The year was 1977 and the name Dolly Parton was on everyone’s lips. Rumors swirled that the revered country star was looking to leave Nashville, but in an exclusive chat with PEOPLE, she assured fans that she’s here to stay.
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Hair appears to still be by Carvel, makeup by Wally Westmore. Tight-fitting costume – well, if she sneezed, the exploding glitter could put the whole arena in emergency room. Talent? She still idolizes more famous names like Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris says, “She’s one of the great writers – male or female – and great singers of this generation.”
Her old mentor and duet partner Porter Wagoner declares, “She’s as creative as anyone I’ve ever met, including Hank Williams.” But, in every other respect, the old Dolly Parton act is not what it used to be.
At 31, she had just tragically fired her Travelin’ Family Band, which included four siblings, an uncle and a cousin. She broke up with Wagoner and replaced her manager with a popular Hollywood company that does business with Joan Rivers and Cher. Did the future queen of country music abdicate even before Loretta Lynn stepped down?
In fact, reports of Dolly’s escape have been greatly exaggerated. Of course, she is looking for new customers by selling the 11-inch. Dolly the Doll (to a perfect, absurd degree), tours with Vegas cowboys like Mac Davis and becomes practically a regular on Tonight’s show. It is also true that her current and first self-produced LP, New harvest … First gathering, features reworked R&B hits by Smokey Robinson and Jackie Wilson. But after all, what commandment dictates that a true country singer can only go gold or platinum in her beauty salon?
Dolly Parton in 1977.
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As Parton herself justifies the new departure, “I want people to know that there’s a lot more to me – good or bad – than they’ve seen so far. All I’m asking for is a chance to prove it. I had to reorganize myself to try to make those dreams come true,” Dolly adds delicately, not saying what was quietly acknowledged on Music Row: that the combination of relatives was no match for stardom (or the polished Gypsy Fever Band that was Taken over).
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“These are very painful decisions I had to make,” Dolly said. “I have suffered a lot and will continue to suffer because of the great love I have for the people involved. I may be an eagle when I fly, but I’m a sparrow when it comes to feelings.”
“A lot of my friends are afraid I might screw it up,” admits Dolly of her own artistic adaptation to pop. “And”, she adds, “some are afraid that I will do good.” But I will never turn my back on the people who made me sing and write. I’m not leaving Nashville. Roots are important to me, and my roots are here.”
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She met her future husband, Carl Dean, now 35, at a laundromat within her first 24 hours in Nashville. Dean, a lanky Nashville native who owns a paving company, has steadfastly stayed out of Dolly’s career during their 10-year marriage. He never even saw her perform. (However, local DJs mocking her at concerts with lines like “Dolly burned her bra — it took three days” would not encourage any husband.)
“He’s kind of shy and quiet,” Dolly understates. “What we have together is so sweet and good that I would never want it mixed with one another.” When she is lonely, she calls SOS Carla to come back for a few nights.
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Dolly and Carl live outside Nashville in Tara with 23 rooms on 200 acres, a mobile home for her parents when they visit, 25 Herefords, two peacocks, two hounds and Dolly’s 17-year-old younger sister, Rachel. Four more Partons were raised there. “I don’t know that one day I won’t have children,” she says. “But it is not possible for me to give birth to children and leave them to be raised by someone else while I have a career. If I wait until I’m naturally too old to have children, I can always adopt them.”
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In the meantime, there are her compositions. “When I listen to my stuff, I think, ‘I was the mother of that.’ ”
He has “a lot of offers” to write or act in films and is looking for comedy in the style of Mary Tyler Moore or Doris Day. What’s next? “Maybe on the next album I’ll go for heavier lyrics or go back to simple country. I had to try things my way. I can only be who I am. I am the Dolly Parton of the mountains and I will remain so.”
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Source: HIS Education