'Jolene' by Dolly Parton
Jolene was listed as number 217 on Rolling Stones' list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time - but when the list was revised in '21, it jumped from number 217 to number 63 on the list.
Incidentally, Parton wrote Jolene on the same night as writing 'I will always love you' which, when covered by Whitney Houston 19 years later, sold over 24 million copies and topped Billboard 100 for fourteen weeks - Houston's cover became, and remains, the bestselling single for a female artist.
Due to this, Parton received massive royalties.
Dolly refers to the day she wrote both songs as, "a good writing day".
this territory is moderated
Interesting and good track… don’t know much about her though
reply
If I went to Dublin, we're 100% going to see Phil Lynott's statue - and have The Boys Are Back In Town reverberating in my head.
If I were to go to Tennessee, I might even be tempted to visit Dollywood.
There's a lot more to her than meets the eye.
She's quite something - and lived one hell of a life...
reply
I think there was a documentary on her by netflix if I remember right. Was a really good watch.
reply
It was watching a documentary that raised Dolly's profile massively in my mind.
You'd get an idea of her very humble origins - growing up in a shack in the mountains.
Plus if it's a doc that shows interviews, you'll see how stunningly clever, and quick with it, she is too.
reply
Rings a bell about the growing up in the mountains bit but I can't recall it properly. She does seem like a absolute gem of a person though.
reply
82 sats \ 1 reply \ @Bitman 15 Jan
Yeah, Dolly had her childhood cabin home carefully taken down & rebuilt as an attraction at Dollywood. Dollywood is a big local employer.
I never got around to mentioning her charity work
Since 1995 her book charity has given over 150 million books to children
Last year her monthly free book giveaways total 2 million books posted each month.
Yep, she's a true gem!
reply
I need to do some digging around a find the documentary.
reply
Did not know dolly wrote "I will always love you". That is a good writing day.
Saw these guys at a festival and they did a new version (sort of) of Jolene. It even got Dolly approval, she was impressed by it. And these guys had so much energy on stage. Great live act. https://youtu.be/lizBVO4MWFA?si=HNKD7ulCPEMTKn-i
reply
Yeah, I can see Dolly liking that.
It is her most covered song - and she's written plenty.
reply