Coat Of Many Colors

My album of many plaintive country songs That Dolly made for me Made only from fiddle, bass, steel and vibrato voice But I listened so pleasantly Although they sounded pretty samey I was happy as I could be With my album of many country love songs That Dolly made for me

As someone who is not a fan of country music, this album was enlightening. I always knew Dolly Parton was something special, but this album reinforced that knowledge. She manages to take what I often times feel is a tired and repetitive genre and produced songs that are poignant, sweet, and funny. An absolutely fantastic album.

Exhibit A of old country music is so good, what the hell happened? I've always accepted Dolly as country royalty because of her chart toppers but this album really shows why she earned that crown. "Coat of Many Color," is a heartbreaking song that plays heads to the romping "Traveling Man's" tails. It's impressive that Dolly can write about such a broad range of topics and apparently back then it was impressive that she was writing her own songs at all. It's truly a songwriting showcase. For all the heartbreak and forlorn feelings on this album Dolly leaves you with a sense of joy when then whole thing wraps up. You really get that sunshine feeling from Dolly even on her most hard up songs. Her ability to make the darkness bright, and that deep FUNKY bass on "Early Morning Breeze," is what makes this one a classic.

This makes an argument for Dolly being one of the great early 70s singer-songwriters. For those of us who started with later Dolly it is revelatory. She may make more popular music later, but not better music.

"And people say she's just a big pair of tits".

There was a phase of quarantine that I listened to this album a couple times (more specifically I think it was brought on by a post election playing of "Clear Blue Morning" on repeat). It didn't strike the same fondness for every track on this latest revisiting but there's still some gems on here for sure. You get Dolly's full range of story telling in the first two songs: first you have a heartfelt story of a mother scrapping by for her daughter and in the next a mom's running off with her daughter's lover. What a range. Early Morning Breeze is one I'll certainly return to in the future. And Coat of Many Colors is just a charmer in both lyrics and walking bass line.

Hard to dislike this one: Great songs, great voice, under 30 minute runtime. It packs a punch and leaves you wanting more.

Full disclosure: I've never much cared for Dolly Parton's voice. I don't care for the way she uses vibrato and her voice is so sharp it could cut through steel. Which is not to say that she's a bad singer--her interpretative skills and phrasing are better than most and her pitch is dead on. It's really just a matter of personal preference, purely subjective. On Coat of Many Colors, while there is a fair amount of variety within the rubric of mainstream country (ballads, country-rock, etc.) it's all very generic, if well played but what I would guess are a bunch of Nashville studio cats. The melodies are nothing special either. The one area that Parton excels in is narrative songwriting. The opening two tracks, Coat of Many Colors and Traveling Man, are superb--I'd stack them up against the best of the giants of country music, like Hank Williams Sr., Lefty Frizzell, etc. Seemingly without effort, Dolly manages to cram in character writing, narrative, local color, comedy, and earned sentiment into three minutes or less! That's a rare talent and a golden ticket in popular music. Unfortunately, not all of the other songs she pens on the album are as magnificent. There's a nice ode to meeting God in the wonders of nature (Early Morning Breeze), but the rest of her lyrics could have come from a dozen other artists. To sum up, the terrific lyrics of the opening two songs overcome the bland music (although admittedly it might have sounded fresher back in 1971) and Dolly's voice (YMMV), but the rest of the album pretty much goes in one ear and out the other, not leaving much of a trace. Pleasant enough, but really slight.

I listened all the way through, and I didn't feel bored once. That's the gold standard.

I fully admit I didn't know much about Dolly Parton until she became a recent resurgent media darling, but I truly love her attitude and care. It's so clear in what she sings about and how she lives. I hated country when I was young. But the older I get the more I realize I really just dislike a lot of pop country. I'm a sucker for American folk, western, and certain types of country music. This album has a few songs that definitely fit that bill. I think I'd cut it in half and turn it into an EP for regular listening, but very good overall. Great voice, full of emotion, love a heavy bass in the mix.

Anybody else's pee taste weird after listening to this album?

A new one on me and loved it. Has proper country music titles like She Never Met A Man (She Didn't Like). Favourite track was Travellin' Man. Really uplifting album.

Despite the sickly sweetness of a lot of Dolly's ballads and memoir songs including the title track, this album stretches into all the spaces the genre has to offer. 'Traveling Man' is Nancy Sinatra-style country punk, 'My Blue Tears' has that high lonesome bluegrass style, with harmonies and simple melody, and 'If I Lose My Mind' is classic Nashville country. It sort of tapers off toward the end in my opinion, but the first half is top-notch and as a piece it holds up very well.

Can't deny that voice. Her story is inspirational, and Coat of Many Colors is touching, beautiful, empowering, and telling about society. A very wise song. Obvioulsy a little preachy here and there, but a comforting album that is beautiful, human, and wholesome.

Pleasant to listen to but, on the whole, a little bit boring. I really like Dolly Parton's voice but no song really stood out to me here. Really nice cover by the way.

Coat of Many Colours 27 minutes of sweetly voiced country pop excellence. Although she doesn’t stray too far from traditional country structures on all 10 songs she has a brilliant way of subtly playing with the form, bringing in elements from other genres to gently add some colour and variation here and there - it really showcases all of Dolly’s skills as a songwriter, arranger and singer. Coat of Many Colours exemplifies that, a sweet sweet melody and a genuinely moving lyric, a story told with warm hearted succinctness and directness. Travelling Man is a great uptempo country rocker, with that slightly bluesy opening riff and tom tom pattern giving it an unexpected little frisson of spikiness. Great harmonies and lap steel on My Blue Tears, all done and dusted in 2 minutes. If I Lose My Mind is pretty conventional, but the sad sweetness of the words is complemented by the weeping lap steel. The Mystery of the Mystery starts off conventionally too, but the organ that picks up the middle verses is great, giving a swimmy uncertainty that matches the questioning lyric. I love the proper country structure, title and lyric of She Never Met a Man, the chorus melody doing that country thing of resolving just ‘so’. That bass on Early Morning Breeze is fantastic, again kind of playing with the genre a little by being in the foreground and carrying the song musically. Again a lovely lyric and melody too. That break and ‘bluuueee’ in The Way I See you is special, and the few bars of piano before the final verse and the outro is so tastefully appropriate. The gospel backing vocals on Here I Am are another great example of her subtly adding different colours and tones. Another great melody on Another Place To Live, a really catchy chorus with that marching drum pattern underneath and more great bass. Excellent uptempo way to end things. I don’t think this can be anything but a 5 - a gem of a country album but also just a sublime set of melodies and lyrics in its own right, performed brilliantly with such warmth and personality, with no fat or filler. Fantastic. 🧥🧥🧥🧥🧥 Playlist submission: Early Morning Breeze

Ugh, another CaW album. Thankfully this one was tolerable and even enjoyable in parts. Good onya, Dolly.

The title track and Travelling Man are exceptional. Unsurprisingly, none of the tracks that follow match them. But they're all still good, pulchritudinous in a way that only someone with a voice and picking style this powerful can get away with. She virtually never belts. Doesn't have to. You can hear what she's capable of even in her faintest tremble. In a way, her vocal restraint is as gentle as her stories of Christian modesty. After all, towering above her audience and yodelling about the beauty of nature and her pauper's coat wouldn't sit quite right.

Sweet, delicate songs!

Nashville was a system that could, given the right artist and intent, produce artifacts that manage to sound both modest and flawless decades down the line. This is one of them. The personnel listing takes up a phone screen of space, but they seamlessly swap and flow from track to track, all framing Parton as she briskly catalogues a panoply of emotional states and incident. This isn’t my vibe today, but if offered a perfectly-weighted galette, I’m not going to sniff and say nah mate, I only eat trifle on Mondays. No-one cares a good cock about Trifle Monday, Simon.

Beautiful production with that 70's country style. Dolly Parton has a great voice with a distinct twang. The songwriting is excellent on this album too. "Coat of Many Colors" had me tearing up.

Quite fond of this, listened many times through the day. Dolly is a good singer and fine songwriter. I'll spare you the David Brent quote

Upbeat in its songwriting, unassuming in its lyrics, and almost musically elementary - 'Coat Of Many Colors' (album) embodies traditional country simplicity, with welcome augments by Dolly Parton. Familiar ingredients with the likes of Bob Dylan, Parton employs storytelling-style lyricism that provide a 'sweet' quality to the record, of youth and child-likeness. Easily received but not necessarily provoking, a satisfactory record delivered nonetheless in the form of her personal life's narrative.

I don't like rock

The opening track, and title track, of Coat Of Many Colors might be the best song ever written that falls under the genre of country music. It always makes me well up a little, and really pulls on the heartstrings. I didn’t recognise anything else on this album, but I did find myself enjoying it. Dolly has always been the anomaly in country music, because she just makes good songs. My only criticism with this is that it felt like it was finished too soon. I was left wanting more, but that’s probably the nicest criticism an album can have.

Man, Dolly has PIPES. I’ve never listened to her stuff extensively, and this was a joy. Songs like Here I Am just blew me away – the amount of control and emotion she pulls into her songs is unbelievable. The songwriting is a bit one-note like a lot of the older music we’ve had on here, but I don’t really care. I’ll sit here and listen to this all day

Nice and somber with plenty of beautiful authentic vocals

Fun little album. Sweet instrumentals and vocal work. Also hard for me to separate artists from the art on this one - Dolly Parton is a wonderful person! 'Coat Of Many Colors' was my fave track.

Dolly is amazing. She.never disappoints!!!

When you show up at heaven's gate, Dolly Parton greets you with your own coat of many colours.

Solid country gold. No one hates Dolly and her music is great too. Great album from The Queen of Tennessee and an all around amazing person.

Joyful voice

Beautiful. Dolly has one of the most underrated voices in music.

Dolly is a treasure!

Low 5. I liked how quick the album went.

Great album of songs I didn’t know. It was good to hear more of dolly than just her hits

Pre-listening thoughts: aw yay dolly!!!! Post/during listening thoughts: there are a few singers in this world who they could sing me a grocery list and I’d give it a 5 on this site and dolly is one them. Plus the songwriting is an amazing example of what makes country storytelling so good. 9.5/10 DID I NEED TO HEAR THIS BEFORE I DIE: hmm maybe but like I just feel like people should hear any dolly Fav tracks: Coat of Many Colors, Traveling Man, Early Morning Breeze, The Way I See You, Here I Am Least fav tracks: n/a

First and last song was good. Good curse less album with countryside feeling.

Good golly Miss Dolly! I don't know how I could give this less than 5 stars. What a songwriter, what a voice. I can't get over how great Coat of Many Colors (the song) is. She employs such masterful storytelling true to the heart and soul of country/ folk music. This is so easy to listen to and she packs a lot into such a short time. My favorite songs right now are the title track, Traveling Man, My Blue Tears, Early Morning Breeze, and Here I Am.

A god damn delight.

I really like dolly this album was great.

As essential to any country music library as Sgt Peppers is to any rock music library. Her voice is just perfect. Essential.

Dolly Parton, you can do no wrong.

This album rocks so hard. Dolly's versatility is remarkable. "Coat of Many Colors" sets the tone so well as a gut wrenching, emotional ballad. The twist at the end of "Traveling Man" is straight up gold, amazing song. "She's Never Met a Man (she doesn't like)" is another very fun song. "Here I Am" is a highlight on the second half of the record. "Mystery of the Mystery" is a little bleh, and the second half of the record doesn't live up to the first. But the one two punch of "Coat of Many Colors" and "Traveling Man" is so good this is a five star record for me, and there are a bunch of other good tracks on her. Deeply enjoyed this.

I remember this album from Dolly Parton and its title track which I learned about from an American music course in college. It's a sweet song about accepting the best that one can accomplish with what they have, as Dolly wore that coat of rags her mother made for her. It's a nice sentimental song with a story to it, which is pretty much how the rest of the album is. Coat of Many Colors is a decent slice of country music where the warm textures provided by Dolly's voice and the session musicians are paired with lyrics of whimsy coming from an earnest place. She sang from the heart about relationships lived in such as in "If I Lose My Mind" and "She Never Met a Man (She Didn't Like)", and with wide eyes about the larger world in front of her such as in "The Mystery of the Mystery" and "Early Morning Breeze". There's nothing too exciting or profound to be had here, and sometimes that's just enough for an album to satisfy. I didn't expect to give such high praise to an album so simple on the surface, but Coat of Many Colors shines in that exception.

Love!! Favorites I think are obviously the opening song, My Blue Tears, the way I see you and here I am. But I loved everything all together!

Young Dolly. What else to say??

Dolly is so sweet you can't help but love her. Her voice and storytelling is immediately endearing. "Coat of Many Colors" is a particularly gorgeous piece of songwriting. The backing band does its job well and I'm a sucker for that pedal steel (especially when it's Pete Drake!). The album is short and light as a feather, with next to no filler. It isn't super ambitious, but for me it becomes far more than the sum of its parts. Lovely stuff. I'm charmed.

Love love love. Dolly Parton can do no wrong. ‘The Way I See You’ is a beautiful song I hadn’t heard before.

Just a really good album tbh loved it

Dolly Parton albums tend to be, erm, front-loaded with whatever her single was at the time and a lot of filler, but this is one of the exceptions. I love the one-two punch of a mother’s love in the title track and the high camp of her mama stealing her secret boyfriend in “Traveling Man.” “The Mystery of the Mystery” is country gospel existentialism of the highest order. “Early Morning Breeze” is a spooky beauty that could have been a Lee Hazelwood cut or even a VU b-side.

Favorite Track: The Mystery of the Mystery

DOLLY

It just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it? What an album! What a songwriter!

Marvelous album. The songs are well written and even better executed. The band is incredible and Dolly is Dolly, nuff said there. AND it's just under half an hour, perfect amount of time but I still yearn for more

She’s so good, man lmao. Her voice is amazing, but I hate how she has so much vibrato; I know by now it’s her signature style but it can be a bit much for me sometimes. Other than that the songwriting is great and the songs are too. I’ll be replaying this.

9/10 maybe even close to a 10 as I feel every song is a great addition and I got something out of the tracks; a message, a laugh or just nice descriptions of a morning sun... personal and infectious lyrics and I may have been to harsh on country, the mellow guitars exude comfort :) Traveling Man is funny cause you can hear her laugh midtake, something I had previously heard on Yung Lean - Shine lol :D The Mystery of Mystery presents an interesting question about how much we really can know! Very passionate voice on all her songs! And from what I remember she is well liked with a lot of philanthropy so that's great :D

YES DOLLY

Literally perfect what the heck.

Consistent

Dolly is pure gold.

old timey bittersweet music, Dolly Parton has an amazing voice that's hard to get tired of, there is a lot of sweetness in this cute little short album, melts my heart, especially the way she sings about her mother, there is love in her voice. A heartwarming album, it was a comforting listen.

Dolly Parton is one of my all time favorites. Very hard to not love her even if you're not all that into her music

Besides the fact that Dolly Parton is an absolute treasure (and I’m not even American) and that my heart simply doesn’t allow me to put anything less than 5, I really enjoyed this album. And I felt like being supported and like I’m not alone.

I don't think there's ever been a more delightful song writer than Dolly. Such joy and wonder shine forth in every song. This is not just good country, this is great music.

Here she is indeed. Ten songs coming in under 30 minutes is all that’s needed to hit all the feels here. That voice. That pure sweetness. And all before the age of 25. Begs the question if I’m feeling this because of her recent resurgence? Or did Dolly never really go away at all…because the colors on that coat seem to shine more brightly today than ever before.

Ja, ich liebe diesen Country! Und habe mal Lebensgeschichte von Dolly nachgelesen, interessant.

Good, delightful album. I had never listened to it before as a whole.

I hadn't heard this album before, loved it!

Deep soulful country lyrics

Queen Mother never falters.

beautiful, fave is title song

I've always heard how Dolly Parton is a great person, but I never heard much about her music. Turns out her music is great too!

Ein Album mit vielen Farben. Ich lerne Dolly Parton als hervorragende musikalische Macherin kennen. Tolles Album.

There’s no better illustration of Dolly Parton’s talent as a songwriter than the opening two tracks on this album. Coat of Many Colors is a heartbreaking story of growing up poor with a mama’s love. In contrast, the next one is Dolly at her sassy best with a cheeky tale of stepping out with a Travelling Man, with a killer twist. There are also songs of awful spousal abuse, spirituality and the simple joy of a flower meadow on a sunny morning. A pure gem!

Another example of great Old Country(TM). Dolly is a true American treasure and she shines in this offering.

Dolly is a goddamn American Treasure.

The Queen of the Southland and one of her most iconic albums.

WOW! Another artist I probably would have never listened to a full album from, had it not been for this list. What an incredibly pleasant listen. Comforting, to a level little music/art in general can reach. The title song is beautiful. She has some voice.

Really nice album. I think her voice is either you love or hate it but personally I love it. I think she's a very talented song writer and knows how to tell a good story. One of the greats of the genre. Personal enjoyment wise I waffle between a 4 and a 5. Since this is her only solo album on the list (I think) I'm going to round up.

Goddamn. I knew I would enjoy this; I've enjoyed pretty much everything I've ever heard from Dolly's classic period. But I didn't expect to love this album as much as I did. Just top-notch all the way around. Incredible songwriting, arrangements, performances, etc. It's so much more than just the fantastic title track. Probably the most unexpected 5 stars I've awarded so far, but very happy to. 5/5

This is just a good, fun, classic album.

Omg i loved this album so much. Some crazy dark stories on this album (particularly struck by the lyrics in If I Lose My Mind). So much good bass playing on this album, and I love how high it is in the mix. Early Morning Breeze wouldn't be out of place on Folk is a Four Letter Word. Great harmonies on my blue tears. Love the bass breakdown at the climax of Travelling Man. I will be listening to this album for a long time!

One of Dolly’s best

Wonderful. An icon in the industry.

I think I might like country now? Had a solid heart and most of the songs were hits!

Love her young country twang. Best storyteller. She Is an icon and country music legend for a reason.

5 stars, no notes

Dolly is always amazing and it was nice to hear some songs I haven't heard of hers since I was a kid. Speaking of which, it was rather interesting hearing the lyrics to "If I Lose My Mind" as an adult!

A good joke would be to give this 2 stars because of her boobs.

Dolly Parton has an incomparable career - she is a musician, actor, producer, and as a philanthropist (for her children's literacy project, alone, she is worthy of sainthood, and it is only one of her stunningly admirably projects). Coat of Many Colors was her eighth studio album. For her extensive career - 49 studio albums to date, and over 200 compilation albums - it may be impossible to rank any one album as "her best" or even "among her best." The album is on many "best albums of all time" lists. Ms. Parton has said that "Coat of Many Colors" is among the favorite songs she has written, and she has written over 3,000. The is a lovely album of country ballads, showcasing Dolly's incredible voice. At root, the basis of all of the accolades in Dolly's storied career is her amazing voice, and her ability to recount relatable, engaging stories.

Wow what a good entry. This child, I dont know if its a boy or a girl. looks like they have tears on their eyes. I guess it's about a memory, a very warm one. I kind of cried when I listened to 'Coat of Many Colors'. Good thing my mom is still alive so I was able to share this song to her and I also told her I love her. Better than never I suppose :)

Really pleasantly surprised by this one! Never listened to it, she's so ingrained in my head as an older, pop-star type figure that I couldn't picture her as a 25-year old country crooner. What a devastating title track! Impressive that so much of this was self-written. Really liked it!

I mean, it's Dolly what's not to love

The list continues to serve up classics. Not much to say but this is fantastic, well written and performed, and one of the few short albums I wish were (a little bit) longer.

Dolly’s gotten a lot of love in recent years, and she’s very likable and does a lot of good things. She also works HARD and is a fantastic song writer and performer. This album puts that on display.

This was wonderful. I love Dolly Parton, although I haven't heard any of her catalog beyond her radio hits, and this album did not disappoint. The melodies and poetry were just about perfect. There is something so simple and beautiful about Dolly's writing and singing, and her band is clearly at the top of their game here. So, so good. My only complaint is that it's too short, so I'm listening to it again. Five stars, easily.

Didn't know any of these songs before this, but come on. Dolly is an american institution. She is amazing. Five stars all day every day.

Album 506 of 1001 Dolly Parton - Coat Of Many Colors (1971) Rating : 4.5 / 5 The first 45 I ever picked out for myself was 'Joshua' (her previous album from the same year) from Dolly Parton, so she holds a special place with me. That probably accounts for an extra half point. The first two tracks are the strongest, in my opinion, but the others are trailing pretty close behind. Better after the first listen. It is some iconic Dolly.

Cool song