton, Louis Owens | 2:04 |
| 4 | Before You Make Up Your Mind | Bill Owens | 2:10 |
| 5 | I'm Doing This for Your Sake | 2:11 | |
| 6 | But You Loved Me Then | 1:52 |
Side two
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Just the Way I Am | 2:28 |
| 2 | More Than Their Share | 2:20 |
| 3 | Mammie | 3:11 |
| 4 | Down from Dover | 3:46 |
| 5 | Robert | 2:39 |
Track listing from the source article.
Did You Know?
- Recording sessions began on September 4, 1969, at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee.
- "I'm Doing This for Your Sake" was recorded during the September 10, 1968 session for 1969's In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad).
- The album debuted at number 38 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart dated March 14, 1970.
Content
The album includes "Down from Dover", a song about a pregnant unwed girl shunned by her parents while waiting in vain for the baby's father. The song was controversial for its time; Parton has stated that mentor Porter Wagoner told her she would never get radio play with such story songs. Two other story songs, "Robert" and "Daddy Come and Get Me", are distinctive for their themes. "Robert" tells of a boy infatuated with a girl, unaware they are brother and sister, based on Parton's life—her father had at least one child with another woman. "Daddy Come and Get Me", co-written with Parton's aunt Dorothy Jo Hope, is a haunting tale of a woman begging her father to release her from a mental institution where her cheating husband placed her. The liner notes were written by Parton's assistant Judy Ogle. Parton joked in a CMT interview that the album cover, photographed by Bill Goodman, was the funniest she had made, featuring the largest collar she could find to look like a fairytale character. Parton re-recorded "Down from Dover" for her 2001 album Little Sparrow with an additional verse cut from the original.
Critical reception
Billboard's review in the February 14, 1970 issue described the album as very strong, noting that "Daddy Come and Get Me" follows a traditional jilted love vein while "Down from Dover" is beautiful and well produced but perhaps too strong a theme for airplay. The review called "Just the Way I Am" beautiful and less strong, and declared Dolly Parton sensational as usual. Cashbox's February 7, 1970 review stated that many male fans would agree she is "The Fairest of Them All" and that vocally she is one of country music's brightest young stars, predicting a nice chart spot for the package. Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars for AllMusic, noting that while it lacks any of Parton's early masterpieces, it is one of her strongest early LPs.
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