Growing up in North Carolina, my musical taste was very much shaped by that of my parents. By the age of 7, my top 5 list consisted of Elvis Presley, REO Speedwagon, Bon Jovi, Rod Stewart, and the one and only Dolly Parton. I don't remember the first time I fell in love with Dolly, but I do remember always feeling the ache in my heart as she would tell of her life growing up as a poor girl in the familiar Blue Ridge mountains on Coat of Many Colors, imagining the the devilish emerald eyes that stared out of the face of Jolene, and fantasizing that one day I would be strong and sassy enough to kick my chauvinistic boss's ass (who would look just like Dabney Coleman, of course), and wear my hair in a blonde bouffant.
Dolly's was also the second concert I ever attended at the very mature age of 8( The first being Bon Jovi--NEW JERSEY Tour 1988, baby! Yeah!) Seated in the lawn section of the the enormous amphitheatre in Charlotte, NC (Right down the road from the race track, nah mean?), I could barely see Dolly's tiny frame, but her hair and cleavage gleamed like top of the Chrysler building. A slow drizzle began to fall from the sky, hinting at the downpour that would soon arrive. Being only 8, it would be years before my first wet t-shirt contest, so we decided to run for cover. Luckily, the venue was nice enough to welcome all who could fit under the shelter into the VIP seats, and I was sitting just 10 rows from my hero chugging Courvoisier (Okay, Shirley Temples, whatever)! After the show, I remember standing outside peering through a fence that I was sure separated me from Dolly's sequinned glory. I tried to visualize myself getting my t-shirt signed by the lady, as if it would make it come true. It never did.
I'm still pretty excited about her new album though, and here's the review I wrote for it that can be found in this month's BUST.
DOLLY PARTON- Backwoods Barbie
"People always comin' up to me askin,' 'Dolly what's your secret? Your attitude just seems so good. How do you keep it?'" rings the first inspirational notes off Backwoods Barbie, Dolly Parton's first release off her newly formed independent label, Dolly Records. Gracing the cover pin-up style, elegantly lounging in the back of a classic pink pickup truck, decked in full Dolly get up (Platinum wig, double F's, animal print top, and a smile like a ray of sunshine.), the spunky country queen delivers an answer to that question with a handful of self-penned gospel soul-yankers, and touching twangy tunes. Never a simple gal, Dolly kicks her cowboy boots up with a glitzy fiddle-burning bluegrass cover of the Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy," and a church-choir backed version of Smokey Robinson and The Miracles' "The Tracks of My Tears." The production of Backwoods Barbie may be slightly top-heavy, but so is Dolly and we like her that way.
Always one of my favorite comediennes, here are some of my fave Dolly quotes:
"Now the majors are what they used to think I was: History." Regarding major labels.
"There's two kinds of mountain women: the kind that get married and have a bunch of kids, and the kind that stay single and have a bunch of kids!"
"Someone told me I should run for president. I said, don't you think that we've had enough boobs in the White House?"
"I wanted to be the first woman to burn her bra, but it would have taken the fire department four days to put it out."
"You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap!"
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3 comments:
nice post. you're background at least has some credibility to it - i grew up listening to the carpenters (mainly that one christmas record and no, i'm not a karen carpenter fan AT ALL) plus going to events like the iowa state fair (to look at things like the butter cow).
i saw dolly for the first time recently at radio city music hall. she's so tiny but completely unmistakable, and she has such a great storytelling nature. she said all of those oneliners and a few more that you could tell she's gotten mileage out of, but everyone genuinely laughed. i wish i could get away with that.
aw! i would have loved to go to that show! i walked by there one of the nights she was performing and saw all the folks lined up waiting to go in. so jealous!
she is EXTREMELY tiny. did you know she had to postpone this last tour because her boobs were causing her major back pain? i dunno how she has carried them around all these years.
and yes, she is a great storyteller. i think it's kind of like a cool aunt or grandpa. they tell you the same stories over and over, but you still love hearing them.
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