Dolly's sequel to her 2000 IBMA Album Of The Year, The Grass Is Blue, bridges the gap between bluegrass and Appalachian folk music, and even includes a few songs with an Irish flavor. Little Sparrow is a stunning blend of these genres and draws material from varied sources, including Dolly's own unparalleled songwriting. "She has proven to be the rarest of figures, a singer and songwriter who became a superstar yet retained the skills and impulses of a serious, seriously driven artist.... An artist of extraordinary skill and astonishing vitality. You must buy this album!

It's no surprise to hear gospel ("The Sweet By and By") on this album, or inspired tributes to Bill Monroe ("Bluer Pastures"), the Louvin Brothers ("Don't Believe You've Met My Baby") or even the Amazing Rhythm Aces ("Beautiful Lie"). Dolly's still on familiar turf with Steve Young's Southern anthem "Seven Bridges Road," a much-covered classic that never reached its bluegrass potential 'til she took it under her wing. And then you come to astonishing bluegrass arrangements of the rock song "Shine," by Collective Soul, and the Cole Porter standard "I Get A Kick Out of You." Oh, and a full-service Irish band, Altan, complete with accordion, bouzouki and whistles.

If Bill Monroe and Cole Porter never met in life, here they meet and get along famously. Somehow, with Dolly in the director's chair, it all flows harmoniously in the same direction, as surely as every river west of the Blue Ridge flows into the Gulf. What she sets out to prove is that there's no good song you can't mountainize, with the right stuff and the right musicians.

Of course, "The Grass Is Blue" was far beyond "okay"! As great as that album is, this album brings Dolly's serious artistry back to an even higher level. My only problem with "The Grass Is Blue" is its lack of cohesiveness. "The Grass Is Blue" feels like a collection of songs more than it does an album. I'm not saying that's a fault, for they're all great songs, but "Little Sparrow" somehow works as a tight, cohesive album. Plus, "Little Sparrow" reaches an emotional depth not found in "The Grass Is Blue". It is such a treat to join Dolly as she comes full circle round, creating what is easily among the greatest work of her career--not to mention some of the greatest country/folk music you can possibly find today.

This album is more than worthy of a 5-star review, and dare I say it is a perfect piece of art. The opening title track is assertive and compelling, while the next track "Shine On" features some terrific fiddle riffs and builds to a driving bluegrass breakdown. "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby" is wonderfully updated, as well as the gorgeous "My Blue Tears" (I dare you to not feel her cry of "I'll sit here and cry my lonely blue tears"). "Seven Bridges Road" and "I Get A Kick Out Of You" are further superb reworkings of songs that didn't mean much to me before hearing these wonderful versions. "Bluer Pastures" and "A Tender Lie" are beautiful pieces of songwriting and music. "Marry Me" is a spirited hoedown tune that some listeners might be emabarrassed to love, but love it you will. The last two songs, "The Beautiful Lie" and "In The Sweet By And By" (which segue into one another), add a touch of authentic celtic folk music to the album. Neither of those feature any bluegrass playing; in fact, the lovely "The Beautiful Lie" features only Dolly singing to Stuart Duncan's fiddle. Even the final track, a short instrumental reprise of the title track, is outstanding and essential.

Perhaps my favorite track is the update of Dolly's own "Down From Dover", a classic song about self-deception. This harrowing song traces a delusional young woman's plight as she foolishly awaits the return of the man who impregnated her. It builds to a chilling climax, as she childishly contemplates why her baby was born dead: "I guess in some strange way she knew she'd never have a father's arms to hold her; so dying was her way of telling me he wasn't coming down from Dover". In a similarly themed song (also an update of an older Dolly song), "Mountain Angel", a woman's life is chronicled from her "perfect" childhood to her premature pregnancy, and eventually on to her afterlife legacy of being the fabled witch walking the hills. These songs, along with the others, show that Dolly Parton is easily in or near the upper echelon of American country/folk songwriters. It's just too bad she has that silly late 70s/80s legacy to live down! But, hey, we all go through phases and, if we're lucky, we move on to a higher ground and find ourselves reaching our peak later in life. Dolly is doing that in her 50s, and we are all the more fortunate because of it.

This album is 53 minutes of pure listening bliss. You can't go wrong with this one, believe me. It will be with me forever. Get over Dolly's past image and you're in for a tasty treat.

Wow! This is getting to be a habit -- brilliant new music from Dolly Parton. Little Sparrow is balanced a bit more toward country than "The Grass Is Blue," but is still a great fusion between these closely related genres. The title track is a sad ballad which Dolly wrote about "love 'em & leave 'em" guys. "Shine" with it's lyric "Heaven let your light shine," is essential Dolly. Written by Ed Roland, Jerry Douglas' resophonic guitar and Chris Thiele's mandolin flurry could almost bring heaven down to earth with Dolly's joyful vocal making us feel that we too can touch the sky. There are no weak songs on the CD. "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby" is an uptempo country tune with "My Blue Tears" being classic slow country. Dolly's rendition of Steve Young's "Seven Bridges Road" really brings out the beauty of the melody as banjo, guitar and mandolin provide acoustic pyrotechnics. "Bluer Pastures" takes us back to the classic days of country music, as does Dolly's reading of Randy Sharp's "A Tender Lie." One of the great moments is the uptempo bluegrass country version of Cole Porter's "I Get a Kick Out of You." Alison Krause's harmony vocals and Dolly's little chuckle at the end make this utterly charming. Dolly wrtoe "Mountain Angel" which is a great country ballad and the uptempo happy fiddle tune "Marry Me." "Down From Dover" is brought back with a great new treatment here. Mairead NiMaonaighi provides the Irish vocal with Dolly on the hymn "In the Sweet By & By." For the third time in a row counting "Hungry Eyes," Dolly shows she is in a prime period of musical creativity in her career. Don't miss out!

"The Grass is Blue," Parton's previous album surprised a lot of people who only knew of Dolly Parton as a personality rather than a talent. "The Grass is Blue" managed to be two things at once -- a long overdue return to Parton's roots and also the first, full fledged bluegrass album of her 30+ year career.

"Little Sparrow" take the same approach, but takes it a bit further by meshing bluegrass with Celtic music, and in the process shows how the two genres of music are not as far apart as many might assume. It is real, honest, and movingly compelling music. It is not to be missed.

The album mixes song styles -- a pair unusual choices of covers ("Shine" and "I Get A Kick") that works perfectly. A pair of songs from Parton's early days dusted of ("My Blue Tears" and "Down From Dover") interspersed with new originals and outside material. It is all gorgeously played by some of the best musicians in the business and, of course, beautifully sung. If "Little Sparrow" does not end up as one of the best albums of 2001, it is going to be one amazing year for music.

I purchased this cd at the weekend and played it yesterday which was a public holiday in Australia. I noticed that my neighbours from both sides came out into their back-yards to have a listen on the quiet. They stood there motionless, drawn to this beautiful music.

Like most people, I assumed Dolly Parton only sang "Jolene" type songs. Didn't even know she wrote songs. Somebody mentioned this cd to me about 18 months ago and advised that you wouldn't believe it was Dolly Parton. For some reason I kept this advice in the back of my mind and only now have chosen to buy it out of all the other cd's I could have purchased. Is that a sign?

You will not be disappointed if you purchase this cd. It is superb in every aspect; songs, arrangements, lyrics, musicians and production.