Undoubtedly one of the songs that defines Country music, beloved by buskers and karaoke singers alike is "Jolene". Covered on over 70 different recorded versions, it has spawned answer songs from Jolene's point of view, it has even been parodied during the Covid Pandemic on a version called "Vaccine" which strangely led us back to where it all started, with Dolly Parton singing the altered lyrics ""Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I'm begging of you please don't hesitate"
Apart from the original, one of our personal favourties was Morganway's slowed down live version that brooded with menace, and all but suggested that Jolene would be in for a nasty end if she messed with SJ's man!
This latest version brings together four luminaries of the UK Country scene for their own version, each currently riding their own high waves of success. So we find Jess Thristan, ably supported by Demi Marriner, Kezia Gill and Jade Helliwell have taken the bounce out of Dolly's original and left us with a stark, stripped back version perhaps more in sync with the overall tone of the lyrics.
It is so stripped back that initially there are no instruments at all as Jess opens a capella, pleading almost as if in actual conversation, only the final word being the signal for the backing to begin. There is a pedal steel in the background that quietly wails, and an acoustic guitar in the foreground that plays the most minimal of lines - it leaves all the focus on Jess. Jess's considered delivery almost lovingly verbally paints a picture of the songs protagonist, such is the care taken with the delivery of each syllable, something that Jade picks up in the second half of the verse.
The second verse starts with another change of timbre as Jade picks up the vocal baton, before passing it onto Kezia and Demi, though the general mood throughout remains the same.
The chorus signals a rise in instrumentation and the combined choir on backing vocals works to great effect.
That the song can take these multiple versions and somehow still sound so fresh is a testament to the quality of the original - this version should certainly take it's place in the upper echelons of quality covers.
The single as well as a tribute to one of Country's legends affords an opportunity to publicise the forthcoming "Girls Night In" tour which will see this quartet of UK American's finest come together on one bill and of which this may prove to be a pivotal climactic moment one would imagine
Girls Night In Tour Dates
