Studio Album · No. 33
Those Were the Days Songwriting Credits by Dolly Parton
Holds writing credit on 0 of 12 tracks
Authorship Breakdown 0 / 12 documented
Scored across the 12 tracks with documented writers, by whether Dolly Parton carries a lyricist or composer credit.
Share of the 12 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.
By the Numbers
Those Were the Days is an all-covers project on which Dolly Parton reinterprets folk-pop and protest standards from the 1960s and early 1970s, with no original Parton compositions on the record. Every song is an outside writer's work, including Gene Raskin's adaptation of Boris Fomin's "Those Were the Days," Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," Pete Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and "Turn, Turn, Turn," Cat Stevens's "Where Do the Children Play," Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee," Tommy James's "Crimson and Clover," Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now," and John Lennon's "Imagine." Parton's contribution is as producer and interpreter rather than songwriter, and she invited many of the original artists and writers to guest on their own songs, among them Mary Hopkin, Yusuf Islam, Kris Kristofferson, Tommy James, and Roger McGuinn.
Released October 11, 2005 on Sugar Hill/Blue Eye Records, this was Parton's forty-first solo studio album, built around bluegrass-styled reimaginings of 1960s and 1970s folk and pop standards. Parton produced the project with Steve Buckingham serving as artist coordinator, and recording spanned twelve studios across Nashville, London, Cardiff, New York, Hawaii, and New Jersey over 2004-2005. The album featured exclusively cover songs penned by writers including Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Cat Stevens, John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, and Kris Kristofferson, with notable guests such as Norah Jones, Alison Krauss, Keith Urban, and Roger McGuinn. Bluegrass instrumentation (mandolins from Sam Bush and Chris Thile, fiddles from Stuart Duncan, plus dobro and banjo) defined the album's sonic identity. It debuted at number 9 on Billboard's Top Country Albums and number 35 on the UK Albums Chart, with 'Both Sides Now' reaching number 1 on the Indie World Country Singles Chart in March 2006.
Track Listing & Credits 12 tracks
| # | Title | Lyricist(s) | Composer(s) | Producer(s) | Performers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Those Were the Days
|
Gene Raskin | Gene Raskin | Dolly Parton | Mary Hopkin (Vocals) |
| 2 |
Blowin' in the Wind
|
Bob Dylan | Bob Dylan | Dolly Parton | Nickel Creek (Vocals) |
| 3 |
Where Have All the Flowers Gone
|
Pete SeegerJoe Hickerson | Pete SeegerJoe Hickerson | Dolly Parton | Norah Jones (Vocals)Lee Ann Womack (Vocals) |
| 4 |
The Twelfth of Never
#3
|
Jerry LivingstonPaul Francis Webster | Jerry LivingstonPaul Francis Webster | Dolly Parton | Keith Urban (Vocals) |
| 5 |
Where Do the Children Play
|
Cat Stevens | Cat Stevens | Dolly Parton | Cat Stevens (Vocals) |
| 6 |
Me and Bobby McGee
|
Kris KristoffersonFred Foster | Kris KristoffersonFred Foster | Dolly Parton | Kris Kristofferson (Vocals) |
| 7 |
Crimson and Clover
|
Tommy JamesPeter Lucia Jr. | Tommy JamesPeter Lucia Jr. | Dolly Parton | Tommy James (Vocals) |
| 8 |
The Cruel War
|
Traditional | Traditional | Dolly Parton | Alison Krauss (Vocals)Dan Tyminski (Vocals)Mindy Smith (Vocals) |
| 9 |
Turn, Turn, Turn
|
Pete Seeger | Pete Seeger | Dolly Parton | Roger McGuinn (Vocals) |
| 10 |
If I Were a Carpenter
|
Tim Hardin | Tim Hardin | Dolly Parton | Joe Nichols (Vocals) |
| 11 |
Both Sides Now
#1
|
Joni Mitchell | Joni Mitchell | Dolly Parton | Judy Collins (Vocals)Rhonda Vincent (Vocals) |
| 12 |
Imagine
|
John Lennon | John Lennon | Dolly Parton | David Foster (Vocals) |