Jolene and Her Covers

Jolene....

In 1973 Dolly Parton released her big country hit that put her on the map. "Jolene" was a hit country single that made it to #1 on the Billboard Country chart and #1 in Canada. It also charted on the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at #60 and #44 on the Adult Contemporary Music chart. Since then, it has become her signature song and has been covered several times over many years by many other artists. The linked audio file above (from YouTube) is the original track that became the hit in early 1974.

In recent years the following covers appeared:

Dolly Parton & Pentatonix (2016) - This version made it to #18 on the Billboard Country Chart.

This version came out in 2012 by Miley Cyrus as part of the Backyard Sessions video album on YouTube. I like this one.

Alternative rock duo The White Stripes recorded this version which charted well in Europe, 2004 & 2005.

A new version was released earlier this summer by Chiquis with Becky G. This version has started its chart climb on Mel's Current Top 20.

Flawless Album B-Sides

From the Friday 5 website came this question: What album has a flawless B side?

The answer to this one is simple... any compilation or "Greatest Hits" type of album all have good B-sides that equal the A-side.

However in this day and age how many people actually play vinyl records or cassettes and have to flip the thing over to play a B-side?

You don't have to do that if you listen to CDs or MP3 albums. Everything is on the A side.

That all said some of my favorite albums with great B-sides that at least equal the A-side include the following:

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles
2. Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
3. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
4. Band on the Run - Paul McCartney & Wings
5. Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac
6. Revolver - The Beatles
7. Abbey Road - The Beatles
8. Parallel Lines - Blondie
9. Ram - Paul & Linda McCartney
10. Double Fantasy - John Lennon & Yoko Ono

Moving on... This week's Top 10 Oldies that were submitted to the Classic Top 30 site for their weekly tabulation include the following:

June 17 Top 10 Oldies

1. In Your Letter - REO Speedwagon
2. Eat At Home - Paul & Linda McCartney
3. Seven Year Ache - Roseanne Cash
4. Twistin' USA - Chubby Checker
5. Only the Lucky - Walter Egan
6. Arms of Mary - Sutherland Bros. & Quiver
7. Jolene - Dolly Parton
8. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart - Bee Gees
9. Talk it Over - Grayson Hugh
10. It's a Matter of Time - Elvis Presley

A\V: The following are songs from the lists above: