#257 Dolly Parton, 'Coat of Many Colors' (1971)

Previously #301

Dolly Parton, one of the enduring successes of Country music with her defining album. By her own admission, her family was dirt poor growing up and the autobiographical title track gives us insight into that. Her mother had made a coat of many colours for her with a box of rags that someone had given to them. A coat she was so proud of, yet she was mocked and laughed at at school because of it. A sad and heartbreaking story, but just so typical of Dolly Parton; she didn’t care what people thought – “But I was rich as I could be/In my coat of many colors/My momma made for me/Made just for me.” Her mother had 12 children by the age of 35 years old, and they all lived together in a one-room cabin.

The second song on the album is not so autobiographical, but a great story about a love triangle between a daughter, her mother and a traveling man. ‘My Blue Tears’ was the first single from the album, a typical Country song of heartbreak, so perfectly portrayed by Parton. Her voice is so unique and beautiful and Parton is so beyond her 25 years on this album. It would go on to solidify her as a legend of country and set her up as a great songwriter ahead of her two breakthrough singles 2-3 years late (‘Jolene’ and ‘I Will Always Love You’).

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