RIP Dolly Parton

Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton were a major country duo from the late 1960s through the early 1980s, touring extensively, but their documented stops were mostly in major cities, fairs, and Opry events. Smaller venues, especially in smaller towns, were often not recorded in national archives unless they were part of a notable tour or event.

We were fortunate enough to see Dolly and Porter in a small venue concert before they became big stars. We were up close. If I had known that they would become mega stars, I would have had my picture made with them.

"I think my childhood made me everything I am today. I would trade nothing for being brought up in the Great Smoky Mountains. I’ve never been ashamed of my people no matter how poor or dirty we might have been," she said at the time.

Parton shed a little more light on her poor childhood and said that her mother would make her clothes out of "feed sacks or scraps."

I think that that scrawny little girl who had to wear a ragged coat to school still lived deep inside Dolly.

"I don’t try to tell other people how to do it, how to be, but I know who I am. I’m a star to everybody but me. I’m just a working girl. I always just say that I’m a workhorse that looks like a show horse," she said at the time.

I know I look totally artificial, but I'd like to think I'm real where it really counts."😍

I think I remember her saying, "Everything about me is fake except my heart. My love for music and people is real."

We went to Dollywood for the July 4th parade a few years ago. I was in the front row of spectators. When her float approached, I stepped up a step or two to take her picture. She must have seen me move because she looked directly at me and gave me a million-dollar smile. An interviewer once told her she had a million-dollar smile. She said, "It ought to be. It cost almost that much." 😊


"My faith impacts everything I do because I do believe that, through God, all things are possible," she said at the time. "I always ask God to bless everything that I do and the people that I work with and to bring all the right things and right people into my life and to take the wrong ones out."

"You just hope and you have faith. That’s what faith is. But I believe that it’s going to be better. I think it’s not the end of me. I don’t think it’s the end of any of us.

Sing forever in the heavenly choir, Dolly.
 
"Coat of many Colors", that song tells it all.

While my family wasn't poor, we lived like we were. My mother taught me to sew and make clothes when I was 5. I made and wore all kinds of garments made out of left over material. Kids made fun of my creations, but today they would be high Hollywood fashion.

Remember putting patches over jeans with torn knees? Now jeans are made that way and high prices are charged.

Now, I realize how special and how those garments of many fabrics, are still vivid in my mind, while expensive store bought garments have been forgotten.

Like Dolly, I was as happy as I could be, with those garments of many colors my mama made for me.

Now Dolly has died from cancer at 80 and I enter cancer journey number two, at 76. I was never a singer, but was a song writer and could play anything with strings on it. None of that seems to matter anymore.

My life has been a "coat of many colors."
 
Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton

Back through the years I go wanderin' once again
Back to the seasons of my youth
I recall a box of rags that someone gave us
And how my momma put the rags to use

There were rags of many colors
But every piece was small
And I didn't have a coat
And it was way down in the fall

Momma sewed the rags together
Sewin' every piece with love
She made my coat of many colors
That I was so proud of

As she sewed, she told a story
From The Bible, she had read
About a coat of many colors
Joseph wore and then she said

"Perhaps this coat will bring you
Good luck and happiness"
And I just couldn't wait to wear it
And momma blessed it with a kiss

My coat of many colors
That my momma made for me
Made only from rags
But I wore it so proudly

Although we had no money
Oh, I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
My momma made for me

So with patches on my britches
And holes in both my shoes
In my coat of many colors
I hurried off to school

Just to find the others laughing
And making fun of me
And my coat of many colors
My momma made for me

And oh I couldn't understand it
For I felt I was rich
And I told them of the love
My momma sewed in every stitch

And I told 'em all the story
Momma told me while she sewed
And how my coat of many colors
Was worth more than all their clothes

But they didn't understand it
And I tried to make them see
That one is only poor
Only if they choose to be

Now I know we had no money
But I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
My momma made for me
Made just for me
 
“I make jokes about it, but it's the truth that I kind of patterned my look after the town tramp. I didn't know what she was, just this woman who was blond and piled her hair up, wore high heels and tight skirts, and, boy, she was the prettiest thing I'd ever seen. Momma used to say, "Aw, she's just trash," and I thought, That's what I want to be when I grow up. Trash.”
― Dolly Parton
 
For anyone who’s interested:

We are supposed to be able to listen live (and free) to this Saturday night’s Opry program on WSM radio. It is dedicated to Dolly Parton with Carly Pearce leading the event.

A portion of the in-house proceeds is going to Dolly’s Imagination Library.

wsmradio.com

WSM Radio - 650 AM WSM

650 AM WSM is Nashville's original country music radio station, and storied founder of the Grand Ole Opry.
wsmradio.com wsmradio.com
 
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