16 Biggest Hits: Dolly Parton

Album Review

16 Biggest Hits is a fairly accurate title in the case of this Dolly Parton best-of, which is representative of her musical output from the early '70s up to her turn-of-the-'80s comeback that began with White Limozeen (1989), compiling most of her best, if not necessarily biggest, hits from this time span. With so many hits to her name over several decades, Parton isn't easily summarized on a single-disc collection like this. The Essential Dolly Parton, released in 2005 by Legacy, was more ideal; over the course of 37 songs, it showcased the country icon's colorful array of career highlights much better. Consequently, there are at least a good dozen songs that could have been chosen for 16 Biggest Hits, from early-'70s gems like "Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)" and "Joshua," to late-'70s country-pop like "Heartbreaker" and "I Really Got the Feeling," to gaudy '80s wonders like "Potential New Boyfriend" and "Tie Our Love (In a Double Knot)." Yet what's here on 16 Biggest Hits is fitting and well satisfying: "Coat of Many Colors" (1971), "Jolene" (1973), "I Will Always Love You" (1974), "Love Is Like a Butterfly" (1974), "The Seeker" (1975), "All I Can Do" (1976), "Here You Come Again" (1977), "Two Doors Down" (1977), "9 to 5" (1980), "Single Women" (1982), "Heartbreak Express" (1982), "Islands in the Stream" (1983), "Don't Call It Love" (1985), "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That" (1989), "Rockin' Years" (1991), and "Romeo" (1993). All of these songs were hits, half of them chart-toppers.