Who Is Dolly Parton Anyway ?

Right, before we get into Dolly Parton and all her attributes, which are many by the way, let’s have a ‘by the way.’

There’ a very good chance that over the coming months there will be plenty of ‘by the ways’ it’s what happens in the wonderful world of tangentology. They say that when you write, you should be in a ‘happy place’ as that will help with the flow, your good mood will come through onto the page.Mmmm, we’ll see. Today I’ve been feeling a bit tetchy, not necessarily in a bad mood, just a bit edgy and I have no idea where it came from. Well, I might have an inkling but we’ll leave it for another time.

Why am I writing about Dolly Parton ? So, after I’d decided to actually pull my finger out and start writing for this site, I was mulling over where I should be, after the about me and tangentology bit, that is. Don’t ask me why but Dolly’s name popped into my crowded mind. I thought ‘Why not ?’ so here I am.

I’ve done a bit of research and in so doing, knew that I was right in my decision. The woman is an empress, no two ways about it, she rocks in a very iconic way. Before I get into the factoids, I was reading an article written by one of the UK’s newspaper journalists, commenting on Dolly’s new series ‘Heartstrings’, that is being aired on Netflix now, or sometime soon. The first few paragraphs were all about her and what she’d achieved, all goodish, there were a few little ‘snarks’ or ‘sarky’ add-ons but I let them go. Then BOOM. She went at her, slating the new show in a way only someone who feels a little sad at their own place in the world can. She obviously didn’t do her research to the fullest, else she might have had a touch of shame in her. She tried to make it up at the end but too little too late, in my eyes.

This didn’t help my tetchiness, I can tell you. I left the house and made my way down to meet a couple of friends for lunch at their work. Now, we’re not all literary types, we weren’t meeting at a wine bar for a quick gin and tonic and a sandwich with the crusts cut off. Oil, grease and engines is the backdrop and a cup of soup with a bag of McCoy’s is the order of the day. That said, they put up with a lot from me. After we’d got the normal pleasantries out of the way, I told them what I was planning to write about. Rather than a few sideways looks at each other, they both went into a reverie about how awesome Dolly truly is.

I should have given them more credit than I did, my turn to hang head in shame.

The one proceeded to tell me about a documentary the had seen about a year and half ago. Big admiration for her. He gave me a snippet of part of it. Now this is hearsay, as I haven’t been able to verify it, let me know if you can. So he reckons that Dolly wrote a song and didn’t like it much and sent it to Barry Gibb, you know the Bee Gees chap. I mean, who else would you send it to ? Anyway, although he didn’t think it was any good for a solo, it might work for the brothers Gibb. It did work, apparently, huge hit. Like I said though, so far I’ve been unable to track it down. I keep getting swamped with articles and video’s about ‘Islands In The Stream’ which was a gargantuan hit for Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers back in 1983. It was originally written by The Bee Gees and intended for Marvin Gaye. The circles some people move in takes my breath away. Maybe that was what he was on about and just got it the wrong way round ?

It’s a bit like Mick Jagger bumping into David Bowie and saying ‘Dave, fancy doing a duet ?’ like that would ever have happened. Duh.

If that wasn’t enough, my other friend pipes up that the grew up in a house filled with the harmonies of ‘Country and Western’ music as his dad was a huge fan of the genre. It was all a bit surreal. Like ‘Hightower’ in ‘Police Academy’ harbouring an ambition to be a florist, whilst ripping the seats out of cars so he could fit in them. Still, he did get his wish.

Since I started writing this post I have had a bath, yay me. I am more mellow now. Shall we continue ?

Dolly is now 73 years old as she was born in 1946. One of twelve. TWELVE. I have no idea how that even works. I’m one of two which is a doddle. Any one of my children is one of four and sometimes I wonder how they will reach adulthood without some long-lasting mental scars. Maybe in her need to be heard, a voice was born. Now I don’t see the point in reeling off a long list of facts and figures, if you want that, you can just go to this page Dolly Parton at Wikipedia There you can knock yourself out, or your socks off, your choice.

A quick ‘skinny’ before I hit the home run. 42 top ten country albums. 110 charted singles over forty years. 25 Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum awards. She’s composed over, ready for this? over 3000 songs. The phrase we would use just for that is ‘Beggars belief’ All that without even mentioning her businesses, humanitarian work or acting career. The list really does go on and on and on.

Two things, I lied. This month (November 2019) unbelievably Dolly hit numero uno, No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Digital Songs Sales Chart. Power behind it was Galantis and the track featured Mr.Probz. So, bottom line is that at 73 she’s banging out a dance track. Not finished yet. The next bit is what really blew me away.

In 1988, she created the Dollywood Foundation, funded by her own profits. Within that she put together a literacy program called Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Every child who is enrolled in the program is mailed a book, each month, until they reach Kindergarten age. 1600 local communities help to provide the Imagination Library to over 850,000 children. This isn’t just in American but also in Canada, Australia, The UK and The Republic of Ireland. I have no idea what the total figure is now but back in 2018 the Foundation was given an award by The Library of Congress when they topped 100,000,000 books sent out. That’s one hundred million.

The woman is unstoppable. If, all of the above, doesn’t float your boat, remember this is just a small modicum of what she has done, achieved and given. On top of this and maybe more of an accomplishment in some of your eyes,is that, in 2016 she and her husband Carl Thomas Dean celebrated 50 years of marriage. Outstanding.

I could have spattered this post with links to send you all over the internet globe checking out all the bits and bobs but if you’re up for it, just click on the Wiki link, their page has a bazillion links that you can click to your hearts content. Now, if someone asks you ‘Who is Dolly Parton anyway ?’ stands a chance you’ll have an answer.

Thanks for reading my first foray into random. Who knows where we’ll go next.

Hey Dolly, you rock.

Nice one.

McBride