The Best of Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton

The Best of Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton is a compilation album by Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton. It was released on July 19, 1971, by RCA Victor.[1] The album contains tracks from each of their collaboration albums released up to that point, with the exception of 1969's Always, Always. The album included one previously unreleased track, the Grammy-nominated single, "Better Move It on Home".

The Best of Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton
Compilation album by
ReleasedJuly 19, 1971
RecordedOctober 11, 1967–December 14, 1970
StudioRCA Studio B (Nashville)
GenreCountry
Length24:19
LabelRCA Victor
ProducerBob Ferguson
Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton chronology
Two of a Kind
(1971)
The Best of Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton
(1971)
The Right Combination • Burning the Midnight Oil
(1972)
Dolly Parton chronology
Joshua
(1971)
The Best of Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton
(1971)
Coat of Many Colors
(1971)
Singles from The Best of Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton
  1. "Better Move It on Home"
    Released: January 26, 1971

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [2]
Christgau's Record GuideB[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music     [4]

The review in the July 31, 1971 issue of Billboard said, "This collection of the best performances by Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton is sure to prove a blockbuster programming and sales item. Their top treatments of "Daddy Was an Old Time Preacher Man", "The Pain of Loving You", "The Last Thing on My Mind", and "Just Someone I Used to Know" are standouts."[5]

Cashbox published a review in the July 24, 1971 issue which said, "One whole lot of sales power in this album from a duo that consistently hits the charts together and apart. The most recent hit here included is "Better Move It on Home" while other titles will be equally familiar to their large following: "Just Someone I Used to Know", "The Pain of Loving You", and "Holding on to Nothin'" just to mention a few. A musical marriage made in country heaven."[6]

Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies, Robert Christgau wrote: "There are real pleasures here, but they're chiefly vocal. The surprises are few, the jokes weak and infrequent, the sentimentality overripe ("Jeanie's Afraid of the Dark", yeucch), and the best song's by Paxton, nor Parton. In short, a lousy ad for couple-bonding, though whether Porter is repressing Dolly or Dolly holding out on Porter I wouldn't know."[3]

Commercial performance

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The album peaked at No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot Country LP's chart.

The album's single, "Better Move It on Home", was released in January 1971[7] and peaked at No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and No. 8 in Canada on the RPM Country Singles chart.

Accolades

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The album's single, "Better Move It on Home", was nominated for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group at the 14th Annual Grammy Awards.[8]

Track listing

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Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Recording dateLength
1."Just Someone I Used to Know"Jack ClementApril 21, 19692:21
2."Daddy Was an Old Time Preacher Man"
April 21, 19702:57
3."Tomorrow Is Forever"PartonDecember 2, 19692:45
4."Jeannie's Afraid of the Dark"PartonMay 21, 19692:44
5."The Last Thing on My Mind"Tom PaxtonOctober 11, 19672:34
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Recording dateLength
1."The Pain of Loving You"December 14, 19702:05
2."Better Move It on Home"Ray GriffDecember 14, 19702:14
3."Holding On to Nothin'"Jerry ChesnutJanuary 31, 19682:26
4."Run That by Me One More Time"PartonDecember 3, 19692:18
5."We'll Get Ahead Someday"Mack MagahaMay 22, 19681:55

Personnel

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Adapted from the album liner notes.[1]

  • Bob Ferguson – producer
  • Les Leverett – cover photo
  • Jim Malloy – recording engineer
  • Al Pachucki – recording engineer
  • Chuck Seitz – recording engineer
  • Roy Shockley – recording technician
  • Paul W. Soelberg – liner notes

Charts

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Album

Chart (1971) Peak
position
US Hot Country LP's (Billboard)[9] 7

Singles

Title Year Peak position
US
Country

[10]
CAN
Country

[11]
"Better Move It on Home" 1971 7 8

Release history

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Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various July 19, 1971 RCA Victor [1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Porter Wagoner And Dolly Parton - The Best Of Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton". Discogs. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  2. ^ The Best of Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton at AllMusic
  3. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: W". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 21, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  4. ^ Colin Larkin (2006). "Parton, Dolly". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 6 (4th ed.). Muze, Oxford University Press. p. 435–6. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
  5. ^ "Billboard - July 31, 1971" (PDF). American Radio History. Billboard. p. 49. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Cashbox - July 24, 1971" (PDF). American Radio History. Cashbox. p. 37. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  7. ^ "Billboard - February 6, 1971" (PDF). American Radio History. Billboard. p. 74. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  8. ^ "Dolly Parton". GRAMMY.com. 15 February 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Dolly Parton Chart History - Top Country Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Dolly Parton Chart History - Hot Country Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  11. ^ Canada, Library and Archives (17 July 2013). "Results: RPM Weekly". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 20 April 2019.