Hello Dolly!

[Ritchie200]

One of my wife's fav all time performers is Dolly Parton, so I surprised her with concert tickets for last Saturday night.  I've always liked her as well and saw her years ago, maybe late 70's.  Speaking of 70, that is Dolly's age.  I was wondering how well she would be able to deliver.  Holy crap!  She was skipping around the stage in 6" heels playing guitar/banjo/etc... like a 20 year old!  And her voice....WOW!  She has lost a little on the low end that requires her to talk her way through a few of the passages.  This actually gave new fantastic dimensions to some of the songs with dramatic dynamics.  She sang several acapella numbers with just a pitch pipe to start it out.  Wow, wow, wow....  Absolutely incredible pitch and control.  Her voice was strong and crystal clear.  One of those shivers down the neck occasions.  They also did a complex acapella number with all the band members singing absolutely beautiful harmonies.  She said they practiced and practiced this tune to record it so when she sang it fast to trip them up and keep it fresh one day they said she sounded like Alvin the chipmunk.  This turned into a challenge to "sing it at 45rpm for you folks old enough to remember what that is!"  So that's what they did.  It sounded like the chipmunks and it was perfect!  Incredible...  This was her Pure and Simple tour.  Including her, there were only four people on stage. Two of the guys had been with her for 38 years, the other for 18.  She talked about "getting rid of the drummer because he assumed that pure and simple meant that she would be giving up her rhinestones!"  So she said "we went down to Radio Shack and got a fancy computer drummer for $59.  AND the drummer is walking around Nashville looking for work with a rhinestone boot up his butt!"  She had rhinestones on outfits, guitars, autoharp, dulcimer, fiddle, sax, banjo, and piano - and she played them all!  Really a great show with a lot of great stories about family, about her family, her faith, growing up in the mountains, early Nashville, songwriting, and her movies.  Oh and a few boob jokes thrown in as well, at her expense!  She performed for about 3 hours and 45 minutes.  What a fantastic evening.  She is certainly one of the all time great American gems.  When she played her electric guitar I kept thinking how great it sounded!  When she turned away enough so I wasn't blinded by the rhinestones I found out why....

Jim

[sluckey]

I'm a big Dolly fan too! Very talented lady. First time I ever saw her was on a Saturday afternoon on the Porter Wagoner Show. I couldn't stand Porter's music. Even harder to look at him. But growing up on a farm in Alabama in the 50s and 60s, you were gonna see a certain amount of Porter, Wilburn brothers, Lester and Earl on Saturday. Then one day Porter introduced Dolly. Wow! I loved that bluegrass twang and the stories she sang about. She used to do the Carson show routinely too. I liked the way she cut up with Johnny. Still like that gal!

I just watched The Coat of Many Colors Christmas special last December. If you get a chance, watch it. If you like Dolly, you'll love the little girl Dolly.

[Ritchie200]

They are currently filming another Christmas special Coat of Many Colors with the same people.  Dolly said she based her "look" on the town hussy that she thought looked so beautiful as a little girl.  Well, she is going to play that town "hussy" in the Christmas special.  She said, "after all, I would be the only one qualified to play that character!"  She was a riot and that laugh of hers is certainly contagious!  What a songwriter.

Jim

[Ritchie200]

She also said there were about 20 songs still in the can from the Trio album recordings with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt.  They will be releasing a box set of all the recordings this fall.  She said of all the things she has done, she is most proud of that effort.  She said the blending of their voices was just perfect.  She also said Linda is not doing well due to Parkinson's. The disease is preventing her from ever singing again.  Dolly was getting a little emotional talking about how important it was to get these recordings out so people could hear Linda again.

Jim

[tubenit]

Like Sluckey,  I used to listen to Dolly on Porter Wagner.  She has a remarkable talent.  One of my favorite songs by her was done with Chet Atkins. My wife and I are both fans of her music.

With respect, Tubenit

[Platefire]

Yeah, I have to tag in as another watcher of Porter Wagner on Saturday afternoon. Like sluckey, Porter wasn't much of a draw for me. I did like Dolly but I also liked Buck Trent in the Porter Back up band playing his Mosrite Electric. Seems like Porter would come on about 4:00 and He Haw about 6 or 7.
Always a fan of Don Rich and his tele playing. Platefire

[shooter]

Seems like Porter would come on about 4:00 and He Haw about 6 or 7.

I was still outside playing, but food around 5 brought me in, n HEHAW kept me in... for awhile!  Do like the Lady's music.