Dolly Parton had a number of hits in the late '60s as
Porter Wagoner's duet partner, yet solo success eluded her until her 1971 album
Coat of Many Colors. The title track was a Top Ten single, and it effectively became her signature song, largely because it was a sweetly autobiographical tune about her childhood. That song, along with its two hit predecessors, "Traveling Man" and "My Blue Tears," were evidence that
Parton was a strong songwriter, but the full album reveals the true depth of her talents. She wrote seven of the ten songs (
Wagoner wrote the other three), none of which is filler. There isn't really a theme behind
Coat of Many Colors, even if its title track suggests otherwise. Instead, it's a remarkably consistent album, in terms of songwriting and performances, but also remarkably diverse, revealing that
Dolly can handle ballads, country-rockers, tearjerkers, and country-pop with equal aplomb. And while it is very short, clocking in at under a half-hour, there isn't a wasted moment on the album. It's a lean, trim album that impresses because of succinctness -- with its ten songs, it announced
Parton as a major talent in her own right, not merely a duet partner. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine