Better Day (album)
Better Day is the forty-third solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. It was released on June 28, 2011, by Dolly Records and Warner Music Nashville.[1] The album was produced by Parton and Kent Wells. To promote the album, Parton embarked on her Better Day World Tour. With 49 shows, the tour visited North America, Europe, and Australia.[2]
Better Day
Background[edit]
Parton first mentioned plans for a new album in October 2010 during an interview with The Huntsville Times. She said she was currently working on the album which will "have some uplifting gospel flavor and some country." She went on to say that she plans to tour "in the fall and winter" in Europe and Australia.[3] It was announced in January 2011 that the album's title would be Better Day.[4]
Content[edit]
Better Day contains entirely original material, her first since Hungry Again.[2] However, only six of the album's twelve tracks are exclusively new.[5] Four of the songs on Better Day, "I Just Might", "Shine Like the Sun", "Get Out and Stay Out" and "Let Love Grow" are Parton's personally recorded versions of songs she wrote for the Broadway adaptation of her 1980 movie 9 to 5.[2] "Holding Everything" was previously written for and recorded by Randy Owen on his debut album, One on One.[5]
In an interview with Billboard, it was noted that the songs on the album are thematically linked, in that they are all inspirational. Parton replied with, "We actually did demo a lot of songs for this and it seemed that with everything being so doomsday-terrorists and bad weather and unemployment-we need a little sunshine. I wanted to do something people would want to hear."[2] Parton told The National Post that the album inspired in part by such disparate world problems as the Japanese tsunami, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and America's economic crisis".[6] Parton added, "I don't write just to relieve my own anxieties, I write for the people who can't express themselves." She concluded by saying, "I can't save the world, but I might be able to save someone today if I can put them in a better mood. The music's designed to be like a ray of sunshine for all those folks in the dark."[6]
Release and promotion[edit]
The first single from the album, "Together You and I," was premiered on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on May 27, 2011.[7] Parton has already begun promotion of the tour and album, including across the BBC and ITV in the United Kingdom in April 2011.[8] The album was released on CD, vinyl and digital download.
The album's lead single, "Together You and I" was released on May 23, 2011 to digital retailer, iTunes.[9] A video for the single was filmed, and was originally scheduled to debut on May 28.[10] However, for unknown reasons, the video was delayed and later debuted on July 4 on country music video station, CMT.[11] The video was directed by acclaimed CMT Music Awards "Video Director of the Year", Trey Fanjoy.[12] "The Sacrifice" was released as the album's second and final single, and a music video was created using live footage from Parton's Better Day World Tour.
Commercial performance[edit]
Better Day debuted at number 51 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with first week sales of 17,500. The album also debuted at number 11 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.[24] In the UK, the album was released on August 29, 2011 and debuted at No. 9 on the UK Album Charts, becoming Parton's highest charting studio album in that country as well as becoming a No.1 on the UK Country Albums Chart[25]