 |
|
SKEETER SINGS DOLLY IS NOW AVAILABLE ON IMPORT HERE
On the liner notes, Dolly wrote, in part: "I think I'll call her sunshine...In doing this album she has paid me the greatest compliment anyone could ever pay a songwriter." Skeeter wrote, in part: "I think you'll become a songwriting legend like Hank Williams! I'm so proud to know you and I think through your songs I even know myself a little better." The cuts, in order, are "Joshua," "Put It Off Until Tomorrow," "Gypsy, Joe, and Me," "Fuel to the Flame," "Just The Way I Am," "Touch Your Woman," "Down from Dover," "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)," "Tomorrow is Forever," and "Daddy Was an Old Time Preacher Man." By far, the best cuts on the album are the two oldest. These songs, recorded by Davis in the '60s, were produced by Felton Jarvis and included on this album about five years after they were recorded. "Fuel to The Flame" (1967), which was one of Davis' biggest country hits after "The End of The World," and "Put It Off Until Tomorrow," an earlier hit for Bill Phillips and one of Dolly's most often covered tunes, are beautiful. Both possess the mix of a folky late-'60s sound with the "girl-group" variety of multiple voice-over harmonies by Davis herself in which she sounds her best and with which she earned her biggest fame. The only other great recordings on the album are done with a similar sound. They are "Touch Your Woman" and "Down from Dover," the latter of which Davis said was her favorite song on the album. While "Down from Dover" doesn't come close to Dolly's original, it is far superior to the cover recorded the same year by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood; even though it lacks emotion at the pivotal final verse. And although Davis' version of "Touch Your Woman" is good, it pales in comparison to both Dolly's original and the R&B cover by Margie Joseph, all three versions recorded the same year. Most of the remaining songs are just okay, since when she isn't backing herself with additional vocals, Davis' voice is very harsh and lacking in vibrato. The only really, really bad song on the album is Davis' horrendous cover of "Joshua." Overall, the album is a good addition for fans of Dolly or Davis. And of note, a kind of a scorecard on the cuts included: *Fuel to the Flame: Recorded by Dolly on Monument in 1967 but a hit for Davis that year. *Put It Off Until Tomorrow: Recorded by Dolly on Monument in 1967 but a hit for Bill Phillips with Dolly on uncredited harmony in 1966; subsequently recorded by numerous artists including Porter & Dolly, Dolly with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn (solo), The Kenndals, and Ricky Scaggs. *In the Good Old Days: No. 25 for Dolly in 1968; also recorded by Merle Haggard. * Gypsy, Joe, and Me: Dolly album cut in 1969. * Down from Dover and Just the Way I Am: Dolly album cuts in 1970 (and as mentioned before, "Down from Dover" was also a Nancy Sinatra-Lee Hazlewood duet in 1972). * Tomorrow is Forever: Porter & Dolly No. 9 in 1970; recorded in 1996 by Beth and Ann Stephens and also recorded as a solo cut by Porter Wagoner in 1973. * Daddy Was an Old Time Preacherman: Porter & Dolly No. 7 in 1970. * Joshua: Dolly No. 1 in 1971. * Touch Your Woman: Dolly No. 6 in 1972; as mentioned earlier, also recorded by Margie Joseph in 1972. (All songs were prior to Dolly's phenomenal recordings of in 1973-75, including the No. 1s "Jolene," "I Will Always Love You," "Love is Like a Butterfly," and "The Bargain Store.") |
