It was inevitable, especially considering her recent albums, that Dolly Parton would eventually go all the way back to the mountains with a bluegrass project. A child of the southern Appalachians, Parton would have absorbed this music straight through her skin during her formative years. And, indeed, her performance on this CD is impeccable, as is her choice of material. Producer Steve Buckingham has taken care to bring together a group of accomplished bluegrassers to accompany Parton. Alison Krauss, Stuart Duncan, Dan Tyminski, Jerry Douglas, Rhonda Vincent, and Bryan Sutton are major contributors, as is Patty Loveless. Parton wrote two songs for the CD — the title tune and "Endless Stream of Tears" — and she also reworked two of her previously recorded numbers, "Will He Be Waiting for Me" and "Steady As the Rain" as bluegrass pieces. She convinced her producer that Billy Joel's "Travelin' Prayer" and Blackfoot's hard-rocking "Train, Train" could work as bluegrass songs and, sure enough, they do. She also reached into the traditional folk repertoire and crafted a beautiful, haunting version of "Silver Dagger." Parton shows a terrific knack for this genre and, as always, her approach is a bit eccentric, but that's one of her gifts as a musician. She's always followed her own muse; this time it has led her to a singular interpretation of bluegrass that is one of the important bluegrass releases of 1999..
DOLLY PARTON
THE GRASS IS BLUE
Sugarhill 3900October 26/1999
Produced by Steve Buckingham
Bryan Sutton - guitarSteve Buckingham - rh.guitar
Jerry Douglas - dobro
Stuart Duncan - fiddle
Jim Mills - banjo
Barry Bales - bass
Sam Bush - mandolin
Vocals:
Alison Krauss, Keith Little, Patty Loveless, Claire Lynch, Louis Nunley, Alan O'Bryant,
Dan Tyminski, Darrin Vincent, Rhonda Vincent
1.
TRAVELLIN' PRAYER
(Billy Joel) « © '74 Impulsive Music, ASCAP »Hey Lord take a look on around tonight and find out where my baby's gonna be
Hey Lord would you look out for him tonight for he is far away from me
Hey Lord would you look out for him tonight make sure that he's gonna be alright
Things gonna be alright with me
Hey Lord would you look out for him tonight and make sure all his dreams are sweet
Send down that you got him on the road but you'll make it softer for his feet
Hey Lord would you look out for him tonight make sure that he's gonna be alright
Untill he's home and here with me
Hey Lord would you look out for him tonight for he is sleeping under the sky
Hey Lord make sure the ground he's sleepin' on is always warm and dry
Ooh don't give him too much pain and keep him away from planes
Cause my baby hates to fly
[ banjo - mandolin ] Hey Lord would you look out for him tonight for it gets rough along the way
And if it all sounds strange just because I don't know how to pray
Ooh won't you give him peace of mind and if you ever find the time
Tell him I miss him everyday
Hey Lord take a look on around tonight and find out where he's gonna be
Hey Lord would you look out for him tonight for he is far away from me
Hey Lord would you look out for him tonight make sure that he's gonna be alright
Until he's home and here with me here with me
**********
2.
CASH ON THE BARREL HEAD
(Charlie Louvin - Ira Louvin) « © '56 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »I got in a little trouble at the county seat
Lord they put me in the jailhouse for loafing on the street
When the judge said guity he made his point
He said forty five dollars or thirty days in the joint
That'll be cash on the barrelhead hon
You can make your choice you're twenty one
No money down no credit plan
No time to chase you cause I'm a busy man
[ mandolin - dobro ] Found a telephone number on a laundry slip
I had a good hearted jailer with a six gun hip
He let me call long distance she said number please
Just as soon as I told her she shouted back at me
Said that'll be cash on the barrelhead hon
Not parting out head but the entire sum
No money down no credit line
Cause a little bird tells me you're a travelling kind
[ fiddle ] Thirty days in the jailhouse four days on the road
I was feeling mighty hungry my feet a heavy load
I saw a greyhound coming stuck up my thumb
As soon as I was seated the driver caught my arm
That'll be cash on the barrelhead hon
This old grey dog is paid to run
When the engine stops and the wheels will roll
Give me cash on the barrelhead I'll take you down the road
Cash on the barrelhead I'll take you down the road
**********
3.
FEW OLD MEMORIES
(Don Reid - Harold Reid) « © '74 Songs Of Universal, BMI »Just a few old memories slipped in through my door
Though I thought I had closed it so tightly before
I can't understand it why it should bother my mind
For it all belongs to another place and time
Just a few old keepsakes way back on the shelf
No they don't mean nothing well I'm surprised they're still left
Just a few old love letters with the edges all brown
And an old faded picture I keep turned upside down
[ fiddle ] Just a few old mem'ries going way back in time
Well i can hardly remember I don't know why I'm cryin'
I can't understand it well I'm surprised of myself
First thing tomorrow morning I'll clean off that shelf
Just a few old keepsakes way back on the shelf...
**********
4.
I'M GONNA SLEEP WITH ONE EYE OPEN
(Lester Flatt) « © '55 Peer International, BMI »I just found out today the little game you play
Well I've been sleeping all my life away
You've been stepping so they say between midnight and day
So I'm gonna sleep with one eye open from now on
From now on all night long
You won't have a chance to treat your mama wrong
You've been stepping so they say between midnight and day
So I'm gonna sleep with one eye open from now on
[ guitar - banjo ] There's a honky tonk down the road just a mile or so
I understand that's where you spend your time
Baby I got news for you your little game is through
Yeah from now on baby you better tow the line
From now on all night long...
[ mandolin - dobro ] You thought you were being smart breaking my little heart
And leaving me to spend my time alone
Well you'll find out today it just don't work out that way
You started a little game that two can play
From now on all night long...
**********
5.
STEADY AS THE RAIN
(Dolly Parton) « © '75 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »Raindrops tumble to the ground making puddles all around
Drops of rain that look like tears fall on my window pane
Raindrops seem to harmonize with teardrops falling from my eyes
And my tears keep falling down as steady as the rain
Steady as the rain they fall tears that just won't dry at all
Tears that cannot wash away the pain
Sometimes without knowing it I touch my face and find it wet
And my tears keep falling down as steady as the rain
[ banjo ] I can't face the fact that I am not important in your life
Once you lived for only me and then your feelings changed
There's just no gettin' over you I try so hard but it's no use
And my tears keep falling down as steady as the rain
Raindrops just keep falling down beatin' out their rhytmic sounds
Dancin' as they play their sweet refrain
Mem'ries of you cross my mind cloud my eyes and I start cryin'
And my tears keep falling down as steady as the rain
As steady as the rain
Steady as the rain they fall...
**********
6.
I STILL MISS SOMEONE
(Johnny Cash - Ray Cash) « © '58 House Of Cash, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »At my door the leaves are falling the cold wild wind will come
Sweethearts walk by together and I still miss someone
I go out to a party and look for a little fun
But I find a darkened corner cause I still miss someone
Though I never got over those blue eyes I see them everywehere
I miss those arms that held me when all the love was there
[ dobro ] Oh I never got over those blue eyes...
And I wonder if he's sorry for leaving what we'd begun
Guess there's someone for me somewhere oh but I still miss someone
**********
7.
ENDLESS STREAM OF TEARS
(Dolly Parton) « © '99 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »I cry awake at night and hug my pillow
And pray that I will die before I wake
No such luck another day of crying
Don't know how much more my old heart can break
Flooded with these mem'ries and emotions
The tears like rain keep on falling down
They say that I'll forget but my face is just as wet
As it was the day you left this town
Drowning in this endless endless
Drowning in an endless stream of tears
It's relentless and I'm defenseless
Drowning in an endless stream of tears
[ mandolin - fiddle ] I can't believe that I can talk about it
I never thought I'd live to see this day
But a broken heart won't kill you you just want to die
But you have to go on living anyway
I feel it through and through and I've never been so blue
And I cried a river over you
Oh I'm drowning in this endless endless....
Oh I'm drowning in this endless endless
Drowning in this endless endless
Drowning in this endless stream of tears
**********
8.
SILVER DAGGER
(Dolly Parton) « © '99 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »Don't sing love songs you'll wake my mother she's sleeping here right by my side
In her right hand is a silver dagger she says that I can't be your bride
All men are false so says my mother they tell you wicked loving lies
The very next evening they'll court aome other leave you alone to pine and sigh
My daddy is a handsome devil he's got a chain five miles long
From every link a heart does dangle of another maid he's loved and wronged
[ dobro - fiddle ] Go court another tender maiden and hope that she might be your wife
For I've been warned so I've decided I'll sleep alone all of my life
**********
9.
TRAIN TRAIN
(Shorty Medlock) « © '99 Bobnal Music, BMI »Train train gonna take him on out of this town
Train train gonna take him on out of this town
Yeah that man I'm in love with Lord he's Memphis bound
He's leaving here like a raggedy old coat
Oh he's leaving me that no good so-and-so
Yeah that man i'm in love with Lord he wants to go
Let him go
[ mandolin - dobro - fiddle ] Goodbye goodbye I'll find myself another man
Goodbye goodbye I'll find myself another man
You take that night train to Memphis me I'll make new plans
Take that night train to Memphis oh leave while you can
**********
10.
I WONDER WHERE YOU ARE TONIGHT
(Johnny Bond) « © '41 Red River Songs, BMI »Tonight my heart is sad and weary wondering if I'm wrong or right
I dream about you though you left me I wonder where you are tonight
The rain is cold and slowly falling upon my window pane tonight
And though your love was even colder I wonder where you are tonight
[ mandolin - dobro ] The birds are gaily singing the trees are blossoming so sweet
No other love was quite so happy no other love was so complete
The rain is cold and slowly falling...
Then came the dawn the day you left me I tried to smile with all my might
But you could see the pain within me it still lingers in my heart tonight
Oh the rain is cold and slowly falling...
**********
11.
WILL HE BE WAITING FOR ME
(Dolly Parton) « © '99 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »I can still see that lonesome road stretched out before me
The road that led me out of his life
I can still feel the tears he cried on my shoulder
The day that I told him goodbye
I never should've left him never should've gone
Oh what a crazy fool I've been
Will he be waiting for me he will be won't he
And will he take me back again
He will be waiting for me he will be won't he
Or could it be his love for me has faded and has died
He will be waiting for me he will be won't he
Or will i find that this time I'll be the one to cry
Shadows from the trees shade the path that I am walking
As I make my way back up that windy road again
The smell of mountain laurel fills the air with sweet perfume
My heart beats faster as I near my journey's end
I wonder if he missed me wonder if he wants me
I wonder does he love me still
Will he be waiting for me he will be won't he
Oh how I hope he will
He will be waiting for me he will be won't he...
[ guitar ] He will be waiting for me he will be won't he...
**********
12.
GRASS IS BLUE
(Dolly Parton) « © '99 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »I've had to think up a way to survive
Since you said it's over told me goodbye
I just can't make it one day without you
Unless I pretend that the opposite's true
Rivers flow backwards valleys are high
Mountains are level truth is a lie
I'm perfectly fine and I don't miss you
The sky is green and the grass is blue
[ fiddle - dobro ] How much can a heart and a troubled mind take
Where is that fine line before it all breaks
Can one end their sorrow just cross over it
And into that realm of insanitive bliss
There's snow in the tropics there's ice on the sun
It's hot in the Arctic and crying is fun
And I'm happy now and I'm glad we're through
And the sky is green and the grass is blue
And the rivers flow backwards and my tears are dry
Swans hate the water and eagles can't fly
But I'm alright now now that I'm over you
And the sky is green and the grass is blue
And I don't love you and the grass is blue
**********
13.
I AM READY
(Rachel Ann Dennison) « © '99 Satchel Music, ASCAP »I am ready oh my children when Jesus knocks at my door
I'll be there come morning don't weep for me I'll be with my Lord
There's my Bible on the table read it to me once more
I can hear god's heavenly angels singing me on through heaven's door
Hallelujah Lord I am ready no more sorrow hallelujah yes
I am ready I am ready I am ready to go
Oh hosanna take my hand now lead me to the promised land now
I am ready I am ready hallelujah I am ready to go
Oh hosanna I am ready to go
I can hear God's heavenly angels singing me on through heaven's door
Singing me on through heaven's door and I am ready
**********
