What’s Dolly Parton up to these days? I heard she was doing a duet album with a lot of my favorite singers.
—H. Blankenship, Prescott, Ariz.
Indeed, Dolly’s new album, Those Were the Days, features a host of guest stars: Kris Kristofferson, Cat Stevens, Judy Collins, Norah Jones and Alison Krauss among them. The project marks a break from songwriting for Dolly, who instead selected some of her favorite “era-defining” folk-rock songs from the 1960s and ’70s, including John Lennon’s “Imagine,” Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” and Tommy James’ “Crimson and Clover.” She features several of the new CD’s songs on her current tour, donning bell-bottomed pants and a headband to get into the “groove” of the times. Next up for the superstar, who turns 60 in January—writing some new songs for a Broadway musical based on her 1980 smash single “9 to 5,” from the hit movie of the same name.
