Pure and Simple (Dolly Parton album)

Background

The genesis for the project was a pair of intimate concerts Parton performed at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium in August 2015, featuring Parton and a quartet of backing players, entitled "Dolly Parton: Pure and Simple". The concerts were repeated the following weekend with four performances at Dollywood. The shows were well received and from that emerged the idea to produce a similarly stripped down album and tour.

At a press conference held in Toronto, Canada on June 13, 2014 Parton covered a wide range of topics to promote the Canadian leg of her Pure & Simple Tour. Among the tidbits were that the album would be distributed worldwide by Sony Music for Dolly Records, its release date had been moved from August 26 to August 19, that the title track would be a single and that "Outside Your Door" might be the second single. The album was ultimately distributed through RCA Nashville, effectively reuniting Parton (who'd been with RCA from 1967 - 1986) with her longtime record label.

Previous recordings

Four songs from the album have been previously recorded by Parton in one form or another:

Promotion

The Pure & Simple Tour was announced March 6, 2016 on Parton's official website. A press conference was held the following day providing additional details concerning the tour. The trek is coined as Parton's biggest tour in 25 years. 64 dates are planned in the United States and Canada, visiting the most requested markets missed on previous tours. Alongside the tour; the singer's latest album, Pure & Simple is set to be released. Parton explained a tour was not planned due to her busy schedule. In August 2015, the singer performed two sold out shows at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville as well as four shows the following weekend at Dollywood. The scaled down shows sparked Parton's interest in returning to the stage.

To promote the album and tour, as well as Dollywood, Parton appeared on Hallmark Channel's Home & Family everyday during the week of May 30 - June 3, 2016. Throughout the week Parton performed 7 songs, 3 new songs off the album ("Pure and Simple," "Mama," and "Say Forever You'll Be Mine"), 1 song from the movie Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors ("Angel Hill" with Alyvia Alyn Lind) and 3 classics ("Coat of Many Colors," "Applejack" and "My Tennessee Mountain Home").

The track "Mama" was released as a promo single ahead of the album's release via Parton's official website on May 4, 2016 as a free download for Mother's Day.

On July 6, 2016 Parton announced via Twitter that her new single, "Pure and Simple," would receive its radio debut on BBC Radio 2 during the Ken Bruce Show on July 7, 2016.

On July 7, 2016, Parton revealed the albums artwork, track listing and debuted the lyric video for the album's first single, "Pure and Simple," in an article by the Huffington Post. It was also announced that the single would be available for download through all digital music retailers, along with the album's pre-order, beginning July 8, 2016.

The album's second single, "Outside Your Door," was released through all digital music retailers on July 29, 2016, along with the lyric video on Vevo and YouTube.

On August 12, 2016, in an article published by Today, it was revealed that the album's song "Head Over High Heels" contains a lyrical reference to British singer-songwriter Adele ("I put on my tight dress, hair piled on my head, painting my lips red and my eyes like Adele.").

USA Today published an interview with Parton about the album on August 16, 2016, and it featured a first-listen to the album track "Can't Be That Wrong".

Parton appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on August 23, 2016 to promote the album and perform the title track, "Pure and Simple". The following morning, to further promote the album, Parton made an appearance on Today where she performed "9 to 5", "Pure and Simple", and "Coat of Many Colors".

On September 15, 2016, Cosmopolitan published an article announcing "Head Over High Heels" as Parton's new single from the album and premiered the lyric video.

On October 3, 2016, Parton made appearances on CBS' The Talk, where she gave an interview, and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where she was interviewed and performed "Outside Your Door".

Critical reception

Pure & Simple received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, they assign a rating out of 100 to selected independent reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 67, based on 11 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews." Glenn Gamboa gave the album a B+ rating in his review for New York's Newsday, calling the album "a thick slice of down-home charm from the country legend." He also named "Head Over High Heels" and "Outside Your Door" standout tracks and praised the simple production of the album, "This isn’t big-production Dolly. These are songs that focus on her vocals and her storytelling, sweet, kindhearted tales that seem to belong in a simpler time."

The Toronto Sun reviewed the album, giving it 2 1/2 out of 5 stars, saying, "While it might not be her glossiest offering, Pure & Simple is an average batch of romantic ballads and poppier ditties voiced in her breathy flutter. Nice and sweet — but no big deal." Writing for Exclaim!, Stuart Henderson gave the album a mixed review, calling it a "a middle shelf release in Parton's discography." The Scotsman gave it 2 stars, stating "This is Dolly in either sugary sweet or breathily sensitive mode, accompanied by the trill of mandolin, delicately picked guitar or graceful strings." The Arts Desk gave a positive review of the album, "As artistic passions go, Parton’s is a straightforward one, but it’s delivered with conviction and an enjoyable sense of melodrama," praising all tracks except "Mama", saying that it "is a gruesome syrup of 1950s gender stereotyping."

In a review for Entertainment Weekly Madison Vain gave the album an A- and said that "occasionally the album feels like it might be on the verge of wading too far into sappy Hallmark Card territory...but those moments are rare, and the album is saved by Parton’s self-assured soprano, which has lost none of its girlish charm." Joe Breen of The Irish Times gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, saying that "there is entertainment aplenty, both lachrymose and lively, but the songs are mostly safe and predictable musings on enduring love."

Matt Williams of Toronto's Now gave the album 3 out of 5 stars in his review, calling the album a much needed "injection of sunshine" in the midst of all the "darkness and anxiety [that] permeate[s] our pop music landscape." Sean Maunder for Metro Weekly gave the album 4 stars and said that although it "may not rank among her most memorable work, ...it is quintessential Dolly, an album that reminds us why she has such staying power. In an increasingly uncertain world, it’s comforting to know that Dolly Parton is a constant."

Commercial performance

In the US, Pure & Simple debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 20,200 copies. Pure & Simple was also Parton's best debut on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, entering at No. 1, surpassing 2014's Blue Smoke, which debuted at No. 2. It was also Parton's first No. 1 album on the Top Country Albums chart since 1991's Eagle When She Flies 25 years prior. The album also debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's US Folk Albums chart. The album has sold 113,500 copies in the US as of March 2017.

Pure & Simple debuted at No. 2 on the UK Albums chart and No. 1 on the UK Country Albums chart with sales of 17,000 copies. On the Australian Albums chart the album landed at No. 9. In Canada, the album debuted at No. 20, her highest charting studio album in the Canada SoundScan era. It surpasses the No. 31 peak of her last release, 2014's Blue Smoke. The album debuted at No. 33 on the Irish Albums chart. In New Zealand the album made its chart debut at No. 39. The lowest chart position came from Belgium, debuting at No. 133.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Dolly Parton.

Versions released

Standard Edition

Walmart & International Edition

UK Edition

Cracker Barrel Edition

Personnel

Adapted from album liner notes.