Treasures is the thirty-fourth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. It was released on September 24, 1996, by Rising Tide Records and Blue Eye Records. The Steve Buckingham-produced album is made up of covers of rock and country hits from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. It peaked at number 21 on the BillboardTop Country Albums chart and spawned three singles: "Just When I Needed You Most", which peaked at number 62 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart; a dance remix of "Peace Train", which peaked at number seven on the BillboardHot Dance Music chart; and a dance remix of "Walking on Sunshine". The album's release was accompanied by a CBS television special, Dolly Parton: Treasures.
Background
When Parton's contract with Columbia Records expired in 1995, she decided to look for a new label at her own leisure. She initially decided on Atlantic Records because she said Doug Morris was the one executive she met with who fully believed in her. Morris lost an executive battle leading to his departure from Atlantic in 1995. Morris began working with MCA Records in July 1995 by forming a joint venture record label with his Rising Tide Records, which became Universal Records when Morris was appointed chairman and CEO of MCA Music Entertainment Group in November 1995. Parton said she was in no hurry to find a new label, but when Morris began working at MCA she said yes, signing with Universal Records' Nashville branch which had retained the Rising Tide Records name.[4]
Content
Among the selections are songs by Merle Haggard, Jeanne Pruett, Neil Young, Kris Kristofferson, Cat Stevens and Mac Davis. Perhaps the most surprising choices were Young's "After the Gold Rush" (although Parton had previously recorded the song in 1994 with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris for the second Trio album, though that version would not be released until 1999) and Stevens' "Peace Train", which features Ladysmith Black Mambazo. While this initially seemed to be the oddest pairing, Parton says that for years, she wanted to
record "Peace Train" with a big chorus but couldn't find the sound she envisioned. She said, "I was watching TV and this Lifesavers commercial came on, and I heard these beautiful, rich voices. It was exactly the world sound that I wanted. I called [producer Steve Buckingham] and told him to find them, whoever it was. It turned out to be a perfect blend. I was going to record that song regardless of what album I did, because of the shape the world's in."[4]
The album was released September 24, 1996, on CD and cassette.
Parton made an appearance on The Rosie O'Donnell Show on November 27 and performed "Walking on Sunshine".[8]
The album's release was accompanied by a CBS television special, Dolly Parton: Treasures, which aired on November 30, 1996.[9] During the special Parton performed most of the songs from the album, accompanied by video footage of news stories and events from the year of each song's original release.
On July 1, 1997,[10] a dance remix "Peace Train" was released as a single and peaked at number 23 on the BillboardHot Dance Music chart and number 119 on the BillboardBubbling Under the Hot 100 chart. It also peaked at number 97 on the UK Singles Chart. A music video was filmed, but was never released. It was directed by Christopher Ciccone, brother of Madonna. The unreleased music video was eventually leaked online.
Following the success of "Peace Train", a remix of "Walking on Sunshine" was released on August 10, 1999,[11] but did not chart.
Commercial performance
The album peaked at number 21 on the BillboardTop Country Albums chart and number 122 on the Billboard 200. In Canada, the album peaked at number 24 on the RPM Country Albums chart. The album also peaked at number 10 on the UK Country Albums Chart and number 116 on the UK Albums Chart.
