WEBVTT - SYSK Tribute: Why does everyone love Dolly Parton?

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<v Speaker 1>Hey everybody, Chuck here on a Wednesday for an intro

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<v Speaker 1>for a very special release because yesterday we learned that

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<v Speaker 1>music icon and country music legend and philanthropist and just

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<v Speaker 1>all-around amazing person Dolly Parton passed away after a short

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<v Speaker 1>battle with cancer. And a few years ago in April

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<v Speaker 1>of 2023 we recorded this episode, Why Does Everyone Love

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<v Speaker 1>Dolly Parton? And, you know, I think that title, Josh

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<v Speaker 1>came up with that title, and it really hits it

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<v Speaker 1>on the head. She was a beloved person that seems

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<v Speaker 1>to have crossed different musical genres, of course, and, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>political boundaries. And she was just one of those people

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<v Speaker 1>that kind of everyone seemed to be united in agreement

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<v Speaker 1>that Dolly Parton is and was an amazing human being.

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<v Speaker 1>That's the kind of thing we detail in this episode.

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<v Speaker 1>And We try to get to the heart of why

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<v Speaker 1>she's so beloved. And I think for me, Dolly was

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<v Speaker 1>just someone who seemed like her guiding principles were kindness

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<v Speaker 1>and love and joy. And that seems to be what

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<v Speaker 1>led her to do just about everything in her career

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<v Speaker 1>and every decision she made and people who she worked

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<v Speaker 1>with and, you know, nonprofits she decided to get involved

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<v Speaker 1>with and certainly her philanthropic efforts and everything that she

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<v Speaker 1>gave to the world, it seems like she led with

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<v Speaker 1>her heart first. And that's just kind of a rare

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<v Speaker 1>trait these days. So Dolly is certainly a rare breed

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<v Speaker 1>and just an amazing woman. Somebody who I think we

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<v Speaker 1>can all agree should be revered and looked up to.

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<v Speaker 1>And the world is a little dimmer today without her

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<v Speaker 1>light shining. So Here we are today, the day after

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<v Speaker 1>she passed, releasing this special episode, hoping everyone can give

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<v Speaker 1>it a listen as we pay tribute to the great

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<v Speaker 1>Dolly Parton with our episode from 2023, Why Does Everyone

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<v Speaker 1>Love Dolly Parton? Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a

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<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh and there's

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<v Speaker 2>Chuck and Jerry's here too. And today we're going to

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<v Speaker 2>make some joyful noise together here on Stuff You Should Know.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right.

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<v Speaker 1>I just poured myself a cup of ambition. Uh-huh.

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<v Speaker 2>I had a few of those this morning.

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<v Speaker 1>Uh, Livia helped us with this one. And, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we've remarked about how Livia is getting great at titling

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<v Speaker 1>the articles, even though she doesn't even have to.

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<v Speaker 2>Right.

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<v Speaker 1>She does it because she's creative and talented. And her

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<v Speaker 1>title for this is Why Does Everyone Love Dolly Parton?

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<v Speaker 1>And we're going to explain that. But I think the

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<v Speaker 1>easiest thing to say is since the 1970s, this is

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<v Speaker 1>a woman who has basically just put goodness into the

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<v Speaker 1>world at every turn.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, for sure. I was reading an interview with her

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<v Speaker 2>in Rolling Stone from 1980, like 9 to 5 had

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<v Speaker 2>just come out. And you might as well have told

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<v Speaker 2>me it was from 2023. Yeah. She's been the same

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<v Speaker 2>way this whole time. That's great. She doesn't get into

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<v Speaker 2>any political stuff. She said, I'm not political. I won't

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<v Speaker 2>talk about politics. She leaves hot button issues alone. But

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<v Speaker 2>if it means something to her, it's really meaningful, she'll

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<v Speaker 2>come out in favor of it, endorsing it. But she

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<v Speaker 2>doesn't put anything down. She might support something, but she's

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<v Speaker 2>not going to put anything down publicly.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. So the other kind of funny thing about this

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<v Speaker 1>one from Livia is she always includes her sources, and

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<v Speaker 1>she may have broken her own source record. Yeah, there's

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<v Speaker 1>a lot.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, boy.

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<v Speaker 1>There were probably 100 sources, but we did want to

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<v Speaker 1>mention one in particular because I listened to this from

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<v Speaker 1>Jad Abumrad, the great Jad Abumrad of Radiolab fame, like

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<v Speaker 1>four years ago put out the wonderful series Dolly Parton's America. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>And Livia binged it, and I listened to it back then,

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<v Speaker 1>and Back then I was like, oh, man, I want

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<v Speaker 1>to do an episode on Dolly Parton. But it's like

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<v Speaker 1>Jad did it, like he covered it so well, like

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<v Speaker 1>what's the point kind of thing.

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<v Speaker 2>Right.

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<v Speaker 1>But now four years on, I was like, well, we

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<v Speaker 1>can give it the stuff you should know treatment, which

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<v Speaker 1>is to say not as deep a dive. But it's

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<v Speaker 1>a great series. If you want to learn more about

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<v Speaker 1>Dolly Parton, then check out Dolly Parton's America.

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<v Speaker 2>Very nice. And then just to button up, Chuck, we

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<v Speaker 2>were trying to answer that question, why does everybody love Dolly? Mm-hmm.

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<v Speaker 2>I came up with another hypothesis too. Okay. And it's that,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, when, when somebody is like, they can be

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<v Speaker 2>anything anybody wants them to be like, they're interpretable from

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<v Speaker 2>all different angles. So everybody just assumes they're like them.

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<v Speaker 2>Dolly is not like that. She is her own person

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<v Speaker 2>who can't be pigeonholed into one box or another. Right.

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<v Speaker 2>But she's, Likeable from all sides.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Like find someone that's going to talk smack about

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<v Speaker 1>Dolly Parton. And then you and I are going to

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<v Speaker 1>have a discussion in the parking lot with that guy.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a sad state of affairs, though, dude, because there's

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<v Speaker 2>think pieces all over the Internet about how it's just

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<v Speaker 2>amazing that everybody doesn't hate Dolly Parton. And it's like,

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<v Speaker 2>good God, like this is what we've come to. Like,

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<v Speaker 2>everybody hates everybody casually. So, I mean, how has she

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<v Speaker 2>escaped it so long? And it's just like such a

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<v Speaker 2>sad state of affairs that that's normalized by even writing

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<v Speaker 2>pieces like that. But they're out there for sure. But

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<v Speaker 2>the upshot of it is people are amazed that people

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<v Speaker 2>don't hate Dolly Parton. And it's true. People don't hate

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<v Speaker 2>Dolly Parton.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. And she's someone that is so, I think, kind

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<v Speaker 1>of universally beloved and internationally beloved that, as you'll see

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<v Speaker 1>later in this episode, she's been studied. by anthropologists and sociologists,

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<v Speaker 1>which is pretty amazing. And so let's start at the beginning,

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<v Speaker 1>shall we?

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<v Speaker 2>Wait, hold on, one more thing.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, more praise.

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<v Speaker 2>The other thing about her I think that's so amazing

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<v Speaker 2>and so remarkable is that she, this is the reason

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<v Speaker 2>why everybody's just so fascinated with her right now. She's

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<v Speaker 2>maybe the one person who is straddling both sides of

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<v Speaker 2>the political and social divide as wide as it is

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<v Speaker 2>in the United States today, and is not like hanging

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<v Speaker 2>on by her fingernails. She's like, I got a foot

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<v Speaker 2>here and I'm not lying about it. Got a foot here,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm not lying about that either. I'm not trying to

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<v Speaker 2>fool either side. This is what I'm into. And I

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<v Speaker 2>like both of you, basically.

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<v Speaker 1>It's almost like being a genuine human who 100% stays

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<v Speaker 1>true to who they are is something we should all

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<v Speaker 1>aspire to.

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<v Speaker 2>Sure. But it also shows, she shows that That's such

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<v Speaker 2>a rarity in this world that you can be globally

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<v Speaker 2>beloved by just doing that and also making like a

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<v Speaker 2>ton of really great music, too.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, yeah. I mean, come on. We're going to talk

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<v Speaker 1>about all this stuff. But can we go back to

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<v Speaker 1>the beginning now?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Yeah. Sorry.

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<v Speaker 1>OK. Hey, never apologize about singing the praises of Dolly Parton.

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<v Speaker 2>That's a great rule of stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>You should know motto. And I just can't wait till

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<v Speaker 1>we get to the Dollywood stuff because you you've been

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<v Speaker 1>and I have not. All right, so she was born,

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<v Speaker 1>Dolly Rebecca Parton, in 1946, in January 19th of 1946,

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<v Speaker 1>in rural Tennessee. How do you pronounce that? Is it

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<v Speaker 1>Sevier County?

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<v Speaker 2>I think it's Sevier.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh, it's just Sevier.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm almost positive it's Sevier.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, S-E-V-I-E-R. And see, immediately, this is, I'm sure, Jad's

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<v Speaker 1>episode pronounced it perfectly right off the bat. I don't remember.

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<v Speaker 2>He just threw his face into his palm like, these guys....

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<v Speaker 1>Uh, but she was born to a big family of

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<v Speaker 1>12 kids and it's kind of fun to look up

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<v Speaker 1>photos of, uh, Dolly and all her siblings because, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>a few of her sisters look a lot like her. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>all her brothers look like, you know, they should be

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<v Speaker 1>like shooting pool down at the pool hall, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>all very just sort of genuine article, smoky mountain, Tennessee

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<v Speaker 1>foothills people.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, for sure. And there were 12 of them, did

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<v Speaker 2>you say?

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<v Speaker 1>12 sibs, including her. She was the fourth.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, the fourth of 12. And all 14 people in

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<v Speaker 2>her family lived in a two-room cabin. And I've seen

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<v Speaker 2>a replica of this cabin. And it is no joke,

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<v Speaker 2>a two-room cabin and 14 people lived in it in

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<v Speaker 2>the Smoky Mountains.

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<v Speaker 1>You mean two bedrooms with an office, right? Right.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean two rooms, my friend, with the outhouse, no

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<v Speaker 2>running water, no electricity. Like she grew up as Smokey Mountain,

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<v Speaker 2>as a Smokey Mountain person can grow up. Like even

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<v Speaker 2>people in other parts of Tennessee are like, wow.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>But she said she had a great childhood running around,

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<v Speaker 2>just being outside. And because she was the fourth of 12,

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<v Speaker 2>she wasn't particularly like, paid attention to, so she could

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<v Speaker 2>just kind of go off and do her own thing.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I get the idea that they were semi-feral sort

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<v Speaker 1>of mountain kids. Her granddad was a Pentecostal minister, very

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<v Speaker 1>fiery and brimstone-y, and she still mentions God a lot.

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<v Speaker 1>I get the sense that she's a little less overtly religious,

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<v Speaker 1>but spirituality is still very much a mainstay in her life.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think it's more of a personal relationship between

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<v Speaker 2>her and God.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, which is how it's supposed to be.

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<v Speaker 2>So she really lucked out because she had an uncle

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<v Speaker 2>named Bill Owens, who was a musician, a songwriter who noticed.

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<v Speaker 2>that she wanted to get into music from a very

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<v Speaker 2>young age and was maybe the only person in her

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<v Speaker 2>entire life or her early life that noticed and then

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<v Speaker 2>nurtured it. And she later said when he died a

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<v Speaker 2>few years back at his funeral, like she wouldn't be

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<v Speaker 2>here today if it wasn't him. Like she owed him everything.

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<v Speaker 2>Because he nurtured it in her. He encouraged her. He

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<v Speaker 2>supported her when she got rejected. And he helped her

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<v Speaker 2>break into the business. So Bill Owens was a huge

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<v Speaker 2>influence in her life. But he noticed, like I said,

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<v Speaker 2>from a very early age, I think she wrote her

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<v Speaker 2>first song when she was five.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, Little Tiny Tassel Top about her homemade corn husk doll.

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<v Speaker 1>And she would pretend... You know, she would get a

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<v Speaker 1>tobacco stick and a tin can and act like it

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<v Speaker 1>was her microphone and mic stand. And she would sing

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<v Speaker 1>for the chickens in her yard and had obviously a

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<v Speaker 1>real talent from the beginning. If you listen to her

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<v Speaker 1>very first recording, Puppy Love from 1959, it sounds like,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, 13 year old Dolly Parton. You know, you

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<v Speaker 1>can hear Dolly in that young voice. And like I said,

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<v Speaker 1>she was 13. And that was the same year that

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<v Speaker 1>she made her very first appearance in At the Grand

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<v Speaker 1>Ole Opry, introduced by none other than Johnny Cash.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, who was her first big crush. So it was

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<v Speaker 2>even more amazing for her.

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<v Speaker 1>Unbelievable.

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<v Speaker 2>Her family didn't get to see it, though, because Dolly

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<v Speaker 2>Parton was on TV before her family had a TV

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<v Speaker 2>at home. Yeah. Which is pretty cool.

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<v Speaker 1>Was it on TV back then?

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<v Speaker 2>I believe there was a TV appearance, yes.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay.

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<v Speaker 2>And if that one wasn't, whenever it was, she was

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<v Speaker 2>on TV first. Her family still didn't have a TV

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<v Speaker 2>back then.

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<v Speaker 1>Gotcha.

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<v Speaker 2>So thanks to Uncle Billy taking her around and banging

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<v Speaker 2>on doors, she ended up making her debut on Mercury

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<v Speaker 2>Records in 1962, which is nothing to sneeze at. But

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<v Speaker 2>I get the impression that it wasn't like her– it

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<v Speaker 2>wasn't like, okay, this is a serious recording contract. It's like, okay,

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<v Speaker 2>let's test this girl out. Back then they called any

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<v Speaker 2>woman in country music a girl singer. Right. Right. So

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<v Speaker 2>she was a bit of a novelty, not just because

0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:13.020
<v Speaker 2>of her age, but because she was a woman as well.

0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:17.200
<v Speaker 2>But she had her sights set on becoming a country

0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:19.660
<v Speaker 2>music star. And so the day after she graduated high school,

0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:22.390
<v Speaker 2>the day after she graduated high school, she got on

0:12:22.429 --> 0:12:24.150
<v Speaker 2>a bus for Nashville and moved there.

0:12:24.650 --> 0:12:29.370
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Amazing. 1964. And very soon after she moved there,

0:12:29.490 --> 0:12:33.050
<v Speaker 1>she met a man that would become her husband and

0:12:34.429 --> 0:12:37.340
<v Speaker 1>a mainstay in her life to this day, who is

0:12:37.700 --> 0:12:42.040
<v Speaker 1>remarkably hard to find stuff about. His name is Carl Dean.

0:12:42.460 --> 0:12:44.680
<v Speaker 1>They met very famously at a laundromat when she was

0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:48.180
<v Speaker 1>18 and he was 21. Married a couple of years later.

0:12:48.210 --> 0:12:51.270
<v Speaker 1>And I think a lot of people that don't know

0:12:51.309 --> 0:12:54.030
<v Speaker 1>a lot about Dolly Parton think she might be single

0:12:54.050 --> 0:12:56.910
<v Speaker 1>or something because she never had kids. But she's been

0:12:57.390 --> 0:13:00.930
<v Speaker 1>married to Carl Dean since 1966. And he just, he

0:13:00.970 --> 0:13:02.740
<v Speaker 1>doesn't want to be in the limelight. He never did.

0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:06.069
<v Speaker 1>He's her biggest fan. fan and supporter, she's always said,

0:13:06.210 --> 0:13:08.990
<v Speaker 1>you know, off the stage, but he just doesn't want

0:13:09.030 --> 0:13:12.270
<v Speaker 1>any part of the limelight. And it's hard to even

0:13:12.309 --> 0:13:13.780
<v Speaker 1>find a lot of pictures of this guy. There's a

0:13:13.820 --> 0:13:18.059
<v Speaker 1>handful out there, but he started an asphalt laying business

0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:20.940
<v Speaker 1>in the late seventies, still runs that business today, which

0:13:21.020 --> 0:13:24.460
<v Speaker 1>is just amazing. And yeah, I read an article from

0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:26.179
<v Speaker 1>a couple of years ago. She was like, you know,

0:13:26.220 --> 0:13:28.719
<v Speaker 1>Carl and I, we like to run errands. She said,

0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:31.559
<v Speaker 1>we go to the 24 hour stores, you know, in

0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:34.060
<v Speaker 1>the middle of the night, like Walmart and places. And

0:13:34.100 --> 0:13:36.080
<v Speaker 1>she said, and there are fewer people there to come

0:13:36.140 --> 0:13:37.570
<v Speaker 1>up to me. And she said, I don't mind it.

0:13:37.610 --> 0:13:39.510
<v Speaker 1>I love people. She said, I just don't want it

0:13:39.530 --> 0:13:40.770
<v Speaker 1>to get in the way of our shopping.

0:13:41.170 --> 0:13:41.390
<v Speaker 2>Right.

0:13:41.590 --> 0:13:44.130
<v Speaker 1>And, you know, Carl's not wild about it. So they

0:13:44.170 --> 0:13:46.680
<v Speaker 1>just live a very simple kind of pure life together,

0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:47.760
<v Speaker 1>I think, outside the limelight.

0:13:48.260 --> 0:13:50.199
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I've read an interview with her somewhere, and she

0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:52.780
<v Speaker 2>said that in her opinion, if she's out in public,

0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:56.380
<v Speaker 2>that time belongs to her fans. So she doesn't have

0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:59.780
<v Speaker 2>a problem with people coming up to her, asking for autographs.

0:13:59.840 --> 0:14:02.130
<v Speaker 2>She knows that she's out in public, and that's a

0:14:02.170 --> 0:14:06.429
<v Speaker 2>risk that she runs, right? Sure. But her leisure time,

0:14:06.530 --> 0:14:09.829
<v Speaker 2>her time away is like secluded off with Carl, just

0:14:09.870 --> 0:14:12.170
<v Speaker 2>the two of them usually. Maybe she has a very

0:14:12.210 --> 0:14:14.690
<v Speaker 2>close best friend. I can't remember her name. They go

0:14:14.770 --> 0:14:17.179
<v Speaker 2>everywhere together. So she's almost like a stand in for

0:14:17.220 --> 0:14:19.720
<v Speaker 2>Carl when Dolly's traveling around. Yeah.

0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:22.440
<v Speaker 1>And she's always been very her persona is very flirty

0:14:23.220 --> 0:14:26.200
<v Speaker 1>and she's always sort of flirted around with. In fact,

0:14:26.460 --> 0:14:29.370
<v Speaker 1>no friends that have worked on like commercial shoots with her.

0:14:29.790 --> 0:14:31.630
<v Speaker 1>And they were like, man, she's the biggest flirt you

0:14:31.650 --> 0:14:34.630
<v Speaker 1>would ever know. And that's just her personality. And she

0:14:34.670 --> 0:14:38.050
<v Speaker 1>said that Carl understands that. And that's just how she

0:14:38.090 --> 0:14:40.490
<v Speaker 1>sort of has fun and relates to people. And it's

0:14:40.510 --> 0:14:43.780
<v Speaker 1>always very innocent. And I just think it's kind of

0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:44.940
<v Speaker 1>kind of cute and fun.

0:14:45.250 --> 0:14:46.130
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, for sure.

0:14:46.590 --> 0:14:48.430
<v Speaker 1>I want her to flirt with me, you know, I

0:14:48.450 --> 0:14:49.210
<v Speaker 1>think is what I'm saying.

0:14:49.430 --> 0:14:51.770
<v Speaker 2>This, this episode might be your big break, Chuck.

0:14:52.130 --> 0:14:52.370
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:14:53.450 --> 0:14:56.410
<v Speaker 2>So, um, would you just like turn bright red and

0:14:56.430 --> 0:14:58.380
<v Speaker 2>like dig your, the toe of your foot.

0:14:58.240 --> 0:15:00.220
<v Speaker 1>Into the, I kind of am a little bright red.

0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:01.820
<v Speaker 1>I thought it was the stuff you should know sign

0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:04.220
<v Speaker 1>in here, casting a red beam on my face.

0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:07.300
<v Speaker 2>No, it's you thinking about being flirted with by Dolly Parton.

0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:09.760
<v Speaker 1>I know. Well, dude, I grew up as you did,

0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:11.760
<v Speaker 1>but I'm, you know, a little bit older. Like The

0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:14.650
<v Speaker 1>heyday of early Dolly was when I was a kid. And,

0:15:14.660 --> 0:15:16.280
<v Speaker 1>of course, my dad was in love with her. And,

0:15:17.020 --> 0:15:19.540
<v Speaker 1>you know, it was just she was one of the

0:15:19.570 --> 0:15:21.690
<v Speaker 1>biggest stars in the world. And my parents were kind

0:15:21.710 --> 0:15:24.130
<v Speaker 1>of into country music. So she was just sort of

0:15:24.190 --> 0:15:25.870
<v Speaker 1>prevalent in our household somehow.

0:15:26.350 --> 0:15:29.090
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, my introduction to her was through 9 to 5.

0:15:29.090 --> 0:15:31.890
<v Speaker 2>And my mom, that whole message and the idea behind

0:15:31.910 --> 0:15:34.340
<v Speaker 2>it was right up my mom's alley. So she would

0:15:34.380 --> 0:15:37.460
<v Speaker 2>watch it. With her hands clasped together at the side

0:15:37.540 --> 0:15:37.979
<v Speaker 2>of her face.

0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:38.580
<v Speaker 1>Oh, I love that.

0:15:38.740 --> 0:15:42.140
<v Speaker 2>Just an adoration of everybody, including Dolly Parton, too. I

0:15:42.180 --> 0:15:45.700
<v Speaker 2>think my family was never really into country music, so

0:15:45.740 --> 0:15:47.990
<v Speaker 2>I think that that was like a big introduction and

0:15:48.020 --> 0:15:52.090
<v Speaker 2>probably a win over for my family was 9 to 5.

0:15:52.090 --> 0:15:53.850
<v Speaker 1>All right. Well, we'll talk about 9 to 5 and

0:15:53.890 --> 0:15:56.010
<v Speaker 1>crossover success more. It's a good setup. But how about

0:15:56.030 --> 0:15:56.630
<v Speaker 1>we take a break?

0:15:57.070 --> 0:15:57.370
<v Speaker 2>Yes.

0:15:58.010 --> 0:16:00.110
<v Speaker 1>And we'll be right back with more Dolly Parton.

0:16:00.940 --> 0:16:29.190
<v Speaker 2>Music Music OK, so we're talking about Dolly becoming a star.

0:16:29.290 --> 0:16:32.260
<v Speaker 2>Like she's had a couple of record contracts, nothing serious, though.

0:16:32.660 --> 0:16:36.670
<v Speaker 2>But then in 1965, she signed with Monument Records. That

0:16:36.710 --> 0:16:39.790
<v Speaker 2>was her big her first big record contract I read.

0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:42.660
<v Speaker 2>But they wanted her to be a pop singer, which

0:16:42.720 --> 0:16:45.540
<v Speaker 2>is kind of ironic because she actually would kind of

0:16:45.580 --> 0:16:47.580
<v Speaker 2>become a pop singer later on in her career. But

0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:51.300
<v Speaker 2>at first she was like, no way. Like, have you

0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:53.100
<v Speaker 2>seen my house? And do you know how many people

0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:55.660
<v Speaker 2>are in my family? I'm not a pop singer. I'm

0:16:55.730 --> 0:16:59.550
<v Speaker 2>a country singer. Right. So she persisted and hung in

0:16:59.590 --> 0:17:03.050
<v Speaker 2>there and they ended up like folding and giving in.

0:17:03.110 --> 0:17:06.170
<v Speaker 2>And she went on to become a full fledged country singer.

0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:11.540
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, in 1967, her first record, Hello, I'm Dolly, which

0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:13.800
<v Speaker 1>is just great how they used to do records like

0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.119
<v Speaker 1>that and title them like that when you introduce her

0:17:17.140 --> 0:17:21.790
<v Speaker 1>to the world. But as would become a thing in

0:17:21.830 --> 0:17:26.109
<v Speaker 1>her career, most of the songs that she's well known for,

0:17:26.170 --> 0:17:28.490
<v Speaker 1>most of the songs she's recorded, she's done plenty of

0:17:28.530 --> 0:17:31.070
<v Speaker 1>covers because everyone does that, especially in country music. But

0:17:31.710 --> 0:17:35.900
<v Speaker 1>she is... most well known as a songwriter. And we'll

0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:38.360
<v Speaker 1>get into that more in a little bit. But she

0:17:38.420 --> 0:17:43.740
<v Speaker 1>wrote two. Now, Libby has a number 24, but I

0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:46.359
<v Speaker 1>saw that they were both top 20 on the country charts.

0:17:46.780 --> 0:17:49.560
<v Speaker 1>Dumb Blonde, which is written by a guy named Curly Putman.

0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:54.040
<v Speaker 1>Great name. And Something Fishy written by Dolly. And I

0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:57.800
<v Speaker 1>think the album itself was a top 20 hit. Her

0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:01.480
<v Speaker 1>debut right off, you know, on the country charts, right

0:18:01.700 --> 0:18:02.540
<v Speaker 1>off out of the gate.

0:18:02.980 --> 0:18:06.180
<v Speaker 2>Yes. I was looking up something fishy, and it's about

0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:09.980
<v Speaker 2>a woman who's become convinced that her husband's fishing trips

0:18:10.020 --> 0:18:12.340
<v Speaker 2>aren't actually fishing trips and that he's running around on her.

0:18:12.900 --> 0:18:15.600
<v Speaker 2>So one of the lines is, I guess some largemouth

0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:18.160
<v Speaker 2>bass left that lipstick on your shirt. I don't think

0:18:18.180 --> 0:18:22.480
<v Speaker 2>you're a fisherman, honey. I think you're a flirt. That's

0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:27.340
<v Speaker 2>like perfect debut dolly. Age 19, I think, is how

0:18:27.380 --> 0:18:29.080
<v Speaker 2>old she is. Yeah, that's pretty great.

0:18:30.220 --> 0:18:32.659
<v Speaker 1>And Porter Wagoner is someone that we talked about on

0:18:32.700 --> 0:18:35.650
<v Speaker 1>our Grand Ole Opry show. And he had the Porter

0:18:35.690 --> 0:18:40.110
<v Speaker 1>Wagoner show. He hires Young Dolly to replace his other

0:18:41.170 --> 0:18:46.619
<v Speaker 1>young woman sidekick singer. And basically, she elevated the show

0:18:46.700 --> 0:18:49.900
<v Speaker 1>to the point where it was the number one syndicated

0:18:49.940 --> 0:18:51.260
<v Speaker 1>show in the country, radio show.

0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:52.520
<v Speaker 2>Right.

0:18:52.540 --> 0:18:56.050
<v Speaker 1>And they started doing duets together and albums together, including

0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:59.690
<v Speaker 1>their first one, Just Between You and Me, in 1968. Yeah.

0:18:59.750 --> 0:19:02.850
<v Speaker 2>And they started touring a lot, too. And she learned

0:19:02.930 --> 0:19:07.620
<v Speaker 2>a tremendous amount about touring, performing live, the music business.

0:19:07.840 --> 0:19:11.720
<v Speaker 2>Everything she needed to learn early on came from touring

0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:15.899
<v Speaker 2>with Porter Wagner. But he was also really well aware

0:19:15.940 --> 0:19:19.580
<v Speaker 2>that he had like a real cash register on his hands.

0:19:19.820 --> 0:19:20.060
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:22.379
<v Speaker 2>And he kept her under his thumb as much as

0:19:22.420 --> 0:19:26.020
<v Speaker 2>he could, both emotionally blackmailing her, I get the impression,

0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:30.139
<v Speaker 2>but also locking her into just really exploitive contracts because

0:19:30.900 --> 0:19:33.290
<v Speaker 2>she might not have known what she was signing. She

0:19:33.350 --> 0:19:35.969
<v Speaker 2>probably did and just figured like, OK, at least it's

0:19:35.990 --> 0:19:37.850
<v Speaker 2>going to help me get to where I'm going. That's

0:19:37.869 --> 0:19:40.750
<v Speaker 2>the likelier explanation, if you ask me. But he was

0:19:40.830 --> 0:19:44.730
<v Speaker 2>definitely in charge for the first many years of her

0:19:45.270 --> 0:19:46.050
<v Speaker 2>serious career.

0:19:46.710 --> 0:19:51.479
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. But because she's Dolly Parton and so beloved, when

0:19:51.500 --> 0:19:54.960
<v Speaker 1>they eventually broke up their relationship, I think it was

0:19:55.000 --> 0:19:57.619
<v Speaker 1>kind of rough. And she ended up writing a song,

0:19:57.720 --> 0:20:02.260
<v Speaker 1>I Will Always Love You, about that relationship. And ultimately

0:20:02.380 --> 0:20:05.010
<v Speaker 1>they worked it out and she reconciled and was at

0:20:05.030 --> 0:20:07.690
<v Speaker 1>his deathbed with his family. And it was kind of

0:20:07.710 --> 0:20:10.030
<v Speaker 1>one of those no hard feelings kind of situations.

0:20:10.500 --> 0:20:12.960
<v Speaker 2>Oh, really? I read that his last dying words were,

0:20:13.109 --> 0:20:16.570
<v Speaker 2>I'll never forgive you. That's what I'm going to say

0:20:16.630 --> 0:20:17.350
<v Speaker 2>on my deathbed.

0:20:17.390 --> 0:20:17.950
<v Speaker 1>No.

0:20:18.290 --> 0:20:20.870
<v Speaker 2>I'm just going to wave my finger around the room

0:20:20.930 --> 0:20:22.130
<v Speaker 2>to everybody standing there.

0:20:22.150 --> 0:20:23.710
<v Speaker 1>And we're all going to be like, is he talking

0:20:23.730 --> 0:20:24.030
<v Speaker 1>about me?

0:20:24.350 --> 0:20:27.129
<v Speaker 2>Exactly. You guys can spend the rest of your lives

0:20:27.210 --> 0:20:27.949
<v Speaker 2>figuring it out.

0:20:28.510 --> 0:20:29.889
<v Speaker 1>And Yumi will just look at me and say, he's

0:20:29.930 --> 0:20:30.560
<v Speaker 1>talking about you.

0:20:32.540 --> 0:20:32.879
<v Speaker 2>Totally.

0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:38.479
<v Speaker 1>Uh, so they, uh, while they were a duet, wait, wait,

0:20:38.520 --> 0:20:38.860
<v Speaker 1>hold on.

0:20:38.859 --> 0:20:41.139
<v Speaker 2>One more thing you brought up. I will always love you,

0:20:41.220 --> 0:20:43.500
<v Speaker 2>which everybody knows. One of probably your most, one of

0:20:43.540 --> 0:20:47.990
<v Speaker 2>our most famous songs, arguably her other most famous song, Jolene. Yeah.

0:20:48.170 --> 0:20:48.570
<v Speaker 1>Great song.

0:20:49.330 --> 0:20:52.950
<v Speaker 2>She apparently wrote those songs on the same day, start

0:20:52.970 --> 0:20:55.990
<v Speaker 2>to finish. Isn't that amazing? Yeah.

0:20:56.130 --> 0:20:59.010
<v Speaker 1>I mean, she, she now says like, you know, if

0:20:59.070 --> 0:21:01.380
<v Speaker 1>it wasn't the same day, it was in the, Within

0:21:01.420 --> 0:21:03.720
<v Speaker 1>a couple of days of each other. But like either way,

0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:05.420
<v Speaker 1>it's remarkable.

0:21:05.720 --> 0:21:08.040
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. And it's possible it was the same day. She

0:21:08.060 --> 0:21:10.480
<v Speaker 2>just doesn't remember. Yeah. That really like kind of goes

0:21:10.500 --> 0:21:13.960
<v Speaker 2>to show what kind of she she was drinking cups

0:21:14.000 --> 0:21:17.330
<v Speaker 2>of ambition left and right, apparently. Because not only is

0:21:17.369 --> 0:21:20.510
<v Speaker 2>that story potentially true, she also put out 25 albums. Yeah.

0:21:23.750 --> 0:21:27.090
<v Speaker 2>both duets with Porter Wagner and then some solo albums

0:21:27.710 --> 0:21:32.570
<v Speaker 2>in the five year period between 1968 and 1973. Yeah.

0:21:32.650 --> 0:21:35.550
<v Speaker 1>I mean, that's remarkable. She started, um, and that's kind

0:21:35.570 --> 0:21:37.230
<v Speaker 1>of where I was headed anyway. She kind of started

0:21:37.320 --> 0:21:41.800
<v Speaker 1>recording her own solo stuff as she was, you know,

0:21:41.820 --> 0:21:43.320
<v Speaker 1>it was kind of obvious. She just had, she was

0:21:43.840 --> 0:21:46.920
<v Speaker 1>too prolific of a songwriter. I mean, she supposedly, her

0:21:46.960 --> 0:21:49.859
<v Speaker 1>quote is that she's written more than 3000 songs and

0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:53.359
<v Speaker 1>three of them are good. Uh, She's also humble, another

0:21:53.400 --> 0:21:57.460
<v Speaker 1>reason people love Dolly Parton. But she had too much

0:21:57.680 --> 0:22:01.040
<v Speaker 1>to say early on, and so started making solo records

0:22:01.100 --> 0:22:03.800
<v Speaker 1>while she was still with Wagner. And it was in

0:22:04.080 --> 0:22:06.140
<v Speaker 1>that time period, I think in the early 70s, is

0:22:06.200 --> 0:22:09.449
<v Speaker 1>when those iconic songs, Jolene and I Will Always Love You,

0:22:09.490 --> 0:22:09.850
<v Speaker 1>came out.

0:22:10.350 --> 0:22:13.530
<v Speaker 2>Right, but still under the tutelage of Porter Wagner, right?

0:22:14.530 --> 0:22:17.489
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I mean, those are solo albums. And I think

0:22:17.530 --> 0:22:19.850
<v Speaker 1>I Will Always Love You was about them splitting apart,

0:22:19.890 --> 0:22:21.520
<v Speaker 1>so it was... Sort of right there at the end,

0:22:21.580 --> 0:22:21.880
<v Speaker 1>I think.

0:22:22.140 --> 0:22:24.380
<v Speaker 2>It definitely was. And I heard a story years back

0:22:24.420 --> 0:22:26.720
<v Speaker 2>that he said, OK, I'll let you out of your

0:22:26.760 --> 0:22:30.840
<v Speaker 2>contract if you let me produce this amazing song. Oh,

0:22:30.859 --> 0:22:31.780
<v Speaker 2>that song?

0:22:31.920 --> 0:22:32.200
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:22:32.380 --> 0:22:34.540
<v Speaker 2>I will always love you. Right. And then apparently he

0:22:34.580 --> 0:22:36.820
<v Speaker 2>turned around and sued her anyway for breach of contract.

0:22:37.859 --> 0:22:39.820
<v Speaker 2>But she she got out of it. She got out

0:22:39.859 --> 0:22:44.760
<v Speaker 2>of this this this terrible contract, this exploitive contract. She

0:22:44.780 --> 0:22:48.699
<v Speaker 2>got out from under a very domineering mentor. And this

0:22:48.780 --> 0:22:51.530
<v Speaker 2>is a really big time of transition for her because

0:22:51.570 --> 0:22:54.570
<v Speaker 2>not only did she get away from Porter Wagner, which

0:22:54.609 --> 0:22:58.869
<v Speaker 2>was enormous because in a sense, she was like a

0:22:58.930 --> 0:23:02.210
<v Speaker 2>pinball that had just been plunged when she was released

0:23:02.310 --> 0:23:06.449
<v Speaker 2>from Porter Wagner, just looking for like the next bumper

0:23:06.490 --> 0:23:11.120
<v Speaker 2>to just shoot her off in another direction. That's my analogy, buddy. Yeah.

0:23:11.760 --> 0:23:14.780
<v Speaker 2>And that's exactly what happened. But she also had to

0:23:14.880 --> 0:23:17.040
<v Speaker 2>break up with her family band. Like they were her

0:23:17.100 --> 0:23:19.770
<v Speaker 2>original backing band. She had to be like, I got

0:23:19.790 --> 0:23:22.810
<v Speaker 2>to get better musicians, you guys. And she made some

0:23:22.869 --> 0:23:26.570
<v Speaker 2>really hard decisions, but they ended up paying off. And

0:23:26.630 --> 0:23:29.389
<v Speaker 2>from what I understand, there were no lasting hard feelings

0:23:29.450 --> 0:23:29.780
<v Speaker 2>from it.

0:23:30.340 --> 0:23:35.080
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that's pretty great. She hosted a TV show for

0:23:35.260 --> 0:23:38.880
<v Speaker 1>one season, just like us. It was called Dolly. You know,

0:23:38.900 --> 0:23:41.790
<v Speaker 1>back then they had all this great variety shows. This

0:23:41.810 --> 0:23:46.350
<v Speaker 1>was 76 into 77. And then a very important man

0:23:46.410 --> 0:23:48.910
<v Speaker 1>comes into her life by the name of Sandy Gallen,

0:23:49.690 --> 0:23:55.090
<v Speaker 1>who was a Uber manager, got the Beatles on Ed Sullivan,

0:23:55.550 --> 0:23:59.150
<v Speaker 1>would later manage Michael Jackson and Barbra Streisand and Cher.

0:23:59.790 --> 0:24:02.930
<v Speaker 1>And Sandy Gallen was a pretty instrumental person for a

0:24:03.380 --> 0:24:09.070
<v Speaker 1>couple of reasons. One is kind of. encouraging the crossover success.

0:24:09.270 --> 0:24:09.490
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:24:09.550 --> 0:24:10.990
<v Speaker 1>Like he booked her at the bottom line in the

0:24:11.030 --> 0:24:14.450
<v Speaker 1>Greenwich village who, you know, everyone from Springsteen to Lou

0:24:14.490 --> 0:24:15.390
<v Speaker 1>Reed were playing there.

0:24:15.690 --> 0:24:18.560
<v Speaker 2>Like Andy Warhol came and watched her show. There's an

0:24:18.710 --> 0:24:20.459
<v Speaker 2>awesome picture of them sitting together.

0:24:20.760 --> 0:24:21.980
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Talk about crossover.

0:24:22.000 --> 0:24:25.280
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, exactly. And she was nervous. I saw that she

0:24:25.320 --> 0:24:27.920
<v Speaker 2>was nervous on the, on the way to being scared.

0:24:28.580 --> 0:24:32.500
<v Speaker 1>I'm sure. Yeah. Uh, he had her tour Europe, exposed

0:24:32.540 --> 0:24:37.970
<v Speaker 1>her internationally. Um, uh, he, uh, took her to Studio 54,

0:24:37.960 --> 0:24:40.359
<v Speaker 1>which is probably where she also hung out with Andy Warhol.

0:24:41.420 --> 0:24:44.419
<v Speaker 1>But the other big reason is that Sandy Gallen was gay.

0:24:44.980 --> 0:24:46.760
<v Speaker 1>He died like five years ago. And this was a

0:24:48.270 --> 0:24:52.550
<v Speaker 1>very instrumental relationship. And I get the impression, you know,

0:24:52.690 --> 0:24:55.830
<v Speaker 1>Dolly is very famous for being sort of an icon

0:24:55.869 --> 0:24:57.690
<v Speaker 1>in the LGTBQ community.

0:24:57.869 --> 0:24:59.290
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, from very early on.

0:24:59.690 --> 0:25:02.430
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. And it seems like this is kind of where

0:25:02.470 --> 0:25:06.139
<v Speaker 1>it all started was having this relationship with Sandy and

0:25:06.820 --> 0:25:10.760
<v Speaker 1>you know, just the gay community wrapping their arms around

0:25:10.800 --> 0:25:13.840
<v Speaker 1>her early on, not necessarily because, you know, she had

0:25:13.880 --> 0:25:16.490
<v Speaker 1>a gay manager, but, you know, I don't think it hurt.

0:25:17.109 --> 0:25:19.930
<v Speaker 2>Right. And the New York Times wrote that she got

0:25:20.090 --> 0:25:24.650
<v Speaker 2>a warm welcome in San Francisco from transgender fans and, quote,

0:25:25.250 --> 0:25:27.629
<v Speaker 2>other exotic urban cult audiences.

0:25:29.320 --> 0:25:31.540
<v Speaker 1>Well, Dolly's always said, you know, she's one of those

0:25:31.800 --> 0:25:36.230
<v Speaker 1>love is love types. And, you know, It's just like,

0:25:36.390 --> 0:25:38.790
<v Speaker 1>it's the way to live life. Like she doesn't judge

0:25:38.830 --> 0:25:43.050
<v Speaker 1>people and she never has. And she's always just embraced

0:25:43.170 --> 0:25:46.310
<v Speaker 1>like whatever community wants to love her music. Like, why

0:25:46.330 --> 0:25:49.980
<v Speaker 1>would she, I never get it when people like intentionally

0:25:50.020 --> 0:25:51.960
<v Speaker 1>sort of turn audiences off.

0:25:52.440 --> 0:25:52.680
<v Speaker 2>Right.

0:25:53.240 --> 0:25:53.520
<v Speaker 1>You know?

0:25:53.540 --> 0:25:58.180
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, no, for sure. For sure. But also like it's,

0:25:58.740 --> 0:26:02.000
<v Speaker 2>that's so true. And it's so prevalent when, when you

0:26:02.040 --> 0:26:05.020
<v Speaker 2>read about her, watch interviews with her. just listen to

0:26:05.060 --> 0:26:08.620
<v Speaker 2>her talk, you're almost like, what's your angle, Dolly? Right.

0:26:08.740 --> 0:26:11.159
<v Speaker 2>What are you really up to here?

0:26:13.230 --> 0:26:18.330
<v Speaker 1>Her big crossover hit was Here You Come Again, which

0:26:18.450 --> 0:26:20.530
<v Speaker 1>was considered a pop song. I mean, I've always kind

0:26:20.570 --> 0:26:23.250
<v Speaker 1>of thought it was a country song, I guess, because

0:26:23.410 --> 0:26:26.650
<v Speaker 1>her voice is in it, and she insisted on steel guitar,

0:26:27.470 --> 0:26:29.179
<v Speaker 1>so it still had a little country tinge to it.

0:26:29.400 --> 0:26:30.300
<v Speaker 2>But it's like a perfect.

0:26:30.320 --> 0:26:31.020
<v Speaker 1>It was a huge song.

0:26:31.240 --> 0:26:32.760
<v Speaker 2>It's a perfect crossover.

0:26:32.980 --> 0:26:34.240
<v Speaker 1>Like, it's exactly.

0:26:34.710 --> 0:26:38.010
<v Speaker 2>perfectly balanced. Like there couldn't have been a better song

0:26:38.030 --> 0:26:42.270
<v Speaker 2>to transition from full on country singer to country pop singer.

0:26:42.830 --> 0:26:45.050
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. And it went number one on the country chart,

0:26:45.109 --> 0:26:49.310
<v Speaker 1>number three on the pop charts. Album went platinum. And

0:26:49.369 --> 0:26:52.630
<v Speaker 1>this is, you know, the late 70s when she really, really,

0:26:52.670 --> 0:26:53.280
<v Speaker 1>really blew up.

0:26:53.490 --> 0:26:55.580
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that was that. She just took off like a

0:26:55.630 --> 0:26:58.820
<v Speaker 2>rocket from there. One of the things that she did

0:26:58.880 --> 0:27:02.180
<v Speaker 2>very wisely in the late 70s, early 80s, right around

0:27:02.200 --> 0:27:06.649
<v Speaker 2>this time, was just hop on the TV circuit. She's

0:27:06.670 --> 0:27:11.550
<v Speaker 2>been on at least a few hundred TV appearances, but

0:27:11.590 --> 0:27:13.490
<v Speaker 2>a lot of them took place in the 70s and

0:27:13.790 --> 0:27:16.469
<v Speaker 2>80s when she was just making herself known, making herself

0:27:16.540 --> 0:27:19.679
<v Speaker 2>a household name. And none of this was by accident.

0:27:19.740 --> 0:27:24.460
<v Speaker 2>She's wanted to be a megastar since she was a kid,

0:27:24.520 --> 0:27:27.520
<v Speaker 2>and this was part of... She apparently makes a lot

0:27:27.560 --> 0:27:30.730
<v Speaker 2>of lists, and they turn out to kind of be

0:27:30.770 --> 0:27:33.610
<v Speaker 2>five-year plans, and I'm sure... Getting on the talk show

0:27:33.630 --> 0:27:35.590
<v Speaker 2>circuit was part of one of those lists.

0:27:37.050 --> 0:27:38.909
<v Speaker 1>And that explains why, as a kid growing up in

0:27:38.930 --> 0:27:41.020
<v Speaker 1>the 70s, I saw a lot of Dolly Parton.

0:27:41.320 --> 0:27:41.710
<v Speaker 2>Exactly.

0:27:42.220 --> 0:27:42.800
<v Speaker 1>She was everywhere.

0:27:43.140 --> 0:27:45.300
<v Speaker 2>Dolly wanted you to see a lot of Dolly Parton.

0:27:46.900 --> 0:27:50.120
<v Speaker 1>In the 80s is when she continued some of her

0:27:50.720 --> 0:27:54.240
<v Speaker 1>collaborations with other artists, very famously with Kenny Rogers with

0:27:54.340 --> 0:27:56.720
<v Speaker 1>Islands in the Stream. Huge, massive hit.

0:27:56.980 --> 0:27:57.510
<v Speaker 2>Haven't heard it.

0:27:57.980 --> 0:28:03.709
<v Speaker 1>And then 1987, my favorite... Collaboration at least came out

0:28:03.890 --> 0:28:07.330
<v Speaker 1>and maybe my favorite dolly stuff period. Oh, yeah was

0:28:07.350 --> 0:28:09.950
<v Speaker 1>the album trio Yeah that she recorded with Linda Ronstadt

0:28:09.970 --> 0:28:13.689
<v Speaker 1>and Emily Harris. Mm-hmm Just three of the best voices

0:28:13.730 --> 0:28:16.790
<v Speaker 1>in the history of music coming together to sing together

0:28:17.170 --> 0:28:19.510
<v Speaker 1>They ended up making three albums over the years together

0:28:20.390 --> 0:28:21.820
<v Speaker 1>So if you haven't listened to any of this stuff

0:28:21.930 --> 0:28:24.700
<v Speaker 1>highly recommend trio from 1987 She.

0:28:25.119 --> 0:28:28.740
<v Speaker 2>Also released some bluegrass albums in the late 90s the

0:28:28.780 --> 0:28:32.469
<v Speaker 2>grass is blue little sparrow halos and horns and And

0:28:32.570 --> 0:28:36.590
<v Speaker 2>then she released her first Christmas album in 30 years

0:28:36.770 --> 0:28:41.050
<v Speaker 2>back in 2020, A Holly Dolly Christmas, which is pretty good.

0:28:41.170 --> 0:28:44.040
<v Speaker 2>It's cute. But I think the best Christmas album she

0:28:44.220 --> 0:28:46.920
<v Speaker 2>released was Once Upon a Christmas in 1984. There's a

0:28:47.860 --> 0:28:49.110
<v Speaker 2>lot of Kenny Rogers on it.

0:28:49.700 --> 0:28:52.640
<v Speaker 1>I made a joke this last Christmas on Instagram. I

0:28:52.720 --> 0:28:56.920
<v Speaker 1>think that like probably 50% of Dolly Parton's Christmas songs

0:28:57.070 --> 0:28:58.890
<v Speaker 1>are about sex.

0:28:59.910 --> 0:29:00.370
<v Speaker 2>It's true.

0:29:00.920 --> 0:29:02.500
<v Speaker 1>Or there's like sexual overtones.

0:29:02.600 --> 0:29:07.700
<v Speaker 2>Right, exactly. Yeah, it's good stuff. But that 1984 album

0:29:07.740 --> 0:29:11.340
<v Speaker 2>has Hard Candy Christmas on it, which is, I mean,

0:29:11.720 --> 0:29:14.220
<v Speaker 2>maybe her best one, if you ask me.

0:29:15.000 --> 0:29:17.900
<v Speaker 1>Great song. All right, so now let's talk a little

0:29:17.940 --> 0:29:20.440
<v Speaker 1>bit more about her songwriting. I think that's the thing

0:29:20.480 --> 0:29:23.820
<v Speaker 1>that she's sort of most proud of. She said in

0:29:24.680 --> 0:29:27.880
<v Speaker 1>a 2020 book, if I had to choose just one

0:29:27.900 --> 0:29:29.760
<v Speaker 1>thing to be, I would choose to be a songwriter.

0:29:30.710 --> 0:29:33.700
<v Speaker 1>She's always said that she loves writing from the male

0:29:33.740 --> 0:29:36.340
<v Speaker 1>point of view. She loves writing songs for men because

0:29:36.400 --> 0:29:39.950
<v Speaker 1>a lot of her songs are sort of narrative stories.

0:29:40.230 --> 0:29:43.600
<v Speaker 1>type songs. And she's written a lot of big, huge

0:29:43.640 --> 0:29:46.660
<v Speaker 1>hits for people like Merle Haggard and Kenny Rogers and

0:29:46.700 --> 0:29:49.460
<v Speaker 1>Hank Williams Jr. and all kinds of dudes. Right.

0:29:50.040 --> 0:29:53.330
<v Speaker 2>She also plays a bunch of instruments. The guitar, she says,

0:29:53.390 --> 0:29:56.350
<v Speaker 2>is her strongest. And there's a lot of other string

0:29:56.390 --> 0:29:58.830
<v Speaker 2>instruments that she can play. I saw a video recently.

0:29:59.290 --> 0:30:02.230
<v Speaker 2>One of her concerts, she's got a banjo slung around her.

0:30:02.670 --> 0:30:03.170
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:30:03.310 --> 0:30:05.590
<v Speaker 2>She's got a strap hanging from a strap while she's

0:30:05.630 --> 0:30:08.410
<v Speaker 2>playing a fiddle really fast. It's pretty amazing. But if

0:30:08.430 --> 0:30:11.390
<v Speaker 2>you really want to be amazed by Dolly, you should

0:30:11.450 --> 0:30:15.690
<v Speaker 2>watch her play the saxophone. And in particular, at the

0:30:15.710 --> 0:30:19.840
<v Speaker 2>Glastonbury Music Festival in 2014 in the UK, in front

0:30:19.860 --> 0:30:24.040
<v Speaker 2>of a crowd of 100,000, she busted out Yakety Sax.

0:30:24.340 --> 0:30:24.580
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:30:24.660 --> 0:30:27.979
<v Speaker 2>The Benny Hill theme song. And it just killed. Yeah.

0:30:29.300 --> 0:30:32.160
<v Speaker 1>It did. That whole show is a fun watch because it's,

0:30:32.380 --> 0:30:35.340
<v Speaker 1>you know, it's in, it's at the Glastonbury Festival and

0:30:35.380 --> 0:30:38.340
<v Speaker 1>it's like, I don't know. I think her legendary status

0:30:38.360 --> 0:30:39.960
<v Speaker 1>just like grew with that appearance.

0:30:40.260 --> 0:30:42.260
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah. Like she was, you know, kind of a

0:30:42.320 --> 0:30:44.610
<v Speaker 2>cult favorite in the UK and then she became like a,

0:30:45.260 --> 0:30:47.400
<v Speaker 2>like a pop culture favorite after that show.

0:30:47.940 --> 0:30:51.080
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Nine to five, the movie that you mentioned before

0:30:51.460 --> 0:30:54.530
<v Speaker 1>in 1980 is when she got into movie making and

0:30:54.610 --> 0:30:57.210
<v Speaker 1>it is a movie, boy, not only does it hold

0:30:57.470 --> 0:31:01.650
<v Speaker 1>up today, but, It was ahead of its time and

0:31:01.730 --> 0:31:03.610
<v Speaker 1>even more relevant today than it probably was then.

0:31:03.910 --> 0:31:05.950
<v Speaker 2>Which is sad, if you stop and think about it.

0:31:06.030 --> 0:31:06.950
<v Speaker 1>No, no, totally sad.

0:31:07.130 --> 0:31:09.430
<v Speaker 2>But it was based on an actual movement called 9

0:31:09.430 --> 0:31:11.390
<v Speaker 2>to 5, the 9 to 5 movement from the early

0:31:11.450 --> 0:31:15.240
<v Speaker 2>70s that I guess Jane Fonda was aware of, because

0:31:15.280 --> 0:31:17.680
<v Speaker 2>she was one of the creators behind the movie 9

0:31:17.680 --> 0:31:20.820
<v Speaker 2>to 5. And that was an actual movement led by

0:31:21.240 --> 0:31:23.880
<v Speaker 2>secretaries starting in Boston, and it spread around the country.

0:31:24.300 --> 0:31:29.620
<v Speaker 2>And they were... protesting sexual harassment, low pay, getting passed

0:31:29.660 --> 0:31:32.940
<v Speaker 2>over for promotions. And they had a great slogan that

0:31:33.000 --> 0:31:35.140
<v Speaker 2>I saw. Raises not roses.

0:31:36.700 --> 0:31:38.760
<v Speaker 1>Raises not roses. Yeah. I love that.

0:31:38.980 --> 0:31:39.580
<v Speaker 2>I love it too.

0:31:39.720 --> 0:31:41.160
<v Speaker 1>Like, I don't need your flowers.

0:31:41.320 --> 0:31:41.600
<v Speaker 2>Exactly.

0:31:41.620 --> 0:31:42.160
<v Speaker 1>About some money.

0:31:42.680 --> 0:31:43.200
<v Speaker 2>Exactly.

0:31:43.220 --> 0:31:44.800
<v Speaker 1>I'll buy my own flowers.

0:31:45.060 --> 0:31:48.020
<v Speaker 2>Right. I can buy my own flowers. Yeah.

0:31:48.040 --> 0:31:50.520
<v Speaker 1>That's what the back of the t-shirt said. And then

0:31:50.580 --> 0:31:52.370
<v Speaker 1>parentheses quit pinching my butt.

0:31:52.880 --> 0:31:56.060
<v Speaker 2>Plus also that's a Miley Cyrus song. Who is Dolly

0:31:56.100 --> 0:31:57.480
<v Speaker 2>Parton's goddaughter?

0:31:58.660 --> 0:31:59.080
<v Speaker 1>That's right.

0:31:59.300 --> 0:31:59.500
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:32:00.140 --> 0:32:03.670
<v Speaker 1>And Dolly credits that relationship with the fact that millennials

0:32:03.930 --> 0:32:04.430
<v Speaker 1>love Dolly.

0:32:04.790 --> 0:32:08.190
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. I wasn't aware of this. So everybody knows, even

0:32:08.490 --> 0:32:12.240
<v Speaker 2>I know, that Miley Cyrus was Hannah Montana on Nickelodeon from,

0:32:12.280 --> 0:32:13.459
<v Speaker 2>I think, 2006 to 2011, right? And she would have

0:32:13.500 --> 0:32:20.500
<v Speaker 2>Dolly on forever. Here there is Aunt Dolly, like her aunt,

0:32:20.560 --> 0:32:24.360
<v Speaker 2>Hannah Montana's aunt. And I guess like millennials just grew

0:32:24.440 --> 0:32:28.180
<v Speaker 2>up watching that. And that she just exposed herself, not literally,

0:32:28.240 --> 0:32:32.600
<v Speaker 2>but figuratively to an entirely new generation. And it stuck

0:32:32.860 --> 0:32:35.380
<v Speaker 2>like that's that's how they that's how they met Dolly.

0:32:35.420 --> 0:32:37.350
<v Speaker 2>And they just kept following her and loving her from

0:32:37.390 --> 0:32:38.030
<v Speaker 2>that point on.

0:32:38.550 --> 0:32:40.870
<v Speaker 1>I love it. She was in a bunch of movies

0:32:40.930 --> 0:32:44.350
<v Speaker 1>over the years. Best Little Whorehouse in Texas with Burt Reynolds,

0:32:44.390 --> 0:32:49.700
<v Speaker 1>of course, part of the ensemble and Steel Magnolias. Very disappointingly,

0:32:49.780 --> 0:32:54.640
<v Speaker 1>Livia doesn't mention my second favorite Dolly Parton movie, which

0:32:54.680 --> 0:32:59.440
<v Speaker 1>was Rhinestone with Sylvester Stallone. One of my big HBO

0:32:59.460 --> 0:33:01.820
<v Speaker 1>movies early on. I watched that thing over and over again.

0:33:03.020 --> 0:33:05.790
<v Speaker 1>Stallone sings. Have you ever seen it? No, I never have.

0:33:06.070 --> 0:33:08.330
<v Speaker 2>I turned the TV off after Life Force.

0:33:10.850 --> 0:33:14.650
<v Speaker 1>You should check out Rhinestone because the premise is she's

0:33:15.570 --> 0:33:19.440
<v Speaker 1>to make a country star out of Sylvester Stallone. And

0:33:19.700 --> 0:33:24.860
<v Speaker 1>he has a song in there called Drinkenstein instead of Frankenstein.

0:33:25.680 --> 0:33:28.620
<v Speaker 1>And the chorus is, Budweiser, you've created a monster, and

0:33:28.660 --> 0:33:30.070
<v Speaker 1>they call him Drinkenstein.

0:33:30.480 --> 0:33:30.770
<v Speaker 2>Wow.

0:33:31.170 --> 0:33:33.950
<v Speaker 1>But Stallone really sings, and it's just, I think it's

0:33:33.990 --> 0:33:36.230
<v Speaker 1>known probably as a bad movie, but it has a

0:33:36.230 --> 0:33:37.370
<v Speaker 1>very special place in my heart.

0:33:37.650 --> 0:33:39.430
<v Speaker 2>It sounds like the prequel to Tulsa King.

0:33:39.910 --> 0:33:40.490
<v Speaker 1>Right.

0:33:42.250 --> 0:33:46.070
<v Speaker 2>So she also, did you mention Sand Dollar yet? No.

0:33:46.490 --> 0:33:51.150
<v Speaker 2>She founded a production company with Sandy Gallen, her longtime

0:33:51.210 --> 0:33:54.470
<v Speaker 2>manager and friend. And they went on to produce movies

0:33:54.490 --> 0:33:55.730
<v Speaker 2>like Father of the Bride.

0:33:55.750 --> 0:33:56.610
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:33:56.910 --> 0:33:58.850
<v Speaker 2>Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the movie.

0:33:59.310 --> 0:33:59.530
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:34:00.010 --> 0:34:03.730
<v Speaker 2>She also did Straight Talk, which she was in, where

0:34:03.770 --> 0:34:07.310
<v Speaker 2>she plays a woman who accidentally becomes a radio host and,

0:34:07.330 --> 0:34:10.489
<v Speaker 2>of course, just shoots into the stratosphere and popularity.

0:34:10.930 --> 0:34:11.629
<v Speaker 1>I never saw that.

0:34:12.530 --> 0:34:14.630
<v Speaker 2>Oh, yeah, it was okay.

0:34:15.090 --> 0:34:15.310
<v Speaker 1>Okay.

0:34:17.050 --> 0:34:19.410
<v Speaker 2>Not her best work, but still. She was amazing in

0:34:19.450 --> 0:34:24.100
<v Speaker 2>Steel Magnolias. I mean, like, if you go back and, yeah,

0:34:24.200 --> 0:34:25.640
<v Speaker 2>if you go back and watch some of those scenes

0:34:25.719 --> 0:34:29.560
<v Speaker 2>between her and her husband in particular, she's a really

0:34:29.620 --> 0:34:31.419
<v Speaker 2>good actress. No, she's good.

0:34:32.239 --> 0:34:34.240
<v Speaker 1>In fact, but the Shelby I just did was more

0:34:34.500 --> 0:34:36.810
<v Speaker 1>Sally Field. Now that I think about it.

0:34:37.010 --> 0:34:39.980
<v Speaker 2>I detected a hint of Sally Field in there. All right.

0:34:40.040 --> 0:34:43.219
<v Speaker 1>I think let's take another break and then we'll this

0:34:43.300 --> 0:34:44.840
<v Speaker 1>is going to go a little long, but that's OK,

0:34:45.080 --> 0:34:48.280
<v Speaker 1>because we're about to dive into Dollywood right after this. Shelby.

0:34:48.300 --> 0:34:49.460
<v Speaker 2>Shelby.

0:35:13.750 --> 0:35:17.710
<v Speaker 1>All right, my friend, here we are. I'll set it

0:35:17.790 --> 0:35:19.430
<v Speaker 1>up with how it starts and then you can just

0:35:19.469 --> 0:35:23.150
<v Speaker 1>take over because you've actually been there. But in an

0:35:23.210 --> 0:35:27.820
<v Speaker 1>interview in 1982 with Barbara Walters, Dolly Parton said something

0:35:27.860 --> 0:35:31.219
<v Speaker 1>about being interested in opening up a theme park back home.

0:35:31.480 --> 0:35:32.340
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:35:32.360 --> 0:35:35.219
<v Speaker 1>And there was a theme park, Silver Dollar City in

0:35:35.260 --> 0:35:39.300
<v Speaker 1>Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. And the owners, Jack and Pete Herschend,

0:35:39.739 --> 0:35:42.600
<v Speaker 1>heard this interview and gave her a call and was like,

0:35:42.840 --> 0:35:46.839
<v Speaker 1>let's get together on this. And they did to great success. Yeah.

0:35:46.880 --> 0:35:49.900
<v Speaker 2>Four years later, Dollywood opened. It reopened as Dollywood, I

0:35:49.920 --> 0:35:54.640
<v Speaker 2>should say. Just that first year, they doubled their entries

0:35:55.440 --> 0:35:59.600
<v Speaker 2>to 1.3 million people coming. And that's not just a

0:35:59.660 --> 0:36:02.259
<v Speaker 2>full year. It snows and everything kind of shuts down

0:36:02.280 --> 0:36:06.830
<v Speaker 2>in the wintertime in Pigeon Forge or in the Smokies.

0:36:06.870 --> 0:36:09.750
<v Speaker 2>So I'm guessing they crammed a lot of those people

0:36:09.830 --> 0:36:11.910
<v Speaker 2>in in a very short amount of time, probably summer.

0:36:12.190 --> 0:36:13.970
<v Speaker 2>I don't know why I'm going off on this tangent,

0:36:13.989 --> 0:36:15.350
<v Speaker 2>but it just seemed important when I started.

0:36:15.370 --> 0:36:17.610
<v Speaker 1>It's called how theme parks work. They close in the winter.

0:36:17.950 --> 0:36:21.410
<v Speaker 2>Be quiet, you. So it was a success right out

0:36:21.450 --> 0:36:23.750
<v Speaker 2>of the gate, I should say. And little known fact,

0:36:24.110 --> 0:36:26.129
<v Speaker 2>or it's a rumor that a lot of people don't

0:36:26.170 --> 0:36:30.530
<v Speaker 2>realize is actual fact. They buried a time capsule there

0:36:30.650 --> 0:36:34.660
<v Speaker 2>on opening day. And it contains an unreleased Dolly song.

0:36:34.860 --> 0:36:35.680
<v Speaker 1>No way.

0:36:35.739 --> 0:36:37.660
<v Speaker 2>That is not to be opened until I think she's

0:36:37.660 --> 0:36:38.660
<v Speaker 2>99 years old.

0:36:39.140 --> 0:36:43.230
<v Speaker 1>Wow. Mm-hmm. Which is, what is she now, 76?

0:36:43.230 --> 0:36:45.120
<v Speaker 2>78, I think. Okay.

0:36:45.320 --> 0:36:47.020
<v Speaker 1>So it's close.

0:36:47.300 --> 0:36:48.219
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. We can wait.

0:36:48.500 --> 0:36:49.160
<v Speaker 1>She sees it, yeah.

0:36:49.239 --> 0:36:49.860
<v Speaker 2>Oh, we'll wait.

0:36:50.780 --> 0:36:52.839
<v Speaker 1>So tell me about Dollywood. I want to know more.

0:36:53.160 --> 0:36:57.160
<v Speaker 2>So it is a, you can definitely believe that it

0:36:57.260 --> 0:36:59.450
<v Speaker 2>used to be a silver dollar city. They preserved a

0:36:59.489 --> 0:37:02.500
<v Speaker 2>lot of stuff. There's a coal-fired... train that kind of

0:37:02.540 --> 0:37:06.260
<v Speaker 2>takes you around on some neat vistas and everything. We

0:37:06.520 --> 0:37:09.570
<v Speaker 2>went around Christmas time, which kind of undermines my argument

0:37:09.610 --> 0:37:12.830
<v Speaker 2>about things shutting down in the winter. We went for

0:37:12.870 --> 0:37:14.770
<v Speaker 2>Yumi's birthday, actually, like one year. And.

0:37:16.890 --> 0:37:19.680
<v Speaker 2>There was like a Christmas show where there's like singing

0:37:19.700 --> 0:37:21.920
<v Speaker 2>and dancing, but it was so corny that I was

0:37:21.980 --> 0:37:23.920
<v Speaker 2>waiting for everybody to be like, oh, you know, we're

0:37:23.940 --> 0:37:26.759
<v Speaker 2>just joking. Here's the real show. It never happened. It

0:37:26.800 --> 0:37:30.050
<v Speaker 2>was just that like kitschy and American and earnest. Yeah.

0:37:30.090 --> 0:37:32.670
<v Speaker 2>And just corny. But it was very sweet in retrospect,

0:37:32.730 --> 0:37:36.310
<v Speaker 2>especially hard to sit through, but very sweet. And then

0:37:36.330 --> 0:37:38.689
<v Speaker 2>there's just a lot of like people dipping candles. There's

0:37:38.830 --> 0:37:43.120
<v Speaker 2>tons of food to eat. There's a roller coaster that

0:37:43.180 --> 0:37:46.610
<v Speaker 2>neither you me nor I went on. But there's a

0:37:46.650 --> 0:37:50.300
<v Speaker 2>museum there that's closed temporarily because apparently they're reimagining it.

0:37:50.870 --> 0:37:54.090
<v Speaker 2>But it was originally called the Chasing Rainbows Museum. And

0:37:54.140 --> 0:37:58.920
<v Speaker 2>Dolly Parton is a just self-professed pack rat. She saved.

0:37:59.480 --> 0:38:04.020
<v Speaker 2>everything chuck everything the coat of many colors that she

0:38:04.060 --> 0:38:06.620
<v Speaker 2>sings about it's there you can see it in real

0:38:06.660 --> 0:38:09.700
<v Speaker 2>life right there and it's the tiniest cutest little thing

0:38:09.719 --> 0:38:12.910
<v Speaker 2>you've ever seen in your entire life it's so tiny

0:38:13.250 --> 0:38:14.070
<v Speaker 2>and this is a coat.

0:38:13.870 --> 0:38:15.589
<v Speaker 1>Her mom made for her when she was a kid

0:38:15.630 --> 0:38:17.010
<v Speaker 1>right out of old rags that.

0:38:16.890 --> 0:38:18.910
<v Speaker 2>She sang about in that coat of many colors yeah

0:38:19.150 --> 0:38:21.109
<v Speaker 2>and it's what a great song but then just to

0:38:21.650 --> 0:38:23.350
<v Speaker 2>just to love that song and then see the actual

0:38:23.390 --> 0:38:25.549
<v Speaker 2>coat and then just see how dinky it is It

0:38:25.590 --> 0:38:28.310
<v Speaker 2>was just amazing. Those lists I told you she used

0:38:28.330 --> 0:38:30.910
<v Speaker 2>to keep, she kept those. Those are on display. Wigs,

0:38:31.330 --> 0:38:35.800
<v Speaker 2>rhinestones everywhere. But it's not just like this ode or

0:38:35.880 --> 0:38:39.980
<v Speaker 2>tribute to Dolly. It's a genuine, like, curated look into

0:38:40.040 --> 0:38:43.759
<v Speaker 2>her whole career. And it was one of the best

0:38:43.800 --> 0:38:45.800
<v Speaker 2>museums I've ever been to in my life of any kind.

0:38:46.520 --> 0:38:47.759
<v Speaker 1>Why didn't you guys ride the roller coaster?

0:38:48.570 --> 0:38:50.130
<v Speaker 2>We're both scared of roller coasters.

0:38:50.790 --> 0:38:52.640
<v Speaker 1>Oh, I don't think I... remember that.

0:38:52.950 --> 0:38:55.549
<v Speaker 2>Yes, I've been scared of roller coasters for decades, but

0:38:55.710 --> 0:38:58.550
<v Speaker 2>I feel like I'm starting to come out of it. OK.

0:38:58.770 --> 0:39:00.750
<v Speaker 2>And I might go challenge myself and ride a few

0:39:00.790 --> 0:39:04.090
<v Speaker 2>roller coasters this summer and see if I'm correct or

0:39:04.130 --> 0:39:05.590
<v Speaker 2>if I'm really, really wrong.

0:39:06.170 --> 0:39:09.469
<v Speaker 1>Well, you should go to Six Flags with Ruby and I,

0:39:09.530 --> 0:39:13.149
<v Speaker 1>because there's nothing like getting your courage worked up than

0:39:13.190 --> 0:39:16.390
<v Speaker 1>a seven year old who will ride anything. Staring you

0:39:16.410 --> 0:39:16.930
<v Speaker 1>in the face.

0:39:17.070 --> 0:39:19.489
<v Speaker 2>Okay. All right. I may use that. That's just the

0:39:19.530 --> 0:39:20.569
<v Speaker 2>elixir I'm looking for.

0:39:21.040 --> 0:39:24.540
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah. She'll go on whatever. She wouldn't understand. She'd

0:39:24.560 --> 0:39:25.490
<v Speaker 1>be like, why don't you want to go on it?

0:39:25.500 --> 0:39:26.700
<v Speaker 1>What do you mean you're scared?

0:39:27.630 --> 0:39:29.850
<v Speaker 2>I don't. You're kind of ruining things for me.

0:39:31.420 --> 0:39:33.259
<v Speaker 1>Well, I want to go to Dollywood, so maybe we

0:39:33.280 --> 0:39:35.450
<v Speaker 1>can go to Six Flags and then Dollywood and just

0:39:35.469 --> 0:39:36.890
<v Speaker 1>do a theme park roundup.

0:39:37.110 --> 0:39:40.310
<v Speaker 2>I strongly recommend it because there's like all sorts of

0:39:40.350 --> 0:39:42.850
<v Speaker 2>stuff in nearby Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Yeah, of course.

0:39:42.910 --> 0:39:44.070
<v Speaker 1>I've been to Gatlinburg.

0:39:44.090 --> 0:39:48.239
<v Speaker 2>Ripley's Museums and just all sorts of just cool, super

0:39:48.460 --> 0:39:49.940
<v Speaker 2>kitschy touristy stuff.

0:39:49.960 --> 0:39:50.880
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:39:51.980 --> 0:39:52.800
<v Speaker 2>Oh, what's his name?

0:39:52.820 --> 0:39:53.640
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:39:54.670 --> 0:39:57.280
<v Speaker 2>The guy who sings Proud to be an American?

0:39:57.550 --> 0:39:58.439
<v Speaker 1>Lee Greenwood.

0:39:58.620 --> 0:40:01.660
<v Speaker 2>There's the Lee Greenwood Cafe where they no joke play

0:40:01.700 --> 0:40:05.480
<v Speaker 2>that song on a loop over and over again the

0:40:05.520 --> 0:40:07.859
<v Speaker 2>whole time. You're like, where's the next song? They don't

0:40:07.900 --> 0:40:08.740
<v Speaker 2>play the next song.

0:40:09.260 --> 0:40:11.620
<v Speaker 1>I heard that song every night of the summer for

0:40:11.660 --> 0:40:13.270
<v Speaker 1>like five summers when I worked at the Stone Mountain

0:40:13.290 --> 0:40:13.670
<v Speaker 1>Laser Show.

0:40:13.910 --> 0:40:14.529
<v Speaker 2>Oh, yeah, I'll bet.

0:40:14.890 --> 0:40:15.610
<v Speaker 1>I got my fill of it.

0:40:16.010 --> 0:40:17.450
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:40:17.590 --> 0:40:20.290
<v Speaker 1>So we can talk a little bit more about her politics.

0:40:20.330 --> 0:40:23.529
<v Speaker 1>She's and this is where the sociologists and anthropologists come in.

0:40:24.219 --> 0:40:28.590
<v Speaker 1>There's a sociologist named Tressie McMillan Cottom that has written

0:40:28.640 --> 0:40:31.530
<v Speaker 1>about how black women have always looked up to Dolly

0:40:31.550 --> 0:40:34.549
<v Speaker 1>Parton as a role model, even though she is like

0:40:34.630 --> 0:40:37.850
<v Speaker 1>it's a very specific sort of white southern thing that

0:40:37.890 --> 0:40:42.380
<v Speaker 1>she embodies. Again, just, you know, testifies to her crossover

0:40:42.440 --> 0:40:46.420
<v Speaker 1>appeal that she is to be admired by anybody. Her

0:40:46.460 --> 0:40:48.700
<v Speaker 1>Q score, if you don't know what a Q score is,

0:40:48.739 --> 0:40:51.900
<v Speaker 1>it's a marketing tool that basically there's a bunch of

0:40:51.920 --> 0:40:53.610
<v Speaker 1>things that go into your Q score, but it's basically

0:40:53.620 --> 0:40:56.140
<v Speaker 1>how How much people like you, how much they recognize

0:40:56.160 --> 0:40:59.100
<v Speaker 1>your name. And her Q score is like legendarily one

0:40:59.120 --> 0:41:02.279
<v Speaker 1>of the top Q scores of all time, celebrity wise.

0:41:02.380 --> 0:41:04.640
<v Speaker 2>She has a high positive Q score. They also do

0:41:04.660 --> 0:41:07.180
<v Speaker 2>a negative Q score. And she has a very low

0:41:07.300 --> 0:41:10.350
<v Speaker 2>negative Q score. So she's among the most beloved and

0:41:10.390 --> 0:41:13.790
<v Speaker 2>among the least disliked people in the entire world.

0:41:14.170 --> 0:41:15.469
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I don't want to know my Q score.

0:41:15.930 --> 0:41:17.330
<v Speaker 2>I looked it up. We don't have one yet.

0:41:17.860 --> 0:41:18.300
<v Speaker 1>OK, good.

0:41:18.550 --> 0:41:21.150
<v Speaker 2>But I was reading this article on the conversation and

0:41:21.170 --> 0:41:24.310
<v Speaker 2>these two Australian marketing people were trying to figure out

0:41:24.390 --> 0:41:27.430
<v Speaker 2>who would have been Australia's Dolly. And they landed on

0:41:27.489 --> 0:41:29.910
<v Speaker 2>Hugh Jackman. And I'm like, I can't disagree with that.

0:41:30.890 --> 0:41:31.670
<v Speaker 1>He's pretty likable.

0:41:32.070 --> 0:41:33.750
<v Speaker 2>Sure. Everybody likes Hugh Jackman.

0:41:34.290 --> 0:41:35.549
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I would agree with that.

0:41:36.530 --> 0:41:38.410
<v Speaker 2>Even though he did The Greatest Showman.

0:41:38.850 --> 0:41:39.069
<v Speaker 1>Right.

0:41:39.330 --> 0:41:41.069
<v Speaker 2>People still like Hugh Jackman.

0:41:42.660 --> 0:41:46.920
<v Speaker 1>The anthropologist comes in, a man named Jonathan Zilberg in 1995.

0:41:46.920 --> 0:41:52.440
<v Speaker 1>talked about how she was loved in Zimbabwe of all places.

0:41:52.680 --> 0:41:56.340
<v Speaker 1>And again, it's just like, you know, pick a country

0:41:56.820 --> 0:41:58.850
<v Speaker 1>and chances are people there love Dolly Parton.

0:41:59.730 --> 0:42:02.009
<v Speaker 2>And in Dolly Parton's America, then they talk about how

0:42:02.230 --> 0:42:05.370
<v Speaker 2>Nelson Mandela, while he was in prison in South Africa,

0:42:06.010 --> 0:42:10.990
<v Speaker 2>got his jailers to play Jolene for the whole jail.

0:42:11.150 --> 0:42:15.069
<v Speaker 2>Basically all Shawshank Redemption. Pretty cool.

0:42:15.640 --> 0:42:18.980
<v Speaker 1>Pretty cool. And like you said earlier, she basically just

0:42:19.040 --> 0:42:22.319
<v Speaker 1>avoids politics. She doesn't let any politician on either side

0:42:22.440 --> 0:42:25.700
<v Speaker 1>use her music. If a Democrat uses it, she shuts

0:42:25.719 --> 0:42:28.520
<v Speaker 1>them down. If a Republican uses it, she shuts them down.

0:42:29.260 --> 0:42:33.940
<v Speaker 1>She just sort of sidesteps all that stuff. She's always been,

0:42:34.060 --> 0:42:36.819
<v Speaker 1>you know, growing up, of course, in the 70s, there

0:42:36.840 --> 0:42:41.230
<v Speaker 1>were a lot of playground jokes about Dolly Parton's breast size.

0:42:41.590 --> 0:42:43.989
<v Speaker 1>She was very well known for it. And she's always

0:42:44.030 --> 0:42:45.810
<v Speaker 1>been the first one to jump in and joke about

0:42:45.830 --> 0:42:48.830
<v Speaker 1>it herself instead of being like the butt of the joke.

0:42:49.430 --> 0:42:52.149
<v Speaker 1>She can just go along with it. And that's just

0:42:52.250 --> 0:42:55.069
<v Speaker 1>that's another really likable quality is someone who can and

0:42:55.230 --> 0:42:57.550
<v Speaker 1>can laugh at themselves and not take things too seriously.

0:42:58.010 --> 0:43:02.879
<v Speaker 2>I also saw it put that she she knows that

0:43:02.920 --> 0:43:04.739
<v Speaker 2>these jokes are going to be made anyway, so she

0:43:04.780 --> 0:43:07.160
<v Speaker 2>can diffuse them by getting out in front of them

0:43:07.219 --> 0:43:09.819
<v Speaker 2>and topping, you know, the lame jokes that like old

0:43:09.860 --> 0:43:11.000
<v Speaker 2>talk show hosts would make.

0:43:11.480 --> 0:43:12.100
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:43:12.260 --> 0:43:14.900
<v Speaker 2>I saw once she said that she burned her bra

0:43:15.360 --> 0:43:17.460
<v Speaker 2>and it took the fire department three days to put

0:43:17.480 --> 0:43:20.920
<v Speaker 2>it out. Like that kind of stuff. That's hilarious. That

0:43:20.940 --> 0:43:21.919
<v Speaker 2>was her joke? Yeah.

0:43:22.400 --> 0:43:23.640
<v Speaker 1>Oh, that's good. That's very funny.

0:43:23.960 --> 0:43:26.640
<v Speaker 2>So I think we mentioned this before. Do you know

0:43:26.700 --> 0:43:30.840
<v Speaker 2>that Dolly the sheep, the first cloned animal on the planet,

0:43:31.020 --> 0:43:34.280
<v Speaker 2>was named Dolly because she was grown from a mammary

0:43:34.300 --> 0:43:35.070
<v Speaker 2>gland cell?

0:43:35.110 --> 0:43:35.300
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:43:35.890 --> 0:43:38.380
<v Speaker 2>I can't remember where we talked about that. But it

0:43:38.400 --> 0:43:42.360
<v Speaker 2>really just goes to show, like, that's how ubiquitous Dolly

0:43:42.400 --> 0:43:44.180
<v Speaker 2>Parton's boobs were in the 20th century.

0:43:44.260 --> 0:43:44.980
<v Speaker 1>I know.

0:43:45.060 --> 0:43:47.340
<v Speaker 2>Like, they were as big as she was, basically.

0:43:47.980 --> 0:43:50.069
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. No pun intended.

0:43:50.180 --> 0:43:52.250
<v Speaker 2>They were definitely part of her brand, for sure.

0:43:52.969 --> 0:43:56.040
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. You know, she was smart enough to lean into it.

0:43:57.130 --> 0:43:59.170
<v Speaker 1>Another thing that she had done over the years is

0:43:59.489 --> 0:44:01.270
<v Speaker 1>there are a lot of really dark songs that she's

0:44:01.310 --> 0:44:06.230
<v Speaker 1>written about, even though she's never kind of outright considered

0:44:06.250 --> 0:44:08.880
<v Speaker 1>herself a feminist. She very much is. And a lot

0:44:08.900 --> 0:44:10.520
<v Speaker 1>of the songs she's written over the years have been

0:44:11.040 --> 0:44:15.860
<v Speaker 1>very dark songs about women who are either abandoned or

0:44:16.400 --> 0:44:20.520
<v Speaker 1>suffering from sexual double standards. Or there's one brutal song

0:44:20.560 --> 0:44:23.380
<v Speaker 1>from 1970 called Daddy Come and Get Me about a

0:44:23.420 --> 0:44:25.580
<v Speaker 1>true story of a relative in her family that was

0:44:25.940 --> 0:44:30.320
<v Speaker 1>basically institutionalized by her husband. So she's never been afraid

0:44:30.380 --> 0:44:32.100
<v Speaker 1>to go down sort of in the tradition of the

0:44:32.219 --> 0:44:34.900
<v Speaker 1>old sort of dark country murder ballad thing, go down

0:44:34.920 --> 0:44:36.959
<v Speaker 1>these darker roads with some of the songs she's written.

0:44:37.420 --> 0:44:40.920
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I saw that she considers herself not a feminist,

0:44:40.980 --> 0:44:43.379
<v Speaker 2>but in favor of all women. She's for all women.

0:44:44.200 --> 0:44:47.700
<v Speaker 2>So it's like she doesn't subscribe to the movement part,

0:44:47.910 --> 0:44:52.310
<v Speaker 2>but what the movement's ultimately about, she's totally in favor with.

0:44:52.590 --> 0:44:58.130
<v Speaker 2>And that's super her. She made a very rare, overt

0:44:58.190 --> 0:45:02.270
<v Speaker 2>statement when she came out in support of Black Lives Matter.

0:45:02.910 --> 0:45:05.190
<v Speaker 2>And I really like. At a time where it was

0:45:05.210 --> 0:45:08.450
<v Speaker 2>like you're casting your lot one way or another. And

0:45:08.510 --> 0:45:11.020
<v Speaker 2>she stood up for it, which is pretty cool.

0:45:11.660 --> 0:45:17.320
<v Speaker 1>She did. She also, in 2018, there was at Dollywood,

0:45:17.360 --> 0:45:20.890
<v Speaker 1>the Dixie Stampede. She changed the name to Dolly Parton

0:45:20.910 --> 0:45:25.569
<v Speaker 1>Stampede after people complained about the whole Dixie connotation and

0:45:25.650 --> 0:45:27.589
<v Speaker 1>Civil War theme. She changed that up and she was

0:45:27.630 --> 0:45:30.430
<v Speaker 1>just like, you know, I never really thought about, you know,

0:45:30.489 --> 0:45:34.570
<v Speaker 1>the Confederate imagery, meaning what it meant to, And so

0:45:34.630 --> 0:45:37.910
<v Speaker 1>she was happily changed it. And that's just the kind

0:45:37.950 --> 0:45:39.029
<v Speaker 1>of person she is, I think.

0:45:39.270 --> 0:45:40.950
<v Speaker 2>And she got guff for that. And she got guff

0:45:40.969 --> 0:45:44.190
<v Speaker 2>for supporting Black Lives Matter from some of her her

0:45:44.270 --> 0:45:48.430
<v Speaker 2>right leaning fans. But she she can always explain herself,

0:45:48.850 --> 0:45:50.950
<v Speaker 2>you know, and she does so in such a great

0:45:51.010 --> 0:45:54.180
<v Speaker 2>way that you're just kind of like, well, fine. It's

0:45:54.219 --> 0:45:56.560
<v Speaker 2>hard to be you can't keep a grudge against her

0:45:56.620 --> 0:45:58.839
<v Speaker 2>even if she goes against you politically. But she just

0:45:58.880 --> 0:46:00.520
<v Speaker 2>so rarely does it. Yeah.

0:46:00.700 --> 0:46:03.810
<v Speaker 1>Agreed. Uh, she is, uh, we're going to wind it

0:46:03.850 --> 0:46:07.550
<v Speaker 1>down with her business and philanthropy. Um, very savvy business

0:46:07.570 --> 0:46:10.439
<v Speaker 1>person from the very beginning. Uh, she was smart enough

0:46:10.480 --> 0:46:13.440
<v Speaker 1>to hang on to her, um, the rights to her

0:46:13.480 --> 0:46:15.560
<v Speaker 1>own music and never give them up. Even when Elvis

0:46:15.580 --> 0:46:18.819
<v Speaker 1>Presley came calling and wanted to cover, I will always

0:46:18.860 --> 0:46:21.580
<v Speaker 1>love you. He wanted half the publishing rights. And she

0:46:21.600 --> 0:46:24.100
<v Speaker 1>was like, no way. He'd take a walk. Elvis Presley.

0:46:24.580 --> 0:46:27.140
<v Speaker 2>He didn't. Apparently Colonel Tom called her up on the

0:46:27.200 --> 0:46:30.859
<v Speaker 2>morning of the scheduled recording session. And sprung that on her,

0:46:30.900 --> 0:46:33.299
<v Speaker 2>and she turned him down. And she said she was

0:46:33.320 --> 0:46:36.259
<v Speaker 2>hoping that Elvis was as disappointed as she was. But

0:46:36.719 --> 0:46:38.520
<v Speaker 2>that took a lot of gumption, especially to have it

0:46:38.580 --> 0:46:41.299
<v Speaker 2>sprung on you like that. And she said, nope, not

0:46:41.340 --> 0:46:43.319
<v Speaker 2>doing it. But that's one of the things that made

0:46:43.340 --> 0:46:47.580
<v Speaker 2>her so incredibly wealthy. Like, apparently her music catalog has

0:46:47.620 --> 0:46:51.509
<v Speaker 2>a net worth of about $ 150 million and brings in

0:46:51.550 --> 0:46:54.509
<v Speaker 2>about $ 6 to $ 8 million a year for her, according to,

0:46:54.550 --> 0:46:58.089
<v Speaker 2>I think, Forbes. And then her stake in Dollywood is her...

0:46:59.230 --> 0:47:03.050
<v Speaker 2>her most valuable asset. I think it's like $ 165 million.

0:47:04.430 --> 0:47:04.810
<v Speaker 2>Pretty neat.

0:47:05.450 --> 0:47:06.830
<v Speaker 1>She has done quite well for herself.

0:47:06.850 --> 0:47:07.310
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:47:09.010 --> 0:47:13.549
<v Speaker 1>Uh, she, I mean, these days she's, she's not stopping either. She's, um,

0:47:14.170 --> 0:47:17.359
<v Speaker 1>she's on Duncan Hines, buttermilk biscuit mix with her little

0:47:17.390 --> 0:47:22.359
<v Speaker 1>cartoon face. They have fragrances branded by Dolly. Uh, they

0:47:22.400 --> 0:47:26.910
<v Speaker 1>have pet clothes that she's branded with. Um, Like, just

0:47:27.190 --> 0:47:29.430
<v Speaker 1>all kinds of things. She's not afraid to license her image.

0:47:29.710 --> 0:47:30.150
<v Speaker 2>No.

0:47:30.230 --> 0:47:30.830
<v Speaker 1>For sure.

0:47:31.010 --> 0:47:33.970
<v Speaker 2>We've got the Duncan Hines frosting in our pantry.

0:47:34.270 --> 0:47:34.989
<v Speaker 1>Do you?

0:47:35.030 --> 0:47:37.930
<v Speaker 2>The chocolate cream frosting. And then one other thing I saw, Chuck,

0:47:37.969 --> 0:47:40.410
<v Speaker 2>she wrote a book, co-wrote a book with James Patterson,

0:47:40.850 --> 0:47:44.140
<v Speaker 2>one of the best, most favorite novelists in the entire world.

0:47:44.320 --> 0:47:47.100
<v Speaker 2>It's called Run, Rose, Run. And it's a thriller based

0:47:47.480 --> 0:47:50.540
<v Speaker 2>kind of loosely on Dolly's story of making it in

0:47:50.560 --> 0:47:51.200
<v Speaker 2>the music biz.

0:47:51.420 --> 0:47:51.920
<v Speaker 1>Oh, wow.

0:47:52.160 --> 0:47:54.020
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. I think it just came out. Okay.

0:47:54.040 --> 0:47:56.840
<v Speaker 1>I might have to check that out. Yeah. Uh, she

0:47:57.219 --> 0:47:59.740
<v Speaker 1>is very charitable as well. She started the Dollywood foundation

0:47:59.960 --> 0:48:04.140
<v Speaker 1>in 1988, uh, just to get literacy going in her

0:48:04.600 --> 0:48:08.700
<v Speaker 1>home County. And it grew and grew and grew to

0:48:08.719 --> 0:48:12.310
<v Speaker 1>the point where it is now in the U S Canada, Australia,

0:48:12.350 --> 0:48:15.550
<v Speaker 1>the UK and Ireland. And to date, uh, the program

0:48:15.590 --> 0:48:21.770
<v Speaker 1>has given out more than 204 million books across these countries. And, um,

0:48:22.250 --> 0:48:24.170
<v Speaker 1>you know, she'll build a hospital in her County, um,

0:48:25.790 --> 0:48:30.430
<v Speaker 1>Anytime there's like wildfires nearby, she's chipping in. She very

0:48:30.469 --> 0:48:35.230
<v Speaker 1>famously donated a million dollars to Vanderbilt University Medical Center

0:48:35.690 --> 0:48:40.600
<v Speaker 1>for COVID-19 vaccine research. And, you know, people don't credit

0:48:40.640 --> 0:48:43.440
<v Speaker 1>her with the Moderna vaccine, but they're like that million

0:48:43.480 --> 0:48:47.420
<v Speaker 1>dollars was instrumental in getting that vaccine to trial.

0:48:47.719 --> 0:48:50.800
<v Speaker 2>Well, yeah, she also was like, everybody go get jabbed.

0:48:51.030 --> 0:48:53.110
<v Speaker 2>She yeah, there was a video at one around of

0:48:53.190 --> 0:48:57.259
<v Speaker 2>her getting her own vaccine, the first one, I think.

0:48:58.320 --> 0:49:00.739
<v Speaker 2>And she was singing Vaccine to the tune of Jolene.

0:49:00.760 --> 0:49:03.260
<v Speaker 1>Pretty nice tie-in.

0:49:03.280 --> 0:49:06.819
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, exactly. It was great. So one other thing, though,

0:49:06.840 --> 0:49:11.540
<v Speaker 2>about her foundation, one reason she got into literacy programs

0:49:11.560 --> 0:49:14.520
<v Speaker 2>was because her father never learned to read. And apparently

0:49:14.560 --> 0:49:16.640
<v Speaker 2>he told her just before he died that he was

0:49:16.700 --> 0:49:19.279
<v Speaker 2>most proud of her for that work that she'd done.

0:49:20.010 --> 0:49:23.640
<v Speaker 2>with promoting literacy around the world. It's pretty cool. It

0:49:23.680 --> 0:49:24.500
<v Speaker 2>makes it even neater.

0:49:25.320 --> 0:49:27.640
<v Speaker 1>And in addition to the vaccine Jolene song, she also

0:49:27.680 --> 0:49:30.359
<v Speaker 1>did a version of I Will Always Jab You.

0:49:31.880 --> 0:49:33.020
<v Speaker 2>That was less popular.

0:49:33.600 --> 0:49:34.180
<v Speaker 1>Less popular.

0:49:34.380 --> 0:49:35.300
<v Speaker 2>Sounds a little aggressive.

0:49:35.900 --> 0:49:41.799
<v Speaker 1>She's been nominated for 53 Grammys. 53. Uh, she's won 10,

0:49:41.800 --> 0:49:44.950
<v Speaker 1>which I think that number should be higher. Uh, but

0:49:45.010 --> 0:49:49.170
<v Speaker 1>you know, they have given her like lifetime achievement awards and, uh,

0:49:49.810 --> 0:49:52.129
<v Speaker 1>Jolene and I will always love you were inducted into

0:49:52.150 --> 0:49:54.890
<v Speaker 1>the Grammy hall of fame. So they have like heaped

0:49:54.969 --> 0:49:57.290
<v Speaker 1>awards on her, even when she has not won the

0:49:57.350 --> 0:50:00.660
<v Speaker 1>actual Grammy. Uh, and she's also won an Emmy, right?

0:50:00.780 --> 0:50:04.359
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. She was also up for two Oscars for best

0:50:04.460 --> 0:50:11.060
<v Speaker 2>song for, um, Oh, Traveling Through for Transamerica in, I think, 2006.

0:50:11.060 --> 0:50:13.560
<v Speaker 2>And then 9 to 5, the song.

0:50:13.580 --> 0:50:14.439
<v Speaker 1>Did 9 to 5 not win?

0:50:15.080 --> 0:50:16.540
<v Speaker 2>No, it was beaten by Fame.

0:50:16.560 --> 0:50:19.279
<v Speaker 1>Oh, boy, that's a tough year.

0:50:19.580 --> 0:50:22.739
<v Speaker 2>Traveling Through was beaten by Hard Out There for a

0:50:22.820 --> 0:50:24.640
<v Speaker 2>Pimp from Hustle and Flow.

0:50:25.070 --> 0:50:25.779
<v Speaker 1>That's a good song, too.

0:50:25.800 --> 0:50:26.700
<v Speaker 2>How are you going to top that?

0:50:27.219 --> 0:50:30.010
<v Speaker 1>It's really hard. I was getting ready to trash whatever

0:50:30.050 --> 0:50:33.050
<v Speaker 1>beat out 9 to 5, but Fame is a great song.

0:50:33.090 --> 0:50:34.049
<v Speaker 1>That's a tough year.

0:50:34.170 --> 0:50:36.650
<v Speaker 2>That was a very tough year. But she also has

0:50:36.810 --> 0:50:39.890
<v Speaker 2>two Guinness World Records to her name, one of which

0:50:40.390 --> 0:50:43.779
<v Speaker 2>is most decades with a top 20 hit, which really

0:50:43.820 --> 0:50:45.600
<v Speaker 2>just goes to show how long she's been around and

0:50:45.640 --> 0:50:47.220
<v Speaker 2>how long she's been huge.

0:50:47.980 --> 0:50:49.020
<v Speaker 1>You know what else she has two of?

0:50:49.540 --> 0:50:49.759
<v Speaker 2>What?

0:50:50.400 --> 0:50:52.300
<v Speaker 1>Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

0:50:52.400 --> 0:50:52.720
<v Speaker 2>Two.

0:50:53.080 --> 0:50:53.279
<v Speaker 1>I know.

0:50:53.320 --> 0:50:54.660
<v Speaker 2>Is there anybody else who has that?

0:50:55.260 --> 0:50:59.880
<v Speaker 1>I think so. People in different media, although probably not

0:50:59.900 --> 0:51:01.520
<v Speaker 1>a lot of people. I bet it's a pretty short list.

0:51:02.460 --> 0:51:07.399
<v Speaker 1>One in 1984. And then one in 2018 when, I guess,

0:51:07.420 --> 0:51:10.390
<v Speaker 1>the final trio of trio albums came out.

0:51:11.140 --> 0:51:14.000
<v Speaker 2>So if you think Dolly's slowing down, friend, you are

0:51:14.180 --> 0:51:17.239
<v Speaker 2>dead wrong. Yep. She's got a new album coming out.

0:51:17.280 --> 0:51:18.759
<v Speaker 2>So she was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall

0:51:18.800 --> 0:51:22.400
<v Speaker 2>of Fame despite her protests. She's like, I'm not a rocker. Apparently,

0:51:22.440 --> 0:51:24.110
<v Speaker 2>she's like, all right, well, I better go be a

0:51:24.160 --> 0:51:28.709
<v Speaker 2>rocker and earn that honor. So her next studio album,

0:51:28.890 --> 0:51:33.290
<v Speaker 2>her 49th, is coming out, I think, this fall. And

0:51:33.330 --> 0:51:35.950
<v Speaker 2>it's called Rockstar. And she's going to be singing with

0:51:36.010 --> 0:51:37.450
<v Speaker 2>some other rock stars, too.

0:51:37.980 --> 0:51:40.980
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Stevie Nicks, Paul McCartney, Cher. I love it.

0:51:41.680 --> 0:51:43.340
<v Speaker 2>Yep. Vince Neal?

0:51:44.360 --> 0:51:45.399
<v Speaker 1>No, not Vince Neal.

0:51:45.900 --> 0:51:47.620
<v Speaker 2>That's correct, not Vince Neal. Oh, okay.

0:51:49.610 --> 0:51:51.230
<v Speaker 1>That'd be pretty amazing, actually.

0:51:52.489 --> 0:51:54.370
<v Speaker 2>You got anything else about Dolly Parton? Oh, I've got

0:51:54.430 --> 0:51:54.969
<v Speaker 2>one other thing.

0:51:55.410 --> 0:51:55.770
<v Speaker 1>Let's hear it.

0:51:55.810 --> 0:52:00.750
<v Speaker 2>Before you answer. She wakes up at 3 a.m. every day. Oh.

0:52:01.230 --> 0:52:02.290
<v Speaker 1>Daughter of a sharecropper.

0:52:02.510 --> 0:52:03.250
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I guess so.

0:52:04.070 --> 0:52:04.650
<v Speaker 1>That's amazing.

0:52:04.930 --> 0:52:06.109
<v Speaker 2>Okay, you got anything else?

0:52:07.070 --> 0:52:08.089
<v Speaker 1>I got nothing else.

0:52:08.530 --> 0:52:11.700
<v Speaker 2>Okay, I don't either. I don't think. But I'm going

0:52:11.719 --> 0:52:13.820
<v Speaker 2>to think of 10 things after we're done recording.

0:52:13.840 --> 0:52:16.779
<v Speaker 1>I know. I've been listening to Dolly Parton all day,

0:52:16.820 --> 0:52:18.100
<v Speaker 1>so it's going to continue on.

0:52:18.260 --> 0:52:21.640
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's not hard to do. If you want to

0:52:21.700 --> 0:52:24.259
<v Speaker 2>know more about Dolly Parton, friend, go listen to Dolly Parton.

0:52:24.280 --> 0:52:26.500
<v Speaker 2>Go watch videos of Dolly Parton. Go read interviews with

0:52:26.540 --> 0:52:29.980
<v Speaker 2>Dolly Parton. She was once described as a black belt interviewee.

0:52:30.480 --> 0:52:32.900
<v Speaker 2>So you'll never be disappointed with a Dolly Parton interview.

0:52:33.380 --> 0:52:35.219
<v Speaker 2>And since I said you'll never be disappointed by a

0:52:35.260 --> 0:52:38.700
<v Speaker 2>Dolly Parton interview, that has opened up listener mail.

0:52:41.380 --> 0:52:45.239
<v Speaker 1>I'm going to call this great email. Follow up from arcades. Hey, guys,

0:52:45.260 --> 0:52:47.810
<v Speaker 1>want to tell you a story of my very traditional grandmother.

0:52:49.570 --> 0:52:52.150
<v Speaker 1>She was very traditional in the Midwestern sense, and she

0:52:52.170 --> 0:52:52.870
<v Speaker 1>was a homemaker.

0:52:52.890 --> 0:52:53.490
<v Speaker 2>Oh, yeah.

0:52:53.530 --> 0:52:57.530
<v Speaker 1>Books for my grandfather's iron working concern. She didn't tolerate

0:52:57.570 --> 0:53:00.510
<v Speaker 1>cussing or fussing and was a conservative dresser.

0:53:00.850 --> 0:53:01.950
<v Speaker 2>She liked the calico.

0:53:03.050 --> 0:53:06.919
<v Speaker 1>She didn't have any obvious vices, save one. Pac-Man.

0:53:07.340 --> 0:53:07.640
<v Speaker 2>Oh, yeah.

0:53:08.260 --> 0:53:09.480
<v Speaker 1>To hear her tell it, there was a time where

0:53:09.500 --> 0:53:11.220
<v Speaker 1>she would wake up before her husband and five children,

0:53:11.700 --> 0:53:14.319
<v Speaker 1>power up the Atari, and start a Pac-Man game. After

0:53:14.320 --> 0:53:16.420
<v Speaker 1>30 minutes or so, she would get breakfast on the table,

0:53:16.890 --> 0:53:18.910
<v Speaker 1>get her family out the door, and do the books,

0:53:18.989 --> 0:53:21.529
<v Speaker 1>clean the house, and then finally get back to her

0:53:21.570 --> 0:53:24.150
<v Speaker 1>paused Pac-Man game, which she would play until it was

0:53:24.190 --> 0:53:26.390
<v Speaker 1>time to start dinner when her family came back home.

0:53:26.410 --> 0:53:28.490
<v Speaker 2>That's awesome. She had Pac-Man fever.

0:53:28.890 --> 0:53:31.510
<v Speaker 1>That's good. Wouldn't be much of a story, guys, except

0:53:31.570 --> 0:53:34.850
<v Speaker 1>here's the thing. She was really, really good at Pac-Man.

0:53:34.870 --> 0:53:35.310
<v Speaker 2>Oh, yeah?

0:53:35.780 --> 0:53:38.130
<v Speaker 1>She once told me she had the first 40-something levels

0:53:38.250 --> 0:53:41.009
<v Speaker 1>memorized and could use them to rack up points and

0:53:41.050 --> 0:53:43.989
<v Speaker 1>then thus extra lives. She got to a point where

0:53:44.010 --> 0:53:46.090
<v Speaker 1>she could play the same game all day long. Eventually,

0:53:46.130 --> 0:53:48.890
<v Speaker 1>she would describe getting to a high enough level where

0:53:48.910 --> 0:53:49.830
<v Speaker 1>the game would freeze.

0:53:50.230 --> 0:53:50.390
<v Speaker 2>Oh.

0:53:50.930 --> 0:53:54.160
<v Speaker 1>And what she was describing was level 256, the kill screen.

0:53:55.560 --> 0:53:57.600
<v Speaker 1>But since she was home alone every time she reached

0:53:57.640 --> 0:53:59.900
<v Speaker 1>it and the internet wasn't a household thing, no one

0:53:59.940 --> 0:54:01.160
<v Speaker 1>ever knew what she was talking about.

0:54:01.239 --> 0:54:03.740
<v Speaker 2>She just ran out the door and was like, somebody, anybody,

0:54:04.020 --> 0:54:04.459
<v Speaker 2>come look.

0:54:05.960 --> 0:54:08.000
<v Speaker 1>It was until many years later that I saw King

0:54:08.040 --> 0:54:10.009
<v Speaker 1>of Kong and saw the footage of the kill screen

0:54:10.050 --> 0:54:13.370
<v Speaker 1>my grandmother had described. Couldn't believe my eyes or the

0:54:13.410 --> 0:54:16.410
<v Speaker 1>fact that my conservative grandmother was such an early skilled gamer.

0:54:16.430 --> 0:54:17.490
<v Speaker 2>That's neat.

0:54:17.510 --> 0:54:19.350
<v Speaker 1>She's since passed away, but every time the subject of

0:54:19.410 --> 0:54:22.009
<v Speaker 1>Pac-Man comes up, brings a smile to my face and

0:54:22.030 --> 0:54:25.790
<v Speaker 1>I remember her and her high scores. That is from

0:54:25.810 --> 0:54:28.950
<v Speaker 1>Aaron Miller of Kansas City, the Kansas side.

0:54:29.969 --> 0:54:32.530
<v Speaker 2>Oh, that's rare. You don't usually hear from those people.

0:54:33.090 --> 0:54:33.629
<v Speaker 1>Kansas side.

0:54:33.650 --> 0:54:37.210
<v Speaker 2>Mm-hmm. Well, thanks a lot, Aaron. That's a fantastic story.

0:54:37.430 --> 0:54:39.299
<v Speaker 2>I'm glad you could smuggle that message out of the

0:54:39.340 --> 0:54:42.860
<v Speaker 2>Kansas side of Kansas City to us. And if you

0:54:42.900 --> 0:54:44.800
<v Speaker 2>want to be like Aaron and get in touch however

0:54:44.900 --> 0:54:48.000
<v Speaker 2>way you can, try putting it in an email. Sending

0:54:48.040 --> 0:54:51.120
<v Speaker 2>it off to stuffpodcasts at iheartradio.com.

0:54:54.580 --> 0:54:57.420
<v Speaker 1>Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For

0:54:57.440 --> 0:55:01.540
<v Speaker 1>more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

0:55:01.719 --> 0:55:03.530
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