Items14The creator’s order
  1. 1Just Because I'm a Woman (1968)Just Because I'm a Woman (1968)Released Jan 1, 1968Early character studies The title song answers a double standard directly. “False Eyelashes” makes its point through a woman’s life and a few details about the way she presents herself. “The Bridge” turns inward again, letting a woman tell her own story of abandonment. These early songs already…0
  2. 2The Fairest of Them All (1970)The Fairest of Them All (1970)Released Jan 1, 1970Stories that take their time In “Down from Dover,” a pregnant young woman waits for a man to come back after her family has turned her away. Parton gives the waiting room to stretch across verses, so the hope feels real even as the story grows darker. It’s one of eight songs she wrote for the…0
  3. 3Coat of Many Colors (1971)Coat of Many Colors (1971)Released Jan 1, 1971Small details, different moods Try “My Blue Tears” and “Early Morning Breeze.” A bluebird makes a private sadness harder to bear in the first, while a morning walk gives the second its calm. Those small observations do the same kind of work as the scraps of cloth in the title song, making each…0
  4. 4My Tennessee Mountain Home (1973)My Tennessee Mountain Home (1973)Released Jan 1, 1973A memoir in songs Parton opens by reading the first letter she sent her parents after moving to Nashville. Songs about her father’s working boots and the doctor who delivered her give the town and family their own place on the record. The closer, “Down on Music Row,” takes her back to the start of…0
  5. 5The Bargain Store (1975)The Bargain Store (1975)Released Jan 1, 1975Risk and regret The title song treats a bruised heart as something a shopper might overlook. “Kentucky Gambler” gives the next track its own kind of bad bargain, following a man whose luck at the tables costs him his family. Parton wrote both songs. Later in the set, her reading of Merle Haggard’s…0
  6. 6Here You Come Again (1977)Here You Come Again (1977)Released Jan 1, 1977The range of a crossover album Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil wrote the polished pop title song. Stay for Parton’s “Me and Little Andy,” a quiet story in which she changes her voice to speak as a child, and Kenny Rogers’s “Sweet Music Man,” which closes the album. The three tracks ask for very…0
  7. 79 to 5 and Odd Jobs (1980)9 to 5 and Odd Jobs (1980)Released Jan 1, 1980Working life beyond the office The movie theme opens the door to an album about several kinds of work and want. Parton’s own “Working Girl,” “Hush-a-Bye Hard Times,” and “Poor Folks’ Town” take the subject in different directions. Listening past the opener gives its famous workplace complaint a…0
  8. 8TrioTrioThree voices sharing the lead Parton shares this album with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. Start with Parton’s “Wildflowers,” then try the three singers’ version of Phil Spector’s “To Know Him Is to Love Him.” The first lets her story open out into harmonies, while the second lets you hear…0
  9. 9White Limozeen (1989)White Limozeen (1989)Released Jan 1, 1989Country with a bluegrass kick Ricky Skaggs produced this record, and the version of REO Speedwagon’s “Time for Me to Fly” makes his influence easy to hear. Banjo and fiddle help carry a melody built for a rock band. The title track, co-written by Parton and Mac Davis, takes the album back to a…0
  10. 10Hungry Again (1998)Hungry Again (1998)Released Jan 1, 1998New songs with a homeward pull Parton went back to her old home place to write the dozen songs on this acoustic-leaning album. “Blue Valley Songbird” gives the collection a story about trying to make it as a singer. “Shine On,” a tribute to Tammy Wynette, turns that attention toward a friend.0