1 What you've got to know is she WROTE those songs! So it's October 1973. I'm driving with the top down on my 1963 Chevy Impala trying to get something on the radio. This was before cassette decks. Sure, you could buy an aftermarket 8-track, but they sat under the dash and were notorious for getting stolen. Furthermore, the 8-track format itself was wonky. With the movement of the heads from track to track...tapes wore out quickly and thus were a bad investment. Which is all to say when you were in the hinterlands, long before the days of Bluetooth, never mind satellite radio, you'd drive down the highway with your right hand on the radio dial, trying to pull in a listenable station. Now this was in the hinterlands of Vermont. Needless to say, this '63 convertible didn't have FM, not that there was a station broadcasting in the backwoods. But AM signals travel further and... What you notoriously got was rural news, the farm report, and country music. In an era where no proud rocker followed what was going on in Nashville. Sure, Ringo made a record in Tennessee. But most of us in the north had never even been south of the Mason-Dixon Line, unless it was the hop, skip and a jump to Florida. We wrote off the south, that's where you went with your long hair and got attacked by rednecks. Now don't confuse today's country music with yesteryear's. Today's country is the rock of the seventies. Back then, it was people with high hair singing twangy songs... Sure, there was a TV show, "Hee Haw." But this was long before the average fan of the Fab Four gave props to Roy Clark for his picking ability. As for Buck Owens...we couldn't find Bakersfield on a map, never mind name a single song of his. Sure, we knew Roger Miller from the AM radio of the sixties. "Trailers for sale or rent..." This was what we endured to get to the Beatles. But I'm in a pensive mood, wondering how I'm going to endure another year of college, it's a brisk day and I stumble on to a station and what comes out is "Jolene." It was not only the first time I heard the song, it was the first time I'd ever heard Dolly Parton. She hadn't crossed over, she wasn't featured on Top 40 radio in the metropolis. But rather than continuing to mosey down the dial, looking for some rock, I listened. "Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene" This was rootsy. Not that different from those Bonnie Raitt albums I was enamored of. This was not drippy drama, songs to sleep to. I could relate. And I never forgot it. 2 Now we knew who Dolly Parton was. I mean how could you not? With that hair and those boobs? But the real breakthrough into the mainstream was "9 to 5." Back when Jane Fonda could open a movie and a flick like this could garner an audience. "9 to 5" was a staple. Everybody saw it. And what they saw in Dolly Parton was someone who didn't deny her roots, but was in on the joke. That was the thing about Dolly Parton, she had a sense of humor, she could make fun of herself. Not to mention writing the title song, which went all the way to number one and earned her an Oscar nomination. Dolly Parton was now part of the firmament. From the holler, but never lumped into the same bucket as Loretta Lynn and George Jones, no matter how talented they might have been. Dolly Parton was now mainstream, when those other acts were not. They were still inhabitants of the country ghetto, Parton had transcended that. And she maintained this status for the next half century. To this day! Most people have ups and downs, their careers wax and wane. People change their opinions on them. But not Dolly Parton. Somehow by being aw shucks and exhibiting all that talent, she was embraced. And, once again, she was in on the joke. She'd go on late night TV and play the role. You'd think she was ditzy, almost a bimbo, and then she'd let out a zinger showing that she was as sharp as you and me and to underestimate her was a mistake. 3 But Parton's crossover appeal, the cementing of her credibility amongst those who were not country fans, was the 1987 "Trio" album, which she made with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. I bought that album, played it too. It was a natural extension of the country rock that began with "Sweetheart of the Rodeo," which always had a place in the firmament, it never died. Now the funny thing is the true star, the person who could make it happen, was Linda Ronstadt, who was a superstar in the seventies and then broadened her purview to the stage with "Pirates of Penzance" and then cut three albums of standards with Nelson Riddle. If Ronstadt's name was on it, it sold. And in truth, Linda had much more broad-based musical success than Dolly, more hit albums, but now, nearly forty years later... Linda's star in the public firmament has faded, yet Dolly's shines as bright as ever. Because Dolly wrote. That's what makes it so you're remembered. The songs. And Dolly's songs were personal. And her story from there to here was one of lifting herself up by her own bootstraps. Gloria Steinem may have gotten all the ink, but Dolly was just as much of a role model for women's liberation, if not more. Dolly wrote for herself. And the personal is universal, when you do it right. And she was so damn likable. Without being syrupy sweet, without shaving off all of her rough edges. She played the game with a wink. And those who play and can beat the odds doing it their way...we cotton to them. 4 And then there was the whole kerfuffle with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Unlike the desperate with a chip on their shoulder, looking for the accolade as a victory lap they can put on their résumé, Dolly thought she didn't deserve induction, because she wasn't really a rock artist. But if you're going to induct Whitney Houston... And, of course, Dolly wrote Whitney's signature song, "I Will Always Love You." An outstanding performance, but it's the song that will live on, not Whitney Houston. Look at history, rarely are interpreters remembered, but writing, when done right, is forever. So Dolly Parton, of all people, is calling the Hall on its B.S. Ironically, she's standing up for the leather jacketed crowd pissed that pop, never mind hip-hop, is now part of the Hall. She was more interested in the integrity of the institution than the award. But when Dolly finally acceded, she took the stage, played the guitar and ROCKED! I was there. You couldn't watch it without a smile on your face. If this was the Rock Hall, she was going to deliver, and she did! 5 Now if you want to know every facet of Dolly's career, there are plenty of obituaries to fill that need. You can go on Spotify and listen to her catalog. I'm no expert. I'm just like so many of you. Country music of the sixties and seventies was not my bag (Although I did love Charlie Rich's "The Most Beautiful Girl"... Then again, do youngsters even know that classic? I don't see any of them covering it. But young acts continue to cover "Jolene" and other Dolly Parton songs.), but Dolly Parton was an exception. We all knew her, she was embedded in our hearts and minds. As much as she appeared, she was never overexposed, we were always glad to see her. She was like someone from down the street, dropping by for a cup of coffee, gossiping with relish. She was more than a performer, she was a person! I know you know what I'm talking about. Which is why there's a national, international outcry over her passing. Old rockers? They're dropping like flies. Then again, when they're not on the road...out of sight, out of mind. But Dolly Parton never left the news. And she's left a hole that cannot be filled, because she was sui generis, there was only one Dolly Parton. And there will never be one again. Just like the Beatles were a product of post-war Liverpool... Dolly Parton was a product of a rural America that has expired with modernity. Sure, there's still poverty, but there's also flat screen TVs and smartphones and the internet... Actually, all you can really do is marvel. At what Dolly achieved, and she never rested on her laurels, she continued to march forward. Wow. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
