Guy Clark and Dolly Parton

THIS SOUNDS like a good deal: two long-established and much revered artists both releasing albums on the equally respected Sugerhill label. Guy Clark’s album is going to be no surprise to his fans, and he’s too long in the tooth now to expect to attract a whole bunch of new converts to the cause.

As with any Clark album, its success largely depends on the strength of the material. Happily, on Cold Dog Soup, the songs are packed with believable situations and characters and, in the case of ‘Indian Penny Head’, the tale of a coin first minted in 1909.

The songs are written by Clark and his companions for the album. Verlon Thompson has co-written three and plays guitar and mandolin throughout as well as adding vocal harmony. (Emmylou Harris also features on a couple of tracks.) Other co-writers include Shawn Camp (who also adds fiddle), Jon Randall Stewart and Mark D. Sanders. The covers include Steve Earle’s Fort Worth Blues, Richard Dobson’s Forever, For Always, For Certain and Keith Skyes and Anna McGarrigle’s Be Gone Forever.

I have no doubt that Clark’s fans will like these songs. Whether they have the legs to become Clark classics, only time will tell, but at this early stage all the signs are good.

Dolly Parton has been moving towards a more traditional base over her last couple of albums, and on The Grass Is Blue is supported by the vocal harmonies of, amongst others, Alison Krauss, Claire Lynch, Rhonda Vincent and Patty Loveless. Then there’s the guys: Dan Tyminski, Keith Little and Alan O’Bryant, among others. Add to that the combined skills of such top-notch players as Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Stewart Duncan, Jeff Mills and Barry Bales and you’re in for some hot picking.

It’s all superbly topped off by the exuberant voice of Dolly who seems totally at ease with songs that clearly take her back to her roots.

She is particularly strong on less strident material like ‘I Wonder Where You Are Tonight, Johnny Cash’s ‘I Still Miss Someone’ or the closing acapella spiritual ‘I Am Ready’. Some fans may miss the gloss and the sentimentality, but overall this is a far better album for being stripped back to its bluegrass basics.

So kudos to Clark and Parton and also to Sugerhill for working with artists who can no longer find a home on the youth-obsessed majors.