The Dolly Parton You Didn't See On the Stage
- Rob Joyce
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
When we think of Dolly Parton, we picture the big hair, blonde wigs, the rhinestones, the unmistakeable voice—and that wonderful laugh. But behind the stage persona was a woman with an extraordinary instinct for music, people and opportunity.
Take "Islands in the Stream." Kenny Rogers had been trying to record the song for four days and was becoming frustrated. Finally, he told Barry Gibb, who had written the song, that he didn't even like it anymore.
Gibb thought for a moment and said, "You know what we need? We need Dolly Parton."
Rogers had met Dolly but didn't know her particularly well. Parton happened to be recording in a different studio in the same building and his manager happened to spot her downstairs and went to get her. Dolly walked into the studio, sang with Kenny—and, as Rogers later remembered, "the song was never the same."
The duet became a number one hit and one of the most memorable pairings in popular music.
Then there was Dolly's different relationship with Porter Wagoner.
Leaving The Porter Wagoner Show was not easy. He hired her when she was just twenty-one and fairly unknown to star in his highly successful weekly syndicated television show shot in Nashville. Dolly had spent seven years with Porter, and although their professional relationship had become difficult, she still loved and respected the man who had given her such an important break.
When Dolly first told Porter Wagoner she was leaving his show, he initially refused to listen, argued against it, and tried to convince her that her record label would drop her if she went solo.
When words weren't working, Dolly did what Dolly did best—she wrote a song.
She played "I Will Always Love You" for Porter. He began to cry. They he told her, "That's the prettiest song I ever heard. And you can go, providing I get to produce that record." They hugged and he kept his word. The recording went to No. 1 on the country charts, even before Whitney sang the tune in The Bodyguard eighteen years later.
And finally, there is one of my favorite Dolly stories.
While filming 9 to 5, Dolly was sitting around between takes, thinking about the secretaries she was watching work. She was wearing her famous acrylic fingernails and began clicking them together.
As Dolly later explained, "They make a great, you know, rhythm sound. And they sound almost like a typewriter to me." She started putting the rhythm together in her head, thinking about the sound of the typewriters the women on the set were using. Before long, she had the beginnings to "9 to 5." Her smart business sense also showed, when she made writing and singing the theme song a strict condition of signing the contract for her feature film debut. And yes, those fingernails ultimately became part of the percussion on the actual recording .
That's the Dolly Parton we will miss beneath all the glitter.
She could walk into a recording studio and transform a song. She could turn a painful professional goodbye into one of the most beautiful songs ever written. And when she needed the sound of a typewriter, she didn't need the typewriter. She just looked at her fingernails. The country girl was always there underneath the curvy body and big smile. That was Dolly Parton. The show was spectacular—but the woman behind the show was even more remarkable.
Rest in Peace Dolly.
Have a great weekend. Rob
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