Dolly Parton reviewed
Dolly Parton
Backwoods Barbie
(Dolly)
Dolly Parton brims with so much vitality she resented being bounced from country radio and resorting to albums that earned critical acclaim. Radio and TV are where she wants to shine and if the major labels won’t help — well, you saw what she did to Dabney Coleman.
Fittingly, Backwoods Barbie gets gussied up with pop sheen and multi-layered arrangements that hearken to her ’80s peak. It’s mostly empty, which is exactly what she wants. She even manages to siphon whatever soul was lingering in Fine Young Cannibals’ “She Drives Me Crazy” and then stomps on “The Tracks Of My Tears” in hot-pink stillettos. What’s missing, ironically, is the backwoods. Parton’s doctor-aided quest to look young might resemble more and more the Barbie dolls she fantasized being as a kid, but there’s nothing to suggest the white-trash chic Gretchen Wilson banks on. On “Shinola” Parton is much too belle to talk shit, but she is trying to get back on radio, after all.
— Steve Forstneger
Appearing: May 8th and 9th at Chicago Theatre in Chicago.
