This one snuck up on me...a tribute to Dolly

With the October 27th release of Dolly Parton's 99-song box set Dolly has set the tribute blogs in motion. And it gives me an excuse to wax eloquent about a female icon who has made her mark on music and the music industry. But humor me and read 'til the end...because the morale of the story snuck up on me with this one.

Let's face it, you don't have to be a fan of country music to appreciate Dolly Parton. She is the personification of a bright sunshiny day that has taken you by the hand and insisted that you come laugh and play. She can tug at your heartstrings with the trill of a note and/or turn a phrase that digs into something deeper than the genre.

Dolly reclaimed power from all of the stereotypes against women, blondes, hillbillies, and tramps. She wears these as badges of honor and has perfected the use of a killer smile, a quick wit, and oodles of talent to twist the preconceived notions of the nation 'til they clap along in time to her beat.

And while other folks were distracted by the wigs, long fingernails and other enhancements, she took the reins from all those big powerful men in the music industry -- the COUNTRY music industry -- practically before Gloria Steinum had a chance to create a term for "the glass ceiling." She is and has long been an exceptionally savvy business woman who knew early on that "Dolly" was a brand, and that no one would be more invested in the state of her business than she was. So she took control. Unheard of for a "girl singer" in that era...or several eras beyond. No one else in country music really stepped up like that again 'til Reba founded Starstruck.

But my absolute favorite Dolly moment (everybody has one) was years ago when I was driving solo on a road trip and stumbled on a long format interview with Dolly Parton on National Public Radio. In a far more hesitant voice than we are used to hearing from Dolly she was expounding on the historical context of country music, bluegrass, and mountain music, in general. Dolly spoke very eloquently and knowledgeably about how mountain music evolved quite naturally from Irish folk music, following the Scots-Irish protestants who immigrated to Appalachia to start a new life. It was an artist's appreciation wrapped in historical context and summed up in the modern-day impacts as country music reverberates globally in today's economy. She was unmistakeably Dolly, but it was a slightly different persona than we are used to seeing...and it was fabulous. And as I thought back on it, she was the absolute perfect person to tell that story and whoever set up that interview was a genius.

Her list of amazing songs goes on and on...so I won't belabor that point. The box set has all of them ...including 4 previously unreleased songs and a live CD from 1970 when Dolly went back home to perform at her high school in Sevierville. As the marketing sheet tells us, this was the highlight of the annual Dolly Day, and the album has been out of print in vinyl for years. This is the first time this performance is being released on CD.

But enough of waxing eloquent and marketing sellsheets....back to the blogtastic tribute train and my unexpected morale of the story.

I was reading through the "favorite song picks" from the Nashville Public Radio staffers...and for the most I was part impressed with what they had to say.

Dumb Blonde: "In 'Dumb Blonde,' one of her first hits (recorded in 1966), she chastises a lover who dismisses her as a dimwit -- when, in fact, she just found out she has more fun without him. A word of caution for anyone out there who thinks it would be cute to put this song on a mix for your blonde girlfriend: You're just begging for the lessons of this song to come true." (Amy Schriefer, NPR Music)

Just Someone I Used to Know: "The sentiment is simple, yet the resonance is strongly familiar: You never want to tell a stranger that your heart's been broken, so that picture is just someone you used to know." (Lars Gotrich, NPR Music).

My Tennessee Mountain Home: "Her voice has both the light sweetness of spring and the smoky grandeur of the mountains. And her lyrics (it's easy to forget what a great songwriter she is) are beautifully detailed, including this perfect line: 'In my Tennessee mountain home, life is as peaceful as a baby's sigh." (Scott Simon, Weekend Edition Saturday)

Jolene: "In just a few minutes and a few phrases, Parton distills and inhabits dramatically polarized feminine archetypes. She's an injured innocent, but behind the singer's primal bleat lies the operatic anger of an uncontrollable stalker. 'He's the only one for me, Jolene,' Parton insists, but Jolene has stirred something in her, too. Her admiration of Jolene's beauty and sexual prowess is unabashedly poetic." (Neda Ulaby, Reporter)

Then I got down to Scott Stroud's (NPR Digital Media) pick and rolled my all too cynical eyes. 9 to 5? Really? You can't get any deeper than that? Out of a whole career of chart toppers, story songs, and just plain insightful moments both (lyrically and vocally) you picked 9 to freakin' 5?

And I was promptly handed my comeuppance on a silver platter. I won't pretend to improve upon Scott's words:

"Parton wrote this song during a break on the movie set. While her costars nervously bit their fingernails, Parton clicked her painted acrylics together and heard the foundation of her song -- the sounds of an office typewriter. This is her genius in full effect, demonstrating that great lesson: If we pay attention during the time between takes, if we use that space to create, our ship will soon come in. The tide will roll us away."

Yup. Pay attention between takes. Glorious in its simplicity and a lifelong struggle for most of us to accomplish. It is just one more example of Dolly spending a lifetime of dreams, talent and good ole mountain bred common sense to teach us by example. Keep plugging along. Listen to your inner voices. Pay attention in the spaces between. A lesson which bears repeating for almost all of us and certainly hit me on just the right day. Kudos to Scott...and I'll try to keep my eye rolling to myself in the future.

Ohh....and for folks who are still waiting for the special Nashville insider tip on this one...go to Legends honky tonk on lower Broadway downtown. They have album covers from back in the day floor to ceiling. Among other great moments in country and western music history you can chronicle Dolly's journey through a variety of hairdos and...enhancements. Heck, they even have a couple that pre-date the enhancements. Anyone up for a game of Where's Waldo?