Live & Well


Cover Art Courtesy Sugar Hill Records

Dolly's third live concert album, first live DVD. Get your copy of the DVD here and the CD here!

The Basics
Release Date: Sept. 14, 2004
Label: Sugar Hill Records
Producers: Dolly Parton with Gary Davis & The Blueniques
Recorded: Live at Dollywood's Celebrity Theatre, Dec. 12-13, 2002

Track Listing

Disc One

  • Orange Blossom Special
  • Train, Train
  • The Grass Is Blue
  • Mountain Angel
  • Shine
  • Little Sparrow
  • Rocky Top
  • My Tennessee Mountain Home
  • Coat Of Many Colors
  • Smokey Mountain Memories
  • Applejack
  • Marry Me

    Disc Two

  • Halos And Horns
  • I'm Gone
  • Dagger Through The Heart
  • If
  • After The Gold Rush
  • 9 To 5
  • Jolene
  • A Capella Medley: Islands In The Stream/Here You Come Again/Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That/Two Doors Down
  • We Irish
  • Stairway To Heaven
  • I Will Always Love You

    The Press Release
    Click here for the press release announcing the collection.

    The Liner Notes
    Click here for the liner notes for the CD version.

    The Dollymania Review
    Read it here.

    The CMT.com Peview
    Hear the entire CD here.


    News And Reviews

    Jan. 14: Dolly's concert CD Live And Well earned a great review in this week's Gay City News out of New York City (even if her award totals are way off in the article), with the writer noting that the performance shows her to be an "entertainer par excellence, whose winning repartee with her audience . . . makes you feel good even when she sings about what's bad." Read the full review here.

    Jan. 7: Dolly's Live And Well falls back off the 75-position country albums chart after 14 weeks, down from No. 75 the previous week, it was announced Thursday in the Jan. 15 Billboard charts.

    Jan. 3: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Friday named Dolly’s concert CD Live And Well the third-best country release of the year, calling her cover of “Stairway To Heaven” on the disc “priceless.” No. 1 was Big & Rich’s Horse Of A Different Color and No. 2 Loretta Lynn’s Van Lear Rose. Read the full list here.

    Dec. 31: Dolly's concert CD Live And Well is back at the bottom spot for the Jan. 8 Billboard country albums chart, falling two digits to No. 75 in its 14th week.

    Dec. 29: The Arkansas Democrat Gazette included Dolly’s Live And Well concert CD in its list of the year’s best pop culture products here, saying the set “sparkles and underscores her many gifts.”

    Dec. 24: Dolly concert CD Live And Well moves up two spots to No. 73 on the Jan. 1 country albums chart in its 13th week, Billboard announced Thursday.

    Dec. 17: Live And Well, re-enters the country albums chart for a 12th week, coming in at No. 75 after leaving the 75-album list the previous week, it was announced Thursday in the Dec. 25 Billboard charts.

    Dec. 10: After only 11 weeks on the country albums chart, Dolly's concert CD, Live And Well, falls out of the Dec. 18 Billboard 75-position tally, down from No. 74 the previous week.

  • The Providence Phoenix up in Rhode Island this week raves over the DVD version of Live And Well. In a review published Thursday, the alternative weekly gives the collection four stars, noting: “Dolly’s not just live and well but sassy, sexy, and still singin’ like an angel.” Read the full review here.

    Dec. 7: The new issue of gay and lesbian newsmagazine The Advocate chooses Dolly's concert CD Live And Well as its No. 2 pick for the best last-minute holiday gifts, calling the collection: "a cheeky marriage of glitzy showbiz with finger-pickin' bluegrass sass full of hits and surprises."

    Dec. 6: The Louisville Courier-Journal over the weekend offered its opinion on Dolly's live CD/DVD set Live And Well, and it's pretty much the first negative review I've seen of the collection, saying it "doesn't add up." Read it here.

    Dec. 3: The live double-CD Live And Well, loses four spots to No. 74 on the country albums chart in its 11th chart week, according to the Dec. 11 Billboard charts released Thursday.

    Nov. 26: Dolly's concert CD set, Live And Well, inches down two to No. 70 on the country albums chart in its 10th chart week, according to the Dec. 4 Billboard charts released Thursday.

    Nov. 19: Dolly's live double-album set, Live And Well, falls seven more spots to No. 68, near the bottom of the 75-position country albums chart in its ninth chart week, according to the Nov. 27 Billboard charts released Thursday.

    Nov. 12: Dolly's live double-CD set, Live And Well, inches down two more spots to No. 61 on the country albums chart in its eighth chart week, according to the Nov. 20 Billboard charts released Thursday. The collection falls out of the 50-position independent labels albums chart, down from No. 42 the previous week.

    Nov. 6: I'm told that at the end of Dolly's interview which aired on CMT Canada Friday night, she was presented with a gold plaque for sales of Live And Well CD and DVD in Canada. The Canadian Recording Industry Association, which issues gold and platinum albums in that country, has apparently not published its report of October certifications yet, but if they have been certified at that level, it would mean at least 50,000 units of the CD and/or 5,000 units of the DVD have been sold up north. Thanks, Leesa!

    Nov. 5: Dolly's concert CD Live And Well falls nine more places to No. 59 on the country albums chart in its seventh chart week, according to the Nov. 13 Billboard charts released Thursday. The double-CD live collection also drops three notches to No. 42 on the independent labels albums chart.

    Oct. 29: Dolly's concert CD Live And Well slides two notches to No. 50 on the country albums chart in its sixth chart week, according to the Nov. 6 Billboard charts released Thursday. The double-CD also falls six places to No. 39 on the independent labels albums chart.

    Oct. 25: The Pittsburg Post-Gazette on Sunday gave Dolly’s concert CD, Live And Well, its highest rating, four out of four stars, lauding her cover of “Stairway To Heaven” as the one even those tired of the song should hear and the rest of the set as inspired as that tune’s rebirth. The reviewer concludes: “Parton, simply put, is a monumental interpreter of musical Americana.” Read the full review here.

    Oct. 23: Two additional rave reviews of Dolly's Live And Well concert CD hit readers on Friday. Gay paper The Washington Blade here said the CD "doesn't disappoint" and that "is a must have" for Dolly fans. And The Smoky Mountain News said here that the collection "catches her in full cackling delight" and that those who check out the disc will see that Dolly "is live and well indeed."

    Oct. 22: Dolly's concert CD Live And Well slides two places to No. 48 on the country albums chart in its fifth chart week, according to the Oct. 30 Billboard charts released Thursday. The double-CD also falls two notches to No. 33 on the independent labels albums chart.

    Oct. 21: The Richmond Times Dispatch gave Dolly's concert collection Live And Well a strong "A-" in a review published Wednesday, saying she "flexes a voice as familiar as the color red on a Coke can." Read the full review here.

    Oct. 15: Dolly's concert CD Live And Well remains steady in its fourth chart week to come in at No. 46 country in the Oct. 23 Billboard charts released Thursday. The two-CD set dips one spot to No. 31 on the independent labels albums chart.

  • Live And Well falls out of the top 50 country albums chart in Canada, down from No. 29 in its third chart week, it was announced Thursday.
  • The CD/DVD gets a great review in this week’s New Times Broward-Palm Beach down in Florida, with the reviewer noting that throughout the performance, Dolly “is as impish and energized as a triple espresso, but when she gets down, that distinctive vibrato can inspire chills.” Read the full review here.

    Oct. 11: Dolly's concert CD Live And Well falls out of the top 40 independent labels albums chart in the U.K. this week, down from No. 34, it was announced Sunday. Down Under, the CD also falls out of the top 20 country albums chart, down from No. 16 last week.

  • The October/November issue of Paste magazine has a great review of Dolly’s concert recording Live And Well, calling selections from the show “gorgeous” and “haunting.” The reviewer also lauds the a capella medley as one that “would make any soul group proud” and her covers, noting the “ethereal quality” of her version of Neil Young’s “After The Goldrush” and the “raise-the-rafters shout” of her bluegrass version of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven.” The only criticism lobbed at the release is that performing it on the Dollywood stage in a larger, sit-down venue instead of the fairly small, standing-only clubs on the tour which this performance concluded drains some of the “intimacy” from the show in the DVD version, but he adds that her “shtick and rhinestones shine bright regardless.” Thanks, Bryan!

    Oct. 8: Dolly's concert CD Live And Well loses nine more places in its third chart week to come in at No. 46 country in the Oct. 16 Billboard charts released Thursday. The two-CD set also falls three spots to No. 30 on the independent labels albums chart.

  • Live And Well inches down five spots to No. 29 country on the Canadian albums chart, it was announced Thursday.

    Oct. 4: Dolly’s concert CD Live And Well doesn’t make the top 50 pop albums chart Down Under this week but does debut at No. 16 on the Australian country albums chart, it was announced Sunday. Thanks, Sean! The collection also doesn’t make the top 75 pop albums chart in Great Britain but does debut at No. 34 on the U.K. independent labels albums chart this week, it was also announced Sunday.

    Oct. 2: The day after posting a review of the CD version of Live And Well, The Nashville City Paper on Friday offered its opinion on the DVD companion concert, saying Dolly delivers "triumphant versions" of her songs and that the show is "expertly, if conservatively, shot, and the music is nicely sequenced and produced." Read the full review here.

    Oct. 1: Dolly's concert CD Live And Well loses 15 places in its second chart week to come in at No. 37 country in the Oct. 9 Billboard charts released Thursday. The double-disc set also falls 15 spots to No. 27 on the independent labels albums chart and falls out of both the pop and comprehensive albums charts, down from No. 161 and No. 176, respectively. The DVD version falls out of the top 40 music videos, down from No. 36.

  • Live And Well slips just one place to No. 24 country on the Canadian albums chart, it was announced Thursday.
  • The Nashville City Paper on Thursday gave a rave review for Dolly's Live And Well CD and DVD, saying she "sounds inspired and jubilant" and that "the caliber and quality of the performances showed she was clearly in prime voice and spirit." Read the full review here.
  • DirecTV is airing excerpts from the DVD throughout October, it has been announced. Free for TOTAL CHOICE customers, the "freeview" preview will air on Channel 103 Oct. 1-10 and Channel 125 Oct. 15-31. Click here for more information. Thanks, Robyn and Keith!

    Sept. 29: The new issue of Country Weekly is on newsstands this week, and as usual, there's plenty of Dolly. She gets a publicity photo with a brief story written based on the press release for the "Hello I'm Dolly" tour, a review of Live And Well that gives the collection three out of four stars and a recap of her cover story from eight years ago in the magazine's country history section.

    Sept. 27: Britain’s Sunday Herald this weekend gave Live And Well four out of five stars, calling the set’s song selection “tailored to satisfy the entire diverse spectrum of her fan base,” singling out her cover of “Stairway To Heaven” and her original vocals on the Whitney Houston-covered “I Will Always Love You.” The reviewer notes that the minimal editing preserves her “non-stop chat and banter with the audience” and adds that the collection underlines “her reputation as a superbly generous entertainer.” Read the full review here.

    Sept. 24: Dolly's concert CD Live And Well debuts at No. 22 country, this week's highest-debuting country CD to earn it the chart's "Hot Shot Debut" designation. The album also debuts at No. 12 indie and No. 176 comprehensive in the Oct. 2 Billboard charts released Thursday. As was reported here Wednesday night, the CD debuts at No. 161 pop. The DVD version debuts at No. 36 for music videos but doesn't make the top 40 overall DVDs.

  • Live And Well debuts at No. 23 country but didn't make the top 200 pop, it was also announced Thursday.

    Sept. 23: Dolly's concert CD Live And Well will debut at No. 161 on the Oct. 2 pop albums chart, Billboard announced on Wednesday. That number should put it around the mid-20s (maybe No. 24 or 25) on the country albums chart, figures for which will be released on Thursday.

    Sept. 22: The Los Angeles Daily News recently reviewed Dolly’s concert CD and DVD collection Live And Well, saying: “Overall, the band is tight and her voice is great, but the most entertaining aspect of the whole shebang is Parton's trashy, sassy between-songs patter.” Read the full mini-review as published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer here this week. The Associated Press also on Tuesday issued its review of the DVD set. Read it from New Hampshire’s Concord Monitor here.

    Sept. 20: The Huntsville Times on Sunday had a great recap of Dolly's CD signing there on Saturday, noting that security estimated the crowd to be at least 800 but other estimates were as high as 2,000 fans getting their memorabilia signed at the city's Wal-Mart. Read it here. A story from Sunday's Evansville Courier-Press recounts her stop in the Indiana city here and in its sister paper, The Gleaner in Henderson, Ky., here. And Clarksville, Tenn.'s The Leaf Chronicle carried a mention of the Ft. Campbell signing before it took place Saturday here.

    Sept. 18: Dolly made her second CD and DVD signing appearance for Live And Well on Friday evening, this time at the Huntsville, Ala., Wal-Mart. I'm told she was as bubbly as ever greeting fans young and old, and while she wore the same top as in the DVD concert and the Sam's signings outside of Nashville Tuesday, this time she opted for a skirt instead of the Capri pants donned before. Remember her final two scheduled autograph sessions are taking place on Saturday (noon until 2 p.m. at the Ft. Campbell military base in Kentucky and 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Wal-Mart on Burkhardt Road in Evansville, Ind.). The local Evansville Courier Press had a cute story here Friday about the event scheduled there, noting that the first 300 are guaranteed an autograph (but those after them will get in if there's time) and announcing that more than 1,600 fans showed up at her signing on Tuesday. See some additional photos from the Sam's stop and a couple from Huntsville here courtesy of fans Scott, Chris and Robin. Thanks, guys! (And, again, any other fans who attend the signings are encouraged to send in their pictures here.)

    Sept. 17: Dolly's Tuesday CD and DVD signing at Sam's Club outside of Nashville got a little coverage in Thursday's The Tennessean. Read a small story and see a photo here. And as of press time Thursday evening, Dolly's scheduled appearance at the Wal-Mart on Memorial Parkway South in Hunstville, Ala., from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Friday was still on tap to happen. Whether the CD and DVD signing for Live And Well actually takes place, however, may depend on how much damage the remnants of Hurricane Ivan cause in the area. On Thursday afternoon, some of the worst of the storm entered the Huntsville area with torrential rains and winds of up to 40 miles per hour, but the rain is forecast to end and winds to die down significantly by morning. I would suspect if flooding is bad, they would cancel the appearance, but they really wouldn't know what the outlook is until morning. She is also scheduled to appear at Ft. Campbell military base in Kentucky at noon on Saturday and the Wal-Mart on Burkhardt Road in Evansville, Ind., at 6 p.m. Saturday.

    Sept. 16: I'm told Dolly happily signed her way through at least 250 or 300 fans' CDs, DVDs and assorted memorabilia at the Sam's Club outside of Nashville on Tuesday evening to celebrate the release of her concert recording Live And Well. The store played Dolly's DVD concert all day long on big screens at the front door and several small televisions as well, as several hundred fans waited for a few seconds with their beloved star. Some die-hard fans began lining up at around 9 a.m. prior to the store's 10 a.m. opening. Dolly arrived at around 5 p.m. and was escorted in from her tour bus by security as she waved at fans outside. Sam's employees met with Dolly at 5:30 p.m. before she began a two-hour-and-10-minute autograph session at 6 p.m., running through four Sharpie pens. All smiles, Dolly talked with fans (appearing especially touched by the children she met that day, with the some kids being so excited that they cried as they met her), took photos with them and signed anything they brought her. See several galleries of photos from the event here. Thanks, Harrell, Patric and Debbie! (And any other fans who attended are encouraged to send in their pictures here to be added. Thanks!)

  • Evansville, Ind., TV station WFIE reported Wednesday on her scheduled signing at the Wal-Mart Supercenter (Burkhardt Road) in that city at 6 p.m. Saturday, noting that only the first 300 people in line will be able to get Dolly's autograph. Read the story here, although it mistakenly reports that the event ends at 9 p.m. when it is scheduled to actually end at 8 p.m.
  • Don't forget her other scheduled signings as well: Friday from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Wal-Mart (Memorial Parkway South) in Huntsville, Ala.; and Saturday from noon until 2 p.m. at Army and Air Force Exchange Service on the Ft. Campbell, Ky., military base. (I've been told unofficially that this one is only for military personnel and their families, but base officials have been unresponsive to multiple requests for confirmation, and a spokesperson for Dolly's record label did not know the answer to that question.)
  • And I'm told that Costco stores in Canada are bundling the CD and DVD together in one package for $30, so you might check if the stores in the U.S. are doing the same and save a few bucks. Thanks, Trevor!

    Sept. 15: Dolly was scheduled on Tuesday to hold her two-hour autograph session at Sam's Club outside of Nashville celebrating Tuesday's release of her concert recording Live And Well. (Fans who attended are encouraged to send in their recaps of the event and photographs here. Thanks!) Celebrities columnist Brad Schmidt in Tuesday's Tennessean reported that fans didn't even have to buy anything to get Dolly to sign it: She had agreed for the two-hour autograph session to sign a maximum of any two items brought by each fan as well as take photos with them. Read his column here here.

  • The Philadelphia Daily News gave it a brief review on Tuesday, calling it "a chatty concert performance" and offering a grade of "B." Read that review here.
  • And CMT's new edition of Country Music Today magazine features a review as well, summed up as: "Don't pass this one up!" (The magazine also includes a tally of artists with the most CMA Awards, although Dolly is again in the wrong place with just eight because they left out her special Country Music Honors trophy from the CMA in 1993.)
  • And I'm told that music magazine Tracks features a promo for the CD in its November 1 issue containing the tracks "9 To 5," "Little Sparrow," "Marry Me," "Dagger Through The Heart," "Halos And Horns" and "The Grass Is Blue." Thanks, Toby!

    Sept. 14: Well, the big day is upon us! Dolly's concert double-CD and DVD Live And Well hit stores on Tuesday. And don't forget Dolly will be signing copies of the collection at the Sam's Club on Mallory Lane in the Nashville suburb of Franklin, Tenn., from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. Tuesday (followed by signings Friday at a Wal-Mart in Huntsville, Ala., and Saturday at the military base Ft. Campbell, Ky., and a Wal-Mart in Evansville, Ind.).

  • Sugar Hill Records on Monday added the tracks "Shine" and "Little Sparrow" to its online preview in its Listening Room here (and don't forget CMT's streaming audio preview of the entire album here).
  • The San Antonio Express-News on Monday offered a review which said the DVD version is worth getting because Dolly "is one of the greatest singer-songwriters of our time . . . and there are some great performances on here." Read it here.
  • And, as has been previously reported, there are CD release parties scheduled at Meteor in Houston, Texas, Tuesday night and The Cold Keg in Melbourne, Fla., Friday.
  • If you haven't already, order your copy of the CD here and DVD here!

    Sept. 13: A reader alerted me to a Canadian review of Live & Well, Dolly's concert CD and DVD coming out Tuesday. Entertainment site Soulshine finds the collection "top form." Read it here. Thanks, Tony!

  • I'm told the Sept. 20 issue of People magazine includes a very brief review of Dolly's Live And Well. Saying she "smoothly sweeps from recent bluegrass" to her classics, it offers the collection three out of four stars. Also, Dolly gets her props in the Sept. 13 issue. In the "Pop Quiz" section, actress Reese Witherspoon, who will play Dolly friend June Carter Cash in an upcoming film, is asked about the role and explains she grew up in Nashville and always wanted to be a country singer, including singing "9 To 5" at her school playground and telling everyone she was going to be the next Dolly. Thanks, Bridget!
  • If you live Down Under, you'll want to consider buying your copies of Dolly's concert CD and DVD from Sanity.com. The online retailer is offering those who purchase the releases (hitting stores in Australia on Sept. 20) an entry, available only through Monday, in a contest to win $100 (Australian) worth of additional Dolly CDs from the store's inventory. Only Australian residents may enter. Read more here. Thanks, Sean!

    Sept. 11: Dolly is gearing up for one of her biggest weeks ever. The concert double-CD and DVD Live And Well hits stores in the U.S. on Tuesday (I'm told it was released this week in Canada. Thanks, Darren!). It will be released in other countries outside the U.S. on various dates over the next month or so. Get your copy of the CD here and DVD here! (And The Simpsons Gone Wild, a collection including Dolly's appearance on the animated sitcom, hits DVD shelves the same day.) As was first reported here a week ago, she's scheduled to appear at the Sam's Club in the Nashville suburb of Franklin, Tenn., for a 6 p.m.-8 p.m. CD and DVD signing on Tuesday, followed by signings at the Wal-Mart on Memorial Parkway South in Hunstville, Ala., from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. next Friday, and on Saturday, Sept. 18, she'll be at the Army base in Fort Campbell, Ky., from noon until 2 p.m. and at the Wal-Mart on Burkhardt Road in Evansville, Ind., from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. (It is unclear at this time whether members of the public are allowed to access the store at Ft. Campbell or if that will be open to military personnel only, and Army officials have not returned requests for such information.)

    Sept. 8: Here are several developments on Dolly's live recording (reserve your copy of the CD here and DVD here!):

  • The Dallas Voice this week offers a glowing review of Dolly's concert CD and DVD, Live And Well, hitting stores next Tuesday (the first review I've seen other than the Dollymania one here). Critic Gilbert Garcia lauds Dolly's seasoned performance, songwriting prowess and longevity, calling the collection "the perfect testament of just how wonderfully Dolly has aged." The only problem he had with the audio CD was that her between-song banter seemed a bit too long for his taste. Read the full review here. Thanks, Mark!
  • Sugar Hill Records on Tuesday posted two more tracks to its Listening Room from Live And Well: "The Grass Is Blue" and "Mountain Angel." Visit the site here to take a listen, or if you'd like to hear the entire album, visit CMT.com's online listening party here.
  • And I'm told Dolly fans in Houston, Texas, may want to head out to Meteor next Tuesday, as another Live And Well CD release party has been scheduled. Thanks, Ray!

    Sept. 4:Dolly has three public appearances scheduled in addition to the one in Huntsville, Ala., reported here Thursday night to sign copies of her new concert CD and DVD, Live And Well, Dollymania has confirmed and is pleased to be the first to announce. Sugar Hill Records says the following signings are planned for the week of the CD's Sept. 14 release:
    Tuesday, Sept. 14, 6 p.m.-8 p.m., Sam's Club (Mallory Lane), Nashville, Tenn.
    Friday, Sept. 17, 6 p.m.-8 p.m., Wal-Mart (Memorial Parkway South), Huntsville, Ala.
    Saturday, Sept. 18, noon-2 p.m., Army and Air Force Exchange Service, Ft. Campbell, Ky.
    Saturday, Sept. 18, 6 p.m.-8 p.m., Wal-Mart (Burkhardt Road), Evansville, Ind.

  • Shortly after news was posted here Wednesday evening that Great American Country (GAC) was selling autographed copies of Dolly's new Live And Well double CD on its Web site, Dollymania began receiving e-mails from readers reporting they were unable to order the special release. A spokesperson for Spun.com, which handles GAC's CD sales, confirms that only 50 autographed copies of the album were made available to them and sold out within a few hours of becoming available for order, so only those who acted very quickly were able to get them. Thanks!

    Sept. 3: Dolly may be planning a Wal-Mart tour later this month to promote her Live And Well CD and DVD release, Dollymania has learned. A store manager at the Huntsville, Ala., Wal-Mart at 11610 Memorial Parkway confirmed to the site Thursday night that Dolly is scheduled to make an appearance at the store there at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17. While the manager had no definite information on appearances at any other stores, it was noted that it is likely she will be making stops at additional Wal-Marts across the region. Further information is expected soon. Thanks, David and Jo-Ann!

  • Could the "Hello I'm Dolly" Tour extend overseas in 2005? Maybe. Joe Skelly, who runs the unofficial Dolly Part'ners fan club in England, told The News & Star newspaper that Sugar Hill is planning to send Dolly to the U.K. for some concerts to promote her upcoming live CD and DVD release Live And Well (although the story mistakenly says it features her British and Irish concerts from 2002 when it was filmed at Dollywood). The paper notes that while it is "understood" that Dolly could be in the U.K. in January and February, the British company distributing her upcoming release, and consequently would help organize any tour, stated that nothing has been confirmed yet. Read the full story here. Dolly's winter 2002 series of concerts in England, Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland was her first tour in Europe in two decades.

    Sept. 2: The Great American Country (GAC) cable network is offering fans a chance to get an autographed copy of Dolly's new double-CD live concert collection Live & Well. By ordering the CD from the network's Web site here, customers will receive one autographed by Dolly while supplies last. In celebration of the release, the network is also re-airing Dolly's U.S. Library of Congress Living Legend Award ceremony special this week (see TV listings on right-hand side of this page). Unfortunately for DirecTV customers, the special is apparently not currently scheduled to run after the network is added to the satellite provider's Total Choice Plus line-up Sept. 21. (* Note: Shortly after this was posted Wednesday evening, the site began showing the CD as unavailable, suggesting the autographed copies had sold out.)

    Sept. 1: HMV Australia shows Dolly's Live And Well set being released Down Under on Oct. 4. Thanks, Sean! And both HMV UK and Amazon UK show it scheduled for British release on Sept. 27.

    Aug. 31: Sugar Hill Records on Monday began its preview of Dolly's Sept. 14 release Live And Well, providing free Real Audio feed of the album's first two complete tracks, "Orange Blossom Special" and "Train, Train," on its Listening Room page here. (However, I had some difficulty accessing them and had to open up the Real Media program itself and choose "Open" and manually paste the URL into the program window for it to play instead of just clicking on the link from the label's Web site, but that might just be a problem with my computer.) And if you want to hear more than those two songs, remember CMT is offering the entire double-CD in steaming audio format here. Reserve your copy of the live CD here and DVD version here! (The disc also gets a brief mention in the fall preview section of The Advocate in its new issue.)

    Aug. 28: Sugar Hill Records asked that I let everyone know that CMT.com has created an online listening party for Dolly's Sept. 14 live concert double-CD and DVD Live And Well. Visit the page here, and you can listen to the entire album! And reserve your copy of the CD here or DVD collection here. Thanks!

    Aug. 21: Sugar Hill Records has started the ball rolling to promote Dolly's Sept. 14 double-CD and DVD live releases Live And Well with prominent banner ads on CMT.com for the CD version of the collection that started appearing on Friday.

    Aug. 16: Phil over at Voice Of An Angel alerted me that The New Rainbow Club West, a gay club in Knoxville, will host a Live And Well preview party Sunday, Sept. 12, featuring an advance screening of the Dolly concert DVD to be released Sept. 14, several prizes from Sugar Hill Records and a Dolly Illusion Show with the drag queens all done up like Dolly at midnight. Thanks, Phil!

    Aug. 14: Just a little over four weeks from its Sept. 14 release, Amazon.com on Friday added an advance order page for the double-CD version of Dolly's concert recording Live And Well, but without a discount. The set sells for the $19.98 list price. Reserve your copy here! (And don't forget to get the DVD version here for $16.51!)

    Aug. 11: Sugar Hill Records has announced that beginning Aug. 23 the label will offer online samples from its Listening Room page here of Dolly's forthcoming live DVD and double-CD concert release, Live And Well, coming out Sept. 14. As a preview, they provided a link in an e-mail to the label's mailing list on Tuesday for a streaming audio version of the live performance of "Little Sparrow" here. Although no song samples from the label's Web site, including "Little Sparrow," were working as of Tuesday evening, perhaps the problem will have been corrected by the time you read this. Also, if you didn't reserve your copy of the DVD from Amazon.com when the store first put up an order page on Monday, you've missed out on a great deal. The store on Tuesday upped the pre-issue price for the DVD from $13.29 to the new price of $16.51, which is still way below the suggested retail price for the release. Reserve your copy here!

    Aug. 10: While the site hasn't added a page yet to advance order the double-CD version, Amazon.com on Monday began accepting orders for the DVD version of Dolly's Sept. 14 live concert release Live And Well at the discounted price of $13.29 each. Reserve your copy here!

    Aug. 5: Sugar Hill Records on Wednesday released four new shots of Dolly in concert to help publicize their Sept. 14 live CD and DVD release, Live & Well. View them here.

    Aug. 3: Sugar Hill Records confirmed on Monday that Dolly's live CD and DVD set will be available in several countries, but in a break with previous tradition, the products will actually be released on the Sugar Hill label and just be distributed by other record distributors overseas, instead of being released by different labels as their Dolly CDs have been in the past. Executives confirm its release will be sometime around the U.S. issue date of Sept. 14, although final dates have not been released, in Great Britain, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. Thanks!

    Aug. 2: Although I haven't confirmed it officially with Sugar Hill Records, some fans tell me they contacted the label and were told Dolly's live concert CDs and DVD will, in fact, be released in Europe in September. It was reported here Friday night that Sanctuary Records, which for the past five years has been the exclusive distributor of Dolly's Sugar Hill recordings in the U.K., confirmed they were not scheduled to release Live & Well overseas. Well, according to the fans who contacted the label, that's because the products will be released by someone other than Sanctuary. Instead, they will apparently come out on other labels in the U.K., Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Thanks, Gerard and Thea!

    July 31: To answer questions posed to this site recently by Dolly fans in the U.K., a spokesman for Sanctuary Music Group, which has been distributing Dolly's Sugar Hill recordings in Europe, tells Dollymania that the label is not currently scheduled to release her Live & Well live CD and DVD overseas at this time. The collection comes out in the U.S. on Sept. 14.

    July 30: Dollymania's review of Dolly's upcoming live double-CD and DVD releases was posted Thursday evening, the first one published, to my knowledge. Find out what I thought of the collection here.

    July 17: Sugar Hill Records has revealed the suggested retail prices for the upcoming Dolly live concert CD and DVD packages, Live & Well. Each release will carry a recommended price of $19.99, which is what the label will sell the collections for on its own Web site, although many stores discount new releases below the regular retail prices. I haven't seen any online retailers taking advance orders yet, so there isn't any information on what discounts may be offered to shoppers. The label has also released the DVD cover art, shown at left, which utilizes the same image as the CD cover, just a little taller photo to accommodate the case's larger dimensions. As was first reported on Dollymania, the double CD collection and DVD set will both be released on Sept. 14.

    July 9 (posted afternoon of July 8): Countless fans longing to see and hear Dolly's live concert taped at the Dollywood Celebrity Theatre in December 2002 only have two more months to wait, Dollymania is pleased to be the first media outlet to report. Live & Well will be released on Sept. 14 both as CD and DVD sets, Sugar Hill Records announced on Thursday. The 23-track, two-disc CD set or DVD set (you'll have to pay separately for each) will include all of the songs she performed at the show. Many fans will remember Dolly had recorded the concerts, which were fundraisers for her Dollywood Foundation, and had said in a newspaper interview last year they would air as a concert special on CMT, but that deal apparently fell through. This will mark Dolly's third concert album (her first in a decade), but it will be her first-ever live DVD release (in the U.S., at least; her 1985 Real Love concert with Kenny Rogers has been released on DVD in Asia only).