Eagle When She Flies is the thirty-first solo studio album by Dolly Parton. It was released on March 12, 1991, by Columbia Records. The album was produced by Steve Buckingham and Gary Smith, with Dolly serving as executive producer. It was Dolly's first solo album to peak at number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. The album's first single, "Rockin' Years", peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. "Silver and Gold" peaked at number 15, while the title track peaked at number 33. "Country Road", the fourth and final single, peaked at number 46. "Rockin' Years" was nominated for Best Country Vocal Collaboration and "Eagle When She Flies" was nominated for Best Country Song at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards. The album has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.?
Track listing
If You Need Me (Dolly Parton) 2:44
Rockin' Years (duet with Ricky Van Shelton) (Floyd Parton) 3:25
Country Road (Dolly Parton, Gary Scruggs) 3:27
Silver and Gold (Carl Perkins, Greg Perkins, Stan Perkins) 3:54
Eagle When She Flies (Dolly Parton) 3:11
Best Woman Win (duet with Lorrie Morgan) (Dolly Parton) 3:08
What a Heartache (Dolly Parton) 3:32
Runaway Feelin' (Dolly Parton) 2:56
Dreams Do Come True (Bill Owens) 3:26
Family (Dolly Parton, Carl Perkins) 3:47
Wildest Dreams (Dolly Parton, Mac Davis) 4:30
The album was recorded from November 1990 to January 1991 at Nightingale Studio and The Doghouse in Nashville.
"What a Heartache" is a re-recording of a song Dolly originally wrote and included on the 1984 soundtrack album Rhinestone. She would later record the song again for her 2002 album Halos & Horns.
Dolly also recorded "Dreams Do Come True" as a duet with her uncle Bill Owens. It was included on his album Dreams Do Come True that was sold in the early 1990s at Dollywood and public appearances he made.
Dolly originally recorded "Rockin' Years" as a duet with George Jones, but this version remained unreleased until Jones included it on his 2008 album Burn Your Playhouse Down: The Unreleased Duets.
Dolly later re-recorded "Eagle When She Flies" in 2021 as a duet with José Feliciano.
The album was released March 12, 1991, on CD, LP, and cassette.
Two songs from the album were nominated at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards in 1992. "Rockin' Years" was nominated for Best Country Vocal Collaboration and "Eagle When She Flies" was nominated for Best Country Song. "Rockin' Years" received two nominations at the 1992 CMT Music Awards (known as the TNN/Music City News Country Awards at the time); for Vocal Collaboration of the Year and Video of the Year. "Eagle When She Flies" also received a Songwriter Achievement Award from Nashville Songwriters Association International in 1991.
The album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on July 2, 1991, for shipment of 500,000 copies. It was certified Platinum on August 4, 1992, for shipment of 1,000,000 copies. Music Canada certified the album Gold on November 21, 1991, for shipment of 50,000 copies.
Performance Dolly Parton – lead vocals Lorrie Morgan – duet vocals Ricky Van Shelton – duet vocals
The Mighty Fine Band Mike Davis – organ Richard Dennison – background vocals Jimmy Mattingly – fiddle, mandolin Jennifer O'Brien – background vocals ?Gary Smith – piano, keyboards Howard Smith – background vocals Steve Turner – drums Paul Uhrig – bass Bruce Watkins – acoustic guitar ?Kent Wells – electric guitar
?Additional musicians Sam Bacco – percussion Paddy Corcoran – uilleann pipes Glenn Duncan – fiddle Steve Gibson – guitar, mandolin Roy Huskey, Jr. – upright bass Carl Jackson – acoustic guitar Joey Miskulin – accordion Mark O'Connor – fiddle?
Additional vocalists Lea Jane Berinati – background vocals Joy Gardner – background vocals Vince Gill – harmony vocals Vicki Hampton – background vocals Emmylou Harris – harmony vocals ?Carl Jackson - harmony vocals The Kid Connection – additional background vocals Alison Krauss – harmony vocals Patty Loveless – harmony vocals Lewis Nunley – background vocals John Wesley Ryles – background vocals Lisa Silver – background vocals Harry Stinson ?– harmony vocals Dennis Wilson – background vocals Curtis Young – background vocals
Production Joe Bogan – additional engineering Steve Buckingham – producer Ray Bunch – string arrangements Robert Charles – assistant engineer Richard Dennison – vocal supervision ?Chrissy Follmar – assistant engineer Carlos Grier – digital editing Larry Jeffries – assistant engineer Brad Jones – assistant engineer John Kunz – assistant engineer, mixing assistant Sean Londin – assistant engineer Gary Paczosa – engineering, mixing John David Parker – assistant engineer Dolly Parton – executive producer Denny Purcell – mastering Gary Smith – producer
Other personnel David Blair – hair Tony Chase – fashion, styling Rachel Dennison – makeup ?Gallin-Morey Associates – management Bill Johnson – art direction Jodi Lynn Miller – design assistance ?Randee St. Nicholas – photography
