Comment by mikestew
2 months ago
I’ve never been much of a country music fan, but I’ve always been a Dolly fan. Great songwriter, philanthropist, and seemed like a genuinely nice person. RIP, Dolly, you were one of the greats.
2 months ago
I’ve never been much of a country music fan, but I’ve always been a Dolly fan. Great songwriter, philanthropist, and seemed like a genuinely nice person. RIP, Dolly, you were one of the greats.
Her vocals were exceptional, too. One of my favorite videos I've randomly come across on YouTube is "Jolene" slowed down to 33 RPM [0]. The comments are hilarious as well, but the clarity of her vocals and the vibrato that carries through to a slower tempo is really something special to hear.
0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doz1QJ7LwjA
She's one of those crossover performers, such as Kenny Rogers and Taylor Swift who escape Country music as a genre and get mass appeal. Whenever I comment about a Dolly Parton song playing in a public place I hear things like "She's a national treasure!"
Rogers crossed over into country.
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Her cover of Stairway to Heaven is definitely crossover at its best
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Then you will love "The chipmunks at 16 speed"
https://chipmunkson16speed.bandcamp.com/album/vol-1
For a second I misread that as "The chipmunks at 16X speed" and was seriously confused.
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Sometime she changed the RPMs herself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJEpoLeISCo
The guitar is also immaculate slowed down and that was her too. I always thought it was some hotshot Nashville session musician. One of the best guitar licks of all time.
She was certainly a fine guitarist, but Wikipedia says you were right first time, it was a session player called Chip Young.
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Her first record deal almost didn't happen because she was told she couldn't sing... apparently the producer didn't like her voice for whatever reason.
Agreed. The climbing voice in Jolene was my favourite of her vocal range. She was a pretty good singer too; not as good as e. g. Ariana Grande in her own prime (before chasing bulimia) but quite good nonetheless.
first time I hear that song and to my ear, the song was recorded at that speed, then sped up in production.
Made famous by the show The Blacklist
She was a loving wife to her husband and a great entrepreneur in addition to being a prolific artist. It's hard to find someone so well rounded at so many things before even adding that most of the jobs she created were/are considered positive contributions to society, evenly spread between entertainment, hospitality, foodservice, and adjacent industries. I think I heard she was directly responsible for about 20k total jobs which is INSANE.
What a positive legacy to leave - good example for others.
Building businesses that supported entire local economies is a different kind of legacy
Plus sending 318 million books to children.
I wouldn't ever say I was a fan per se. But she was always the go-to example of "this is what billionaires should be doing with their money". So I respected the hell out of her.
Of course, she also proves the very point of there being no ethical billionaire, being "only" worth some 450 million instead. Likely because she gave so much of her wealth back to her communities instead. RIP Dolly, indeed.
Completely agree johnnuanmac. Seems like a role model for being a good person while maintaining extreme goals and working toward the impossible.
Same.
I don't really like country music, but Dolly always seemed somewhat down-to-earth and pretty decent.
Also not a fan of country/folk, but today I learned about her special albums trilogy: The Grass Is Blue, Little Sparrow, and Halos & Horns. Quite different music!
Some songs I added to my playlist :)
She transcended the genre entirely
Thankfully we have Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, the White Stripes, etc for you