Goodbye, Dolly! - Soapbox Jr.

“Goodbye, Dolly, well, goodbye, Dolly, it’s so nice to have you back where you belong.”

I have no doubt that Dolly Parton joined her husband, Carl Dean earlier today and that Dad and a lot of others welcomed her as part of the heavenly choir and band this morning.

Dolly may not have been an actual angel, but as human beings go, she seems pretty darn close.

She was one of those rare individuals that seemed to always be positive and hopeful. She was encouraging and she gave back, she broke down barriers and her talents as a singer and songwriter are unquestionable. She even made an impact in film and television starring in movies and producing multiple movies based on her life.

It would be easier to find a needle in a haystack than find a cross word from this lady.

She gave a quote for Dad’s book, “Never Look at the Empty Seats” back in 2017:

“Charlie is so up front and friendly, we all assume we know everything there is to know about him. Not so. There is so much about Charlie’s life in this book that it would and could make a great movie, or even better, a long-running series . . . very informative and interesting. We all love Charlie, me more than most. Enjoy the book. I did.“ — Dolly Parton

She exuded class, despite her infamous quote, “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.”

Dad obviously crossed paths with her on numerous occasions. I was there for one of the most unusual concerts I can remember. It was at Georgia Tech in the late 1970s and Dolly was headlining, the CDB was the middle act and the opener was Seals & Crofts. That always struck me as an odd lineup.

I wanted to get my picture made with Dolly, and I did… kind of…

I was with Cindy Smith who is married to Skinny who was Dad’s stage manager at the time. Her friend, Carol, took a picture of me and Cindy and Dolly in the tunnels of the arena… and Carol must’ve been looking at us and not through the viewfinder of her camera because she got a picture of a large pipe above us, and three heads down below at the bottom. It was hilarious. I’m sure we still have it somewhere, I’ll have to look for it.

I remember crossing paths with her when I was working at a recording studio in Knoxville in the early 1990s.

Dolly had come in to record some Sevierville tourism, and she was a joy to be around. She was cutting up in the booth, saying things that would never be used, just trying to make everybody laugh.

My favorite was something along the lines of, come to Sevierville, you can help wipe the pigeon $*** off my statue.

She and Dad received stars on the Music City Walk of Fame on the same day in November of 2009. There were a lot of people there that day, and I don’t remember getting to say hello, but she and Dad sat next to each other during the ceremony as the other Karl Dean (former Nashville mayor) introduced each of the honorees.

The last time I remember seeing Dolly in person was when Dad, Randy Travis and producer Fred Foster were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Medallion Ceremony in 2016. Dolly was there to honor Fred by performing her very first single “Dumb Blonde” that he produced back in 1966.

Even if you never met her, there was a warmth about her that made you feel that you knew her.

Beyond her talents, she was also a brilliant businesswoman and a difficult business decision ended up being a blessing in the long run. 

Elvis Presley wanted to record "I Will Always Love You," but Col. Parker and Elvis' camp always insisted on getting around 50% of the publishing of songs he recorded for Elvis Presley Music. Dolly had already had a hit with it, but Elvis was still "The King" and any songwriter would have done almost anything to get an Elvis cut. But Dolly couldn't part with such a personal song, not even half of the publishing. So she recorded it again for "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" movie and then came "The Bodyguard" in 1992 which Whitney Houston recorded and took the songs to heights even Dolly couldn't have imagined.

No "Dumb Blonde" here.

We don’t shed tears for her because she’s with the Lord now, our tears are because those of us here are going to miss her.

Goodbye, Dolly. You have been a blessing to so many, and your music and legacy will continue with no end in sight.

Rest in peace, Dolly.

What do you think?

Let’s all make the day count!

Pray for our troops, our police, the Peace of Jerusalem and our nation.

God Bless America!

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