Dolly Parton: Career and Influence
Abstract
Dolly Parton is an American singer and songwriter whose overwhelming success, especially in country music, makes her a perfect example of how women can succeed in the music industry. This paper explores Parton’s career, which was influenced by her poor upbringing in a family of twelve siblings, as well as her desire to convey messages of female equality. Dolly Parton was born in 1946 in Tennessee, and pursued music from the age of six. She has released 43 solo studio albums, received numerous awards and appeared in both television and film. The paper addresses the theme of several of her greatest hits, such as “Dumb Blonde” and “Coat of Many Colors”. It also discusses her earliest records as well as her shift in direction, from country to pop, and her performance in both genres. It also describes various personal issues of Parton and obstacles she had to overcome.
Introduction
The role of women in the music industry has evolved throughout the years and the influence of the female character through composition, song writing, musical education, performance and other forms of participation is a fundamental pillar of the business, shaping its values, trends and styles and, in consequence, similarly impacting American culture.
There are numerous women whose careers and contribution to the musical landscape stand out and who deserve praise for their trajectory and influence. A prime example of this is Dolly Parton, an American singer-songwriter whose accomplishments have gained her recognition as an iconic figure of country music as well as various awards and accolades.
This paper will explore Parton’s career, her music, the obstacles she has overcome throughout her life, and will analyze the influence of her work over the industry and its audience. Moreover, it will evaluate how being a woman has shaped her career and how the societal pressure placed on women – particularly in the music industry – to act or look a certain way has affected her character or her work. Similarly, Parton’s particular significance to the study of women in music will be addressed.
Biography and Career
Dolly Parton was born on January 19, 1946 in the state of Tennessee. She is the fourth of Robert and Avie Lee’s twelve children. The family, supported by the father’s work in the construction and farming fields, was of very low income. According to Miller (2015), Parton’s childhood home had no indoor plumbing, and was not added to the electric grid until the fifties. Her predilection towards music developed as a young child, encouraged by her mother who frequently sang songs from the church, where Parton’s first performances took place. Upon receiving her first guitar as a present from a relative, she began to appear and perform publicly on radio and television programs. At 13, she recorded her first single, written by herself in association with her uncle Bill Owens only two year earlier, called “Puppy Love” and released by Goldband Records. The single was released along “Girl Left Alone”, which regarded the consequences of sex and was also written by her with support from her uncle and aunt. According to Weisbard (2014), she “applied the country format’s mix of pop styling and homey authenticity aggressively, taking both to extremes that chafed against Nashville codes” (p. 77).
(Puppy Love and Girl Left Alone - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUu_OBKInMY ).
Upon graduating high school, in 1964, Parton moved to Nashville to pursue a professional career in music and signed with a label called Monument Records. She was guided towards a career in pop music, for which she recorded a series of songs of this genre, but also promoted her music in Nashville. As explained by Library of Congress (2016), in 1966, country singer Bill Phillips decided to record Parton’s “Put it Off Until Tomorrow” after listening to the demo, and the song became a country hit of that year, sky rocketing Parton to fame and leading her to record country songs. Parton’s decision to pursue a career in country rather than pop music was one that reflected on her identity as well as on the renaissance of Nashville.
Parton’s song-writing and performance, though popular among the general public, was particularly preferred among the female audience, as in the male-dominated country genre her music was relatable to women and her lyrics empowered them, which was refreshing for the gender. For instance, one of her first hits, “Dumb Blonde” is until this day considered one of the anthems of women empowerment, as it defies the popular stereotype: “Just because I’m blonde; Don’t think I’m dumb; ‘Cause this dumb blonde ain’t nobody’s fool”. Throughout her career, Parton continued to release songs with similar messages, such as “Just Because I’m a Woman” in 1968, which regards sexist double standards and reads “Yes I’ve made my mistakes, but listen and understand, my mistakes are no worse than yours just because I’m a woman”. The significance of Parton’s rise is not only relevant to women with respect to her lyrics and the message she conveys, but also because of the accomplishment it is to succeed in a business where women faced many more obstacle than their male counterparts, particularly during the first years of her career. According to Woods (1980), “women have had greater difficulty than their male colleagues in gaining commissions, performances, recordings and publication of their work” (p. 290).
(Dumb Blonde - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN_VQ8GWEos / Just Because I’m a Woman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz_ejQbDoS0 ).
Moreover, a study conducted by Glantz (2011), which researched whether popular music media exploits or empowers women, resulted in that among those surveyed, many participants found that the representation of women in music depended on the genre, generally believing country music is empowering (p. 28). Certainly, women in country such as Dolly Parton, Shania Twain, The Dixie Chicks, Carrie Underwood and others have been influential in shaping how the genre portrays women and the underlying message of its songs.
Upon Parton’s rise to stardom, television host and country entertainer Porter Wagoner invited her to join his weekly show “The Porter Wagoner Show” and she was signed with his label, RCA records. For the following years, Parton released a series of singles in duet with Wagoner which were constant hits, but her solo singles were far less successful until 1971, when her single “Joshua” became her first No. 1 hit (Biography, 2016). Numerous singles followed, including one of her most famous songs “Coat of Many Colors”. This song is a reflection of her upbringing, as it regards how her mother sewed her a coat from rags, which Parton deeply appreciated but resulted in her being bullied upon arrival to school; nonetheless, she asserted that it was not the monetary worth of the coat what mattered, but rather the love of her mother. The songs reads “Although we had no money, I was rich as I could be. In my coat of many colors my momma made for me”. Overcoming poverty was one of the many challenges Parton faced throughout her career, but she always reflects on her humble upbringing without shame or self-pity, as according to herself it was never a limiting factor but rather one that helped build her character. The song was used as inspiration for a 2015 film.
(Coat of Many Colors - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7I_9MMcWvk ).
Parton decided to leave the Wagoner organization to pursue a solo career, though he continued to produce her records for the following year. This was another of the major challenges in her professional career, as Wagoner had propelled her to fame but she had found difficulty in producing popular songs without his company. However, from this professional separation surged one of Parton’s greatest hits “I Will Always Love You”, which quickly reached the top of the country charts. Other top singles include “Jolene” and “Love is Like a Butterfly”.
(Trio Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsoicHv7xkk&list=PLdaM9sKBlQHJ2hb9H 8STFsF9M2oyJOAGZ ).
Though Parton enjoyed her professional success, she faced serious personal struggles. According to Osterhout (2010), Parton attempted to conceive a child with her husband for several years but was unsuccessful, and then they stopped trying as she was too occupied professionally. In the mid-1980s, Parton went through menopause, and the realization that she would not be able to bear children led her towards suicidal thoughts. She was later able to overcome this depression.
Overall, Dolly Parton has released 43 studios albums between 1967 and 2016, numerous singles. Additionally, she entered the acting world appearing on both television and film. Parton’s career in music greatly influenced the industry. By emerging from a genre where women were commonly subdued to male control, both financially and creatively, Parton not only revolutionized the country industry for herself but also paved the way for female artists who followed, such as the Dixie Chicks, Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood and others. Moreover, Parton is a prime example of how the role of women in music has changed: according to Oxford Music Online (2016), in the 1900-1950 period, female composers and performers were “at best functionally marginal”, and received little funding originated almost entirely from women organizations. Today, the role of women in music is significantly improved as they have gained greater recognition and thrive in all genres.
References
Biography. (2016). Dolly Parton - Songwriter, Singer. Retrieved from Biography: http://www.biography.com/people/dolly-parton-9434112
Glantz, J. (2011). Women in Popular Music Media: Empowered or Exploited? The Spectrum: A Scholars Day Journal.
Library of Congress. (2016). Dolly Parton. Retrieved from Library of Congress Website: https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200152702/
Miller, B. (2015, December 08). Dolly Parton relives a piece of her life with 'Coat of Many Colors'. Retrieved from Sioux City Journal: http://siouxcityjournal.com/entertainment/television/dolly-parton-relives-a-piece-of-her-life-with-coat/article_5a29eab2-6440-5b99-a453-f03dcef8eca5.html
Miller, S. (2015). Smart Blonde: The Life of Dolly Parton. London: Omnibus Press.
Osterhout, J. (2010, February 12). Dolly Parton was so depressed over not having kids she considered suicide - report. Retrieved from New York Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/dolly-parton-depressed-not-kids-considered-suicide-report-article-1.199110
Oxford Music Online. (2016). Women in Music. Retrieved from Oxford Music Online: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/public/page/Women_in_music
Weisbard, E. (2014). Top 40 Democracy: The Rival Mainstreams of American Music. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Wood, E. (1980). Review Essay - Women in Music. Signs - The University of Chicago press JOurnals, 283-297.
