Latest / Inside Country with Wayne D / DOLLY PARTON!!! (That's the headline, like ya need another?)

Transcript

DOLLY PARTON!!! (That's the headline, like ya need another?) · Inside Country with Wayne D

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  I feel like I met her before. It's fantastic. We were hanging out
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  with an absolute legend, and I hope before I even introduce her, I
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  hope it's okay to use the word legend. Ladies and gentlemen, Dolly partners
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  with us. Well, thank you for having me. I've been calling a
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  lot of things, so I'll take legend. Let me ask you before we
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  jump into things. You have this effect on people, and it's been talked
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  about, but everybody loves Dolly. Is that a comfortable space for you to
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  living? Well, I don't know that everybody did, but I don't want
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  to hear about them, and I hope they don't show up anytime soon.
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  Not in the middle of our interview. Well, I love people. I've
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  been around so long. I think people just feel like they know me because
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  I tell everything I know, talk about everybody I know. So I just
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  think people just feel comfortable with me because I'm comfortable with people. I love
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  people. Yeah, Well, so I want to jump into your book.
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  It's coming out October seventeenth, and this book takes us behind the scenes on
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  all of your outfits and everything from music to award show to all of that
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  was that fun for you to kind of go down memory lane and see all
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  those outfits again. It was and it took me behind the seams. See
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  it's they can never take on seas. It's called behind the Seams My life
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  in Rhystones, And I thought, well, I think people would really enjoy
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  hearing kind of what I you know, what I have to say about the
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  clothes that I've worn through the years, and to get a chance to acknowledge
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  some of these people that have m kind of helped make me who I am,
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  put me out on stage, making me look the way I do,
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  the good, bad and the ugly, going back for six decades now,
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  since I was just a little so I tell stories about how I felt during
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  the times I was wearing these things and getting a chance to for to interview
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  some of these people that really did work on it, or their families some
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  of them's passion go now, cause I've been at it a long time.
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  But I just thought it would be a fun book to have for people to
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  look at. And maybe you touch on this in the book, But does
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  Dolly wear any outfit twice? Oh yeah, I do. I'm not one
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  of those people. If I got something like I'll wear out. You know,
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  I've got pieces of things. I mean most people, but I do.
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  And a lot of times when I've worn certain things, like a certain
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  gown, I mean, that's those things cost a lot of money and I'm
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  not gonna just toss that. So sometimes, like I say, if I've
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  worn a gown at one of the big shows, because I do concerts,
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  I'll just have it cut off, make it like a shorter dress and put
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  a couple in, you know, change a little bit, put a couple,
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  you know, little applicats or some feathers or something on it. But
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  yeah, but I wear clothes a lot of times twice three four sometimes,
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  especially stage clothes. I feel like everything you've warn has always been so iconic
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  and I but I'm wondering, was there ever an outfit that you look back
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  on and we're like, Okay, maybe I shouldn't have done that. Well,
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  I look, when I was putting together all these pictures, uh,
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  and these pictures of me wearing these certain wigs and certain outfigures, I thought,
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  oh my lord, what were you thinking? But I'm sure I found
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  all that good at the time. Don't we all back of old pictures and
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  things? Oh? My God, and some of the hair that I wore.
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  I mean it was so big that I couldn't already walk around in it,
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  and so but yeah, there are a few things I thought. I
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  don't know about that, but I must have thought it would look good at
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  the time. Is there as we wrap things up talking about the book,
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  is there an outfit that you almost totally forgot about? Are a story that
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  you've forgot about about a certain outfit that you were able to relive through this
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  whole thing, Because obviously it's for the fans, right, but it's an
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  opportunity for you to go back and look at the impact you've made and at
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  certain points in your career too. Well. Tell you the little dress that
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  I wore when I became a member of the Grand Old Oprey. It's featured
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  in that and I wore the dress with the little jacket when I became a
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  member. But I actually wore that dress that was underneath that same jacket,
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  that same dress on an album cover with Porta Wagoner too, So that was
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  an all purpose kind of a wearing something twice kind of a deal. And
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  then the the outfit I wore, the beautiful dress when I sang He's alive.
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  Uh, that beautiful pearl dress at the end where m It's got like
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  angel wings And that was such a spiritual mic for me singing that song,
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  and that song had such an effect on people, So I'll always remember that
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  dress too. Well. Now I wanna talk about your album, rock Star.
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  It is incredible. I love that you decided to do rock music,
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  cause I do feel like country music kind of goes hand in hand with rock
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  music. But what was the inspiration behind the album and why was this the
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  right time to put out a rock album. Well, I always love rock
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  music. We all grew up loving Elvis and you know, Chuck Barry and
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  Jerry Lee Lewis and all those people that were rocking it back then. Little
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  Richard I loved all that, and I'd often thought that I might do an
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  album, a rock album, But then I started getting older and I thought
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  I'll probably didn't get around with that. Then they went up and put me
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  in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which I didn't think I'd done
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  enough rock stuff to deserve that honor, so they put me in anyhow,
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  So I thought, well, this is perfect opportunity. I'm gonna do a
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  rock and roll album so I can earn my keep in the rock and roll
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  Hall of Fame. So that's what inspired. But my husband of fifty eight
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  years loves rock and roll. I've been with him fifty nine years. Uh,
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  And so I thought, well, I'm gonna do a lot of his
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  favorites, and then I'm gonna do some of my favorites. Then I'm gonna
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  ask some my favorite singers to sing on it. And we wound up doing
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  thirty songs, and so I'm really proud of it. I don't never need
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  to do another rock album, never done one before, so hopefully this will
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  serve me from now on, even long after I'm gone. The names on
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  this album, as far as collaborations go, I mean it's a mile long
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  from the Beatles to I mean four non blondes. I mean it's you're all
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  over the place. Who would you have liked to work to or who work
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  with or who would you have liked to have on it that it didn't work
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  out? Or you'd are you thought about it too late? Mick Jagger,
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  for one, he was willing to do it. We were gonna we were
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  trying to find the rock song too. Uh, But he was in the
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  middle of doing a secret album at that time. We were both w I
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  met up with him. He was in LA when I was there, he
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  came by and listened to some uh you know, they were doing a little
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  sound check on I mean a little a listening party on some of the songs
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  that we had done and so and then he was in Nashville for a minute
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  doing something and I kept missing him, but he was the one. He's
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  the one that got away. So I wound up doing Satisfaction with Pink and
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  Brandy Carlisle at which I thought that turned out great, But I would love
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  to have had Mick on. He was one of Carl's favorites and one of
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  my favorites too. But maybe one of these days I'll catch up with him
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  and we'll get to do something somewhere. Well. One of my favorite collaborations
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  from the album is with Paul and Ringo on Let It Be. I wanted,
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  how were you able to reach out to them personally and ask them,
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  Well, I had uh been around Paul a few times. I'd I'd done
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  a few things with him, and we we have some of the same friends,
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  so we we knew each other. But I had never thought to ask
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  him to sing on When I recorded that song, I thought, I wonder
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  if Paul would be willing to sing on it. I hadn't thought a Ringo
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  at that time, so I I thought, well would he? And I
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  went through my manager and through his manager because I didn't want to ask any
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  of these people blatantly ask him, because I didn't want him to say no
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  if they didn't want to do it and hurt my feelings or put them in
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  a bad spot. So I got I sent the message, sent a note,
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  and he got right back to me and said, I'd love to sing
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  on it and I'll play on it if you want me to. And I,
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  oh, I don't want you too, Are you kidding? I mean,
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  I thought that was like the most amazing thing. He was so generous,
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  you know, with his talent. And then after we did that,
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  I thought, OLLI Ringo's on one left of the Beatles, wonder if he
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  would play on it? So yeah, he said he would. So uh
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  that was great that I got the two of them on that well, and
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  the project was put together so well. And You've done amazing things in your
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  career. Obviously, you have a legacy in your music and in your entertainment
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  in general. This fit perfectly for where you're at now. Did it ever
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  feel like you were in a foreign space? I mean, country music lines
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  are more blurred than ever right now, right, But was any part of
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  you like, I don't know if it's gonna work, but we're gonna do
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  it anyway. No. I felt I could do it, and I chose
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  songs that I thought were more in my you know what I could do with
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  my my emotion and with my voice range, which I have a good range,
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  you know. I thought, well, I can sing the notes.
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  I think I can hit all the notes. But I wanted it to really
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  be good, and I didn't want it to sound country. I wanted because
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  I never get to sing other people's songs a lot because I write most of
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  my own stuff. So it was a joy to get to really have a
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  reason to get to sing these great songs that I had always loved. So
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  I just picked songs that my husband loved and that I loved, and I
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  just went after it. And so it was great singing with some of these
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  artists trying to keep up. I was thinking, now I gotta give it
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  my best, cause I'm not gonna let them out do me, or I'm
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  gonna at least try to measure up to where people thanks. Well, yeah,
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  she did a good job on a rock and roll album. So I
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  tried hard. I gave it everything I had, and I enjoyed it.
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  It was a challenge, but a great one. Now, Well, so
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  we were talking about kind of like that transition from country to rock music.
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  You have original songs on the album, You've got nine of them. Was
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  that hard for you to get to like get in that mentality of Okay,
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  I need to like rock it out here. Well, I've I've had rock
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  songs that I've written, like baby I'm Burning, and a lot of stuff
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  that I've had, even dance records, and I've recorded rock things in and
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  out, but not a totally rock and roll album with these great songs.
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  So I just thought, well, Kent Wells, who produced the album,
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  did a great job. He's a real rock and roller and he's my guitar
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  player, so he wrote. He was very good of really getting the rock
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  melodies together, the right rhythms and all that, so he was one was
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  great with that. And of course I can write the lyrics to anything,
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  and I would have some basic ideas for the melody and then he could take
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  it and make it really great, or he would just come up with the
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  melody and I'd put songs to it. But then some of my own that
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  I wrote like a rock star, the title song, I was just thought,
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  well, how will I do this? Uh? I thought, well,
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  I'll tell a story about a little girl like a jon Jet who was
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  on the album with me. Uh. And I thought, I'll tell a
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  story like how she might have felt when she was practicing her rock and roll
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  and you know, tr her mom and Daddy's screaming at her turned down and
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  all that. But I'm gonna be a rock star whether you too like it
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  or not. Basically, so I thought I could do that, and so
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  I I just caught. I just put myself in that zone and I just
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  stayed in it til I was done. I was a rock star. And
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  even when I did the the photos for the album, you know, I
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  was trying to be really wear great, great cool things that were really rocky
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  and all that. Here at my age, I am a rock star.
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  And I thought, well, I I'm just gonna enjoy every bit of this,
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  and I have. When it comes to the names that are on this
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  album, and even I mean, you've collaborated with other people. We just
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  did a special with Chris Jansen not long ago, and you're hon a song
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  with him and Slash. What does it mean to you that you've made such
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  an impact that names like you know, Slash Uh, and names like Chris
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  Jansen, names like the guys and girls that are on this project. When
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  Dolly's name comes up, it's never a can I do it? It's a
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  when does she want me? Well, I really was honored that a lot
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  of these artists were willing to work with me, and I was just as
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  honored to get to work with them. So it was kind of a give
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  and take, you know, with all of that. So I'm honored that
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  I've been around so long that people kind of know me and so they're willing
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  to help me out like a relative, like, oh, we got to
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  help out aunt Dolly, her sister Dolly. Well, before we wrap things
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  up, I want to ask you, because I find this really hard to
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  believe. Did you lose a Dolly lookalike contest? Yeah, but it was
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  a drag queen. But it was in the gay club years ago. I
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  had a little apartment up above uh, Santa Monica Boulivard in La and every
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  Halloween you'd see so many dollars and shares walking up and down the street.
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  And so my hairdresser at the time, David Blair, he said, uh,
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  you know, they have a contest down there, he said, and
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  and whoever wins it, uh, they get free drinks for the rest of
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  the night. Well, you know, it was just like who they just
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  walk across the stage and they judge him because he said, let's go down
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  there. So I totally he had over exaggerated my hair even bigger. I
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  made my beauty mark bigger and just kind of you know, did the whole
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  thing. And then of course when I walked across the stage and they're like
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  drag queens are six feet tall anyhow, so I'm with high heels and here
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  I come out, you know, a little white honkey, you know,
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  walking across the stage, and I got just a trickle of fun. We
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  were dying eleven, so we had to buy our own drinks to so To
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  Street. But it was just funny that I always just said I lost it
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  only look at lot contents. That wasn't fair though, Uh. Forty nine
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  albums deep amazing collaborations, amazing songs. I mean, even your acting career.
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  I mean, you've done so many amazing things. But just on the
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  music side, are there projects that you are surprised worked? A song that
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  you put Obviously you believe in it, but when you put out that it
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  connected so much of you're like, well, I didn't. Maybe somebody else's
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  idea you just rolled with and it worked. Well. You never know.
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  If everybody knew what was gonna be a hit, we'd all be rich,
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  we'd all be hit writers, we'd all be hit artists. And I've often
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  thought about that. But sometimes you just never know what is gonna be a
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  hit. And sometimes some of my uh, some of the fans' favorite things
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  are just songs that were never a single that I do perform like on stage,
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  for instance, like a song like down from Dover or apple Jack,
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  you know, or songs like that. So you never know what's gonna what's
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  gonna hit. But I know one song that I was so thankful that it
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  did U and I was braying that it would just when I left the Porta
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  Wagoner show. My first me and selling record was here You Come Again,
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  And it kind of proved a point for me that I had made a right
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  decision moving on. When country artists or country people were saying that I l
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  I was leaving country and all that, that I was betraying myself and the
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  country and leaving the porta Wagoner show, but I knew I had to go
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  show. I was so hopeful that that one would make it, because I
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  didn't know if it was gonna be a hit, but I was sure hoping
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  it would be. So that was that was a great example of what you're
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  saying, that it had the power and the impact that it was a surprise
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  but a great one. And now you've worked with so many different artists,
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  not just on the rock Star album but throughout your whole career. I want
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  to know, is there a collaboration that you just really hold close to your
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  heart and forever? Well, yes, uh, Keny Rogers. I loved
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  Kenny, and I think the song Islands in the Stream, which everybody knows
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  and everybody loves, and I was crazy over Kenny, So I would think
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  that that is one of the things that will always stand out in my mind
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  forever. That and then I got to sing with a great artist like Kenny,
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  a great guy like Kenny and we became great friends and Island's in the
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  stream. I never get tired of singing that song or hearing it, do
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  you now? Everybody loves it, so that was an outstanding piece of music
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  for me. Unreal, so much fun hanging out with Dolly. She's got
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  a book, She's got We're gonna link both, not only on the website
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  but on her Instagram. Well, Dolly, pardon absolute pleasant things. Well,
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  thank you Wayne d and thank you. I love you. So is
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  it? Tay? Well, Tay, I really enjoyed being with you,
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  Tay. When what what is the name of our group? And there's another
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  person in country mission Tay and Maddy and Tay Yeah, but she spells her
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  t A e A y Okay. Well, it was good to see you both