DOLLY PARTON

FROM RAGS TO RHINESTONES

DOLLY Parton’s life is a rags to rhinestones story worthy of any feelgood film and with plenty of traumas and triumphs along the way.

But, the singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, actress, businesswoman, author and philanthropist with the down-to-earth approach would probably categorise her own life dismissively with something like “honey, you get out of life what you put in.”

Dolly was born on January 19, 1946, the fourth of 12 children. Most of her cherished memories are around the oneroom cabin in Locust Ridge nestling in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee where the Partons lived.

Life must have been hard there with her daddy running his own small tobacco farm. But young Dolly learned a lot about music from her mother, whose family had originally come from Wales to Southern Appalachia a century earlier and still sang the old songs. They were a churchgoing family and the life and surroundings later figured in the songs that Dolly wrote including My Tennessee Mountain Home. The status she always described as “dirt poor” was revealed in Coat of Many Colors and In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad.)

Dolly began performing as a child, singing on local radio and TV programmes and by 13 was recording the single Puppy Love and appeared at the Grand Ole Opry – a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville. There, she first met Jonny Cash who encouraged her musical career.

After she graduated from Sevier County High School, Dolly moved to Nashville and her first success was as a songwriter. Her songwriting partnership with her uncle, Bill Owens, resulted in several chart hits for performers like Skeeter Davis and Hank Williams Jr.

Dolly signed a record deal at the age of 19 and was categorised then as a singer of bubblegum pop. Her single Happy, Happy Birthday Baby charted during this time.

Fortunately, the record company eventually recognised Dolly’s country music potential. Her first country single Dumb Blonde reached No.24 on the country chart followed by Something Fishy which made No.17. Both songs appeared on her first full-length album Hello, I’m Dolly.

But it was when musician and country music entertainer Porter Wagoner invited her to have a regular spot on his weekly syndicated TV programme that Dolly really broke through.

She signed with RCA and her first single was a remake of Tom Paxton’s The Last Thing on My Mind as a duet with Wagoner. This not only reached the country Top Ten but began a six-year run of basically uninterrupted Top Ten singles for the pair.

Her first solo single was Just Because I’m a Woman, released in 1968, which became a moderate hit but by 1970, solo success was still eluding her.

The canny Wagoner persuaded Dolly to record Jimmie Rodgers’ Mule Skinner Blues which caught the public imagination and catapulted her to No,.3 in the charts. This was closely followed by her No.1 single Joshua and kicked off a string of solo hits for the next two years including her signature song Coat of Many Colors.

Her biggest hit during this period was Jolene in 1973. It topped the country chart early the next year and reached the Hot 100 as well as later charting in the UK at No.7.

Dolly decided to leave Wagoner’s organisation to pursue her solo career. Possibly her best-known song, I Will Always Love You – later a huge hit for Whitney Houston - was written about her professional break from him.

This went to No.1 on the country chart and about the same time, Elvis Presley said he would like to record it. Elvis’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, tried to get Dolly to sign over half of the publishing rights as “standard” but the feisty gal refused – a decision credited with making her millions of dollars in subsequent royalties.

Dolly had three solo singles reach No.1 on the country chart in 1974 – Jolene, I Will Always Love You and Love is Like a Butterfly. She again topped the singles chart in 1975 with The Bargain Store.

Her transition into a pop princess happened between 1974 and 1980 when she had a series of country hits. Her songs crossed over into mainstream music through performers like Olivia Newton John, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt who covered them.

In 1977, Here You Come Again became her first million-seller album, winning a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance the following year. The petite blonde with the remarkable figure was a natural for TV and her unique personality and voice endeared her to millions across the world. She wrote the song 9 to 5 for the feature film of the same name, starring in it with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. This also gave her a country and mainstream hit.

Then in 1982, Dolly was in the film “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”, earning her a Golden Globes’ nomination. Her screen career also included an impressive role in Steel Magnolias.

Also in 1982, she got into the mainstream Top 50 with what became an enduring favourite, Islands in the Stream with Kenny Rogers.

Since then, in spite of times when her star has dimmed slightly in the entertainment firmament, Dolly has continued to write and record songs for herself and other famous singers.

She is always eminently quotable and honest. She once stated: “I’m not offended by dumb blonde jokes. I know that I’m not dumb. I also know I’m not blonde.” And of her personal style, she famously said:

It takes a lot of money to make a person look this cheap!

Alongside her singing and songwriting career, Dolly – now 75 - has also proved herself a naturally astute businesswoman.

Her Dollywood Company operates the Dollywood theme park, a dinner theatre called Dolly Parton’s Stampede, waterpark Dollywood’s Splash Country and the Dream More Resort and Spa.

She is also a long-term supporter of many charities, particularly relating to literacy, and created the Dollywood Foundation. This mails thousands of books to children each month and works across the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and the Republic of Ireland.

Her list of awards and national honours is enormous but it is Dolly herself who has been taken into the hearts of millions around the world. And, being a warm Southerner, that probably means the most.