Rainbow (Dolly Parton album)

Rainbow is the twenty-eighth solo studio album by Dolly Parton. It was released on November 25, 1987, by Columbia Records. The original plan, when Parton signed with CBS, was for her to alternate between releasing pop and country albums (rather than trying to combine the two styles on each album), but due to Rainbow's poor sales and tepid critical reception, the plan was quickly abandoned, and Parton more or less focused on recording country material for the remainder of her association with the label.

Rainbow
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 23, 1987
Recordedc. July 1987
Studio
Genre
Length39:38
LabelColumbia Nashville
ProducerSteve "Gold-E" Goldstein
Dolly Parton chronology
Best of Dolly Parton, Vol. 3
(1987)
Rainbow
(1987)
White Limozeen
(1989)
Singles from Rainbow
  1. "The River Unbroken"
    Released: November 23, 1987
  2. "I Know You By Heart"
    Released: February 8, 1988
  3. "Make Love Work"
    Released: July 25, 1988
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]

The album was among Parton's lowest charting albums to that point. It stalled at #153 on the U.S. pop albums charts and barely cracked the top twenty on the country albums charts; its first single, "The River Unbroken" missed the country top 40 entirely, stalling at #63, and did not make the pop chart. The album's second single, "I Know You by Heart", a duet with Smokey Robinson, did not chart at all, but was covered by Bette Midler the following year for the soundtrack of the movie Beaches. A third single, "Make Love Work", was released in June 1988, but fared poorly, likely due, in part, to competition from "Wildflowers", a top-ten single by Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt released from their 1987 Trio album a month earlier.

Rainbow's release coincided with the launch of Parton's ill-fated 1987-88 variety show, Dolly, and much of the music on the album was highlighted on the show.

Track listing

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Rainbow track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The River Unbroken"David Batteau, Darrell Brown4:33
2."I Know You by Heart" (with Smokey Robinson)George Merrill, Shannon Rubicam, Dean Pitchford4:20
3."Dump the Dude"Steve Dorff, Allan Rich3:52
4."Red Hot Screaming Love"Mike Chapman4:11
5."Make Love Work"Eric Kaz3:26
6."Everyday Hero"Blaise Tosti, Robert O'Hearn4:35
7."Two Lovers"William "Smokey" Robinson3:22
8."Could I Have Your Autograph"Dolly Parton3:20
9."Savin' It for You"Dino Fekaris, David Loeb4:18
10."More Than I Can Say"Dolly Parton4:06

Personnel

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Charts

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Weekly charts

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Weekly chart performance for Rainbow
Chart (1987) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[3] 83
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[4] 83
US Billboard 200[5] 153
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[6] 18

Year-end charts

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Year-end chart performance for Rainbow
Chart (1988) Peak
position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[7] 62

References

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  1. ^ Parton, Dolly. Rainbow - Dolly Parton | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic at AllMusic
  2. ^ Colin Larkin (2006). "Parton, Dolly". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 6 (4th ed.). Muze, Oxford University Press. p. 435–6. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
  3. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 230. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  4. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0928". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  5. ^ "Dolly Parton Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  6. ^ "Dolly Parton Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  7. ^ "Billboard Top Country Albums - Year-End Charts (1988)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
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