Blue Smoke
Dolly Parton
Blue Smoke is Dolly Parton’s 2014 studio album, a 12-track country and bluegrass-leaning record that reconnects her polished contemporary sound with the acoustic traditions of her Appalachian roots. Produced by Kent Wells and released through Dolly Records and Sony Masterworks, it balances new Parton compositions with carefully chosen outside material: Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” the traditional “Banks of the Ohio,” and a bluegrass-influenced version of Bon Jovi’s “Lay Your Hands on Me.” Its title track uses the image of a departing train and drifting smoke to frame a restless, forward-moving album about memory, home, love, and perseverance.
The album is especially notable for its collaborations. Parton reunites with Kenny Rogers for “You Can’t Make Old Friends,” an affectionate reflection on lasting friendship that became their final recorded duet before Rogers’s death, while Willie Nelson joins her on “From Here to the Moon and Back,” a song Parton had written for the Joyful Noise soundtrack. Elsewhere, “Home,” “Unlikely Angel,” “If I Had Wings,” “Miss You–Miss Me,” and the closing “Try” emphasize uplift, faith, emotional resilience, and rural belonging. Warm, melodic, and stylistically varied, Blue Smoke presents Parton as a veteran artist still drawing creatively from both her country-pop experience and her bluegrass foundation.
Blue Smoke
Dolly Parton
Blue Smoke is Dolly Parton’s 2014 studio album, a 12-track country and bluegrass-leaning record that reconnects her polished contemporary sound with the acoustic traditions of her Appalachian roots. Produced by Kent Wells and released through Dolly Records and Sony Masterworks, it balances new Parton compositions with carefully chosen outside material: Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” the traditional “Banks of the Ohio,” and a bluegrass-influenced version of Bon Jovi’s “Lay Your Hands on Me.” Its title track uses the image of a departing train and drifting smoke to frame a restless, forward-moving album about memory, home, love, and perseverance.
The album is especially notable for its collaborations. Parton reunites with Kenny Rogers for “You Can’t Make Old Friends,” an affectionate reflection on lasting friendship that became their final recorded duet before Rogers’s death, while Willie Nelson joins her on “From Here to the Moon and Back,” a song Parton had written for the Joyful Noise soundtrack. Elsewhere, “Home,” “Unlikely Angel,” “If I Had Wings,” “Miss You–Miss Me,” and the closing “Try” emphasize uplift, faith, emotional resilience, and rural belonging. Warm, melodic, and stylistically varied, Blue Smoke presents Parton as a veteran artist still drawing creatively from both her country-pop experience and her bluegrass foundation.