Dolly Parton

[kanding]

I hadn't thought of that song in years! Thanks forever1267! I'm listening to it now!

[sardonictart]

Jul 1, 2015 0:29:12 GMT -4 forever1267 said:

Favorite Dolly Parton song is easily "Here You Come Again". That song perfectly understands "he's bad for me, but I love him so." /glares at Non Boyfriend Best Friend while sighing

It's my favorite Dolly song too - always on my iPod. Vynl, a restaurant in Hell's Kitchen NYC, has a bathroom dedicated to Dolly (and other singers like Cher.) It plays all of her hits while you look at a mosaic of her as well as a Dolly Barbie-type doll. I get thrilled when I go into it, and "Here You Come Again" starts playing.

[chonies]

Dolly Parton saved my sanity in college. Picture it--a feminist campus residence, mid to late 90s. It was the height of Ani diFranco's underground fame, and a nerdy social sciences major simply couldn't deal. Every time I politely demurred on why I didn't like Ani, or said I just didn't care for her*, someone always explained (and sometimes mansplained) that Ani was good because she wrote her own songs. I said, and occasionally shrieked, there are lots of singer songwriters who also write their own songs, like Dolly Parton. I listened to her greatest hits collection over and over.

My Dolly gateway was 9 to 5 and "Islands in the Stream," and then Jolene, and then I was smitten forever.

*because, seriously, sometimes something just doesn't appeal, ok? And singer-songwriter is not always a determiner of quality.

[Neurochick]

Dolly Parton is a really nice person, she is. In 1997 (I think) I went to see "Smokey Joe's Cafe" on Broadway. The show was in preview. DP was in the audience. During intermission people kept coming up to her, asking for autographs and she'd sign them, she was so nice and sweet to everybody. I didn't get an autograph simply because I didn't want to bother her. I always thought it was so cool that she was sitting right there with us regular folk.

[divasahm]

I am old.

I grew up watching Dolly on the Porter Waggoner Show. She didn't look like anyone else on TV, but she looked enough like some of the women in my hometown to make her seem very familiar and comfortable. And she was just the same then as she is now--warm and genuine.

What I remember most--back then, TV shows would do in-studio commercials during the show for their main sponsors, and Porter Waggoner's main sponsor was Breeze Detergent. Dolly would walk over to the Breeze display, and talk about whatever free gift they were giving away with purchase. It was usually dishes or cookware or something, but one summer it was pink towels with a rose print, and my grandmother decided she needed those towels. She bought up enough Breeze to handle the Dallas Cowboys' practice uniforms for a year just so she could have those towels, but the detergent was awful and she ended up mixing it with the good stuff she usually used. The towels were more decorative than absorbent, but for a middle-aged widow, they were just fine.

So, I have vivid memories of Dolly showcasing those gifts with purchase (and doing a damn fine job of it), and ending every segment with the words, "Remember--you can only find THESE in boxes of BREEZE!" (I still have one of Mawmaw's hand towels. If I ever get the chance, I'll take it with me to meet Dolly and get a picture of her with it...)

Also, fun fact--Porter was a jerk and was jealous of Dolly's popularity with his audience, so he put some pretty onerous conditions on her contract, like only working with him, no solo performances, no recording without his input or permission, and he got a huge cut of whatever royalties she received. She quit, and there were threats of mutual lawsuits, with most of the fans siding with Dolly. Dolly took the high road through it all, and when Porter finally released her from the contract, she appeared on the show one last time and sang a song that she had written especially for him--"I Will Always Love You". I think it speaks volumes to her ability to love and forgive someone who was such an obstacle after being such a mentor.

[LurkerNan]

Jun 30, 2015 0:37:57 GMT -4 narm said:

She's so awesome. She just makes me smile. And I love Islands in the Stream as well as her other old songs!

This is my secret shame song... I turn it on in the car and sing along with Dolly and Kenny.

And it's funny that she wrote "I Will Always Love You" for Porter, while Whitney Houston went on to make that a big hit for her. I always preferred Dolly's sweet quiet version to Whitney blasting out the same song with the force of a hurricane.

Here's a funny thing: When Dolly was first making it big a lot of country artists blasted her for being too "pop". Those guys would freak if they heard country music as it is now.

[chitowngirl]

Oh, I'm not ashamed to admit it-I'll sing it loud and proud!!

[kostgard]

"Here You Come Again" has been running through my head the past couple days - since her thread popped up.

True Confession - "Islands in the Stream" was the first record I ever owned. I demanded my mom buy me the single (and in the early 80s, "single" meant a vinyl 45). I was a little kid at the time - and I do mean little kid in that I played it on a record player that looked like this. I remember being up in my room, playing with my dolls and jamming to Kenny and Dolly.

Also, fun fact--Porter was a jerk and was jealous of Dolly's popularity with his audience, so he put some pretty onerous conditions on her contract, like only working with him, no solo performances, no recording without his input or permission, and he got a huge cut of whatever royalties she received. She quit, and there were threats of mutual lawsuits, with most of the fans siding with Dolly. Dolly took the high road through it all, and when Porter finally released her from the contract, she appeared on the show one last time and sang a song that she had written especially for him--"I Will Always Love You". I think it speaks volumes to her ability to love and forgive someone who was such an obstacle after being such a mentor.

And what she did for Porter after leaving the show proves to me she is a living saint. After he was a total jerk to her, he hit the skids financially and started selling off his song catalog to pay off debts. Dolly bought a good chunk of his songs. Not to rub is face in it, but to help him. And when he got back on his feet financially, he tried to buy his songs back, and Dolly gave them back to him. She didn't sell them back, she gave them back. Because she's awesome.

[ElleCee]

Jul 1, 2015 0:29:12 GMT -4 forever1267 said:

Mashable goes to Dollywood.

Have any Greecies been there? Thoughts? Memories?

Favorite Dolly Parton song is easily "Here You Come Again". That song perfectly understands "he's bad for me, but I love him so." /glares at Non Boyfriend Best Friend while sighing

Thanks for the link! I've always been curious what Dollywood is like.

I love Dolly and love that she gives back to her community and supports literacy.

[kostgard]

I was in Gatlinburg one time when I was in high school and I tried so hard to get the other people I was with the take the short drive to Pigeon Forge to visit Dollywood but no one else wanted to do it. Jerks.