After being nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Dolly Parton at first refused, not believing her music fit the genre, before deciding that if she was going to be voted in then she might as well prove herself to be worthy of the accolade by recording her first full rock album.
My problem with the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’ has always been the name. Just what is rock and roll anyway? If it had simply called itself the ‘Music Hall of Fame’ none of these eligibility arguments would ever have occurred.
The original inductees were Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Elvis Presley. From the start there was a wide umbrella which allowed any artist who had cultural impact to be inducted. Nothing about any of those artists was the same, or indeed fit any kind of standard idea to help us define what ‘rock’ music means then or now.
Dolly, like the Rock Hall itself, also seems somewhat confused about the meaning of the genre. If this album had been more inspired by those original pioneers then she might have an interesting record. But sadly what ‘Rockstar’ reflects is what rock and roll came to be at the end of the 1980s – ridiculous, over blown, over produced, over made up, occasionally entertaining but mostly bloated performances with a hell of a lot of electric guitar.
Continue reading “Dolly Parton’s Discography: Rockstar (2023)”
Highway Queens 