Fun
Knit to This: Dolly Parton’s America
Dear Ann,
A Young Relation clued me in to Dolly Parton’s America, a rambling road trip of a podcast that is good for listening to on road trips. It’s a mix of personal storytelling by the host, Jad Abumrad, and exploration of how and why Dolly Parton’s stardom extends so far beyond the country music audience. The best part: Dolly herself participates in the conversation, telling stories about her life and music and reacting to Jad’s ideas.
If I had to pick one episode, it would be The Only One for Me, Jolene. Written by a very young Dolly, the song is a twist on country’s “cheating” genre, in that the singer is begging and flattering the would-be homewrecker instead of trash-talking her. (See, for example, You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man). When Jad and a guest college professor take the song even further down that road, Dolly’s reaction is: pure Dolly.
Give it a listen and see what you think.
Love,
Kay
Dolly Parton’s America was a fantastic podcast. You don’t need to be a Dolly fan to enjoy it, but you might turn into one. I especially enjoyed the episode about TN. I came away with even more respect for Dolly and all she’s done after listening to DPA. It was one of the most enjoyable and well done podcasts that I have listened to and I didn’t grow up being a Dolly fan. Though I am curious to listen to more of her music now.
I listened to that episode while driving through Chattanooga last month. It was amazing. The whole series is amazing. I’m so glad you’re spreading the word about it!
Jad from Radiolab! WNYC has been promoting this show in their daily email.
Do you know that they are canceling Studio 360? Such a loss.
Hi Ann, Thank you for the suggestion of Dolly Partons America. I had already watched the series and love it. I have a great suggestion for fellow knitters to knit to . I recently saw it on PBS local station 21 in New York. It is JULIA CHILD: AMERICAN MASTERS. You will love it. It has history and scenes of her that I had never seen before. We all know what a wonderful contribution she made to cooking especially in the era she was born in. It is being aired again on channel PBS station 21 in New York again on January 22 at 4:00AM so I am recording it for myself. But if anyone wants to find it I expect you can search some of the streaming PBS stations . It is worth the search ( I like that phrase hmmm:)))). Anyone just a suggestion. Hope you can get to watch it.
Carol O’Neill
The first time I heard Jolene was on a road trip and I was 23. Hooked for life. She is in her 80’s and I am in my 60’s and it’s still a favorite song. Thanks so much for this post. John Prine is another favorite
She’s actually in her 70s, but always amazing.
I have liked Dolly since…probably when 9 to 5 came out. My favorite version of Jolene is that slowed-down one that was making the rounds a few years ago. Link here, in case anyone’s missed it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMrfM711vXI
That’s a whole new twist on it—gay Roy Orbison-ish?
My 13 yo daughter and I LOVED this podcast series and we would only listen to it when we were together in the car driving long enough to hear a whole episode, so it took us a bit of time to listen to all of them. We enjoyed and learned so much about Dolly and her empire. It would be so hard to pick one favorite episode, but I loved having this time with my daughter to share this with and we both learned a lot about Dolly and I respect her even more after hearing these podcasts.
Hadn’t heard of this podcast, until now. I’m going to be searching for it later. Jolene is one of my favorite DP songs. Been a fan since I was very young. I drove my choir teacher crazy cause every time I got to do a solo, I was picking either Dolly or The Carpenters. LOL
Thank you for bringing this to my attention! I have always loved Country Music & Dolly – my father was a square dance caller back in the 60’s so I was introduced at a young age. My 3 year old granddaughter “Jolene” can belt out “her song” like she wrote it. Her life and her music are amazing…
I guess I’m in the minority or even alone. This podcast should be right up my alley, but the editing is so weird. Constant cutting to different people? I didn’t make it very far into this episode (my first) before I had to bail. Are they all like this?