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Celebrating Dolly Parton With Music Historian Martha Ackmann · Arroe Collins Like It's Live

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Unless you're an avid listener of podcasts, it sounds like
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: a crazy idea. Somebody creating a network of choices when
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: it comes to podcasting?
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  Speaker 2: Really? Oh, yeah.
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  Speaker 1: How many times have you been locked in traffic or
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  Speaker 1: at work and you're going, I don't want to hear
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  Speaker 1: about the news. I'm tired of true crime. I need
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  Speaker 1: just a break, but I also need a story. I
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  Speaker 1: need something to get inside. Well, it's called arrow.net, A-R-R-O-E.net.
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  Speaker 1: 21 different podcasts to choose from without having to go
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  Speaker 1: to Google or go to Bing and sitting there going,
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  Speaker 1: I think it's on here. I think it's on here.
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  Speaker 1: I think it's on here. Well, yes, you can. Arrow.net, A-R-R-O-E.net.
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  Speaker 1: Enjoy your exploration. Martha, I want to start things off
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  Speaker 1: with something that I hope that listeners will understand because
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  Speaker 1: we're at a time in our life right now where
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  Speaker 1: we're all searching for pictures of Dolly without the makeup.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm saying, read this book. Ain't nobody's fool because
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  Speaker 1: this book is Dolly without her makeup. And that's all
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  Speaker 1: you need to know, because this is the building of
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  Speaker 1: an empire and something that's going to be with our great, great,
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  Speaker 1: great grandchildren.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, I really appreciate that. I wanted to take Dolly
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  Speaker 2: seriously in the book and present her as an American original.
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  Speaker 2: I really appreciate that.
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  Speaker 1: There's just so many things about this everyday person. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: even last night, Jelly Roll says, I think she's the
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  Speaker 1: last American that the world loves. And I go, I
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  Speaker 1: agree with that. It's like, oh, my God. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: who does not love Dolly Parton? My father loved Dolly Parton,
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  Speaker 1: and I thought he was just one of those country
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  Speaker 1: and Western kind of guys.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, her appeal and people's love for her transcends generations,
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  Speaker 2: it transcends race, it transcends class, it transcends sexuality, you know,
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  Speaker 2: such a big following in the LGBTQ community and She
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  Speaker 2: really was somebody who could bring us together.
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  Speaker 1: I find it so interesting to find, and I found
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  Speaker 1: this out in your book, that once high school was over,
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  Speaker 1: she moved to Nashville. And I just thought that was
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  Speaker 1: so inspiring because that's what artists do. They don't wait
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  Speaker 1: for life to happen. They move life forward.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, she went the day after. Wow. And she'd been
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  Speaker 2: planning it. And I remember talking to a good friend
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  Speaker 2: of her, one of her cousins, who told me that
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  Speaker 2: she was walking this dirt world with Dolly just a
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  Speaker 2: couple of days before her high school graduation. And Dolly
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  Speaker 2: was saying, I've got to go to Nashville. I've got
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  Speaker 2: to go. As if she were trying to convince herself.
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  Speaker 2: You know, it wasn't an easy thing to do. And
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  Speaker 2: I think that that was just part of both her
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  Speaker 2: risk-taking process And her great confidence that she knew that
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  Speaker 2: was the next step she had to take.
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  Speaker 1: Well, being over there in the Gatlinburg area and Pigeon Forge,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I've been there and she is so right
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  Speaker 1: about there being an essence of something there. And all
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  Speaker 1: she wanted to do was take care of her community.
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  Speaker 1: I think that's one of my deepest passions for Dolly
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  Speaker 1: is that she put people first. And I love that
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  Speaker 1: about her.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, she, you know, when she started making money, she
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  Speaker 2: knew that she did not want to have money for
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  Speaker 2: just accumulated wealth, you know, to buy her things. That
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  Speaker 2: was not what she saw money as for. She wanted
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  Speaker 2: to do something bigger. She had a larger purpose. And,
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  Speaker 2: you know, when she talked about Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg
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  Speaker 2: and Dollywood, you know, she... She originally kind of thought
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  Speaker 2: that Dolly would be a place where her people would
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  Speaker 2: find employment. Her family, her friends, people she grew up with.
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  Speaker 2: And what it is today, it's remarkable. I think it
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  Speaker 2: exceeded even Dolly's dreams. It's the economic engine of East Tennessee.
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  Speaker 1: Please do not move. We're coming back with Martha Ackman.
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  Speaker 1: The name of the book, Ain't Nobody's Fool. The name
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: of the book, Ain't Nobody's Fool, The Life and Times
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  Speaker 1: of Dolly Parton. We are back with music historian Martha Ackman.
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  Speaker 1: I would love to see how many radio people got
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  Speaker 1: into the business because of Dolly Parton. I know I
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  Speaker 1: did because Dolly was my Beatles. I mean, when I
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  Speaker 1: was a kid, she was the thing. And I wanted
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  Speaker 1: to be on a radio station that was going to
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  Speaker 1: play Dolly Parton. And that meant going to country music.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, well, she, you know, her career transcended so much,
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  Speaker 2: and country music, and then she took the risk and
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  Speaker 2: the step to move into pop with Here You Come Again. Yes.
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  Speaker 2: She didn't write that song, but boy, it remains one
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  Speaker 2: of my favorites. And, you know, some Nashvillians didn't care
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  Speaker 2: too much for that move toward pop, and they And
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  Speaker 2: Dolly said, you know, I'm not leaving Nashville. I'm taking
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  Speaker 2: Nashville with me. And after a few years, they realized.
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  Speaker 2: She was absolutely right. She broadened the genre and I
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  Speaker 2: think gained more respect for country music.
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  Speaker 1: I just wish people would go and find the real
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  Speaker 1: roots of Dolly in the way of her days with
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  Speaker 1: Porter Wagner. Because on television, my dad and the whole
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  Speaker 1: entire family, if Dolly was going to be on TV,
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  Speaker 1: our world stopped. I mean, Country City USA, Dolly Parton
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  Speaker 1: having her own TV show. She, to me, was social
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  Speaker 1: media before it became social media.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. That's interesting you put it that way. When I
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  Speaker 2: was growing up, I think I'm older than you, but
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  Speaker 2: my Saturday night at my grandparents' house was Lawrence Welk
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  Speaker 2: first and Porter Wagoner second. And I remember looking at
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  Speaker 2: Tali as a kid and saying, you know, There's more
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  Speaker 2: than meets the eye there. You know, there is something
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  Speaker 2: going on. That is one interesting woman. And although I
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  Speaker 2: couldn't have put it in the words when I was
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  Speaker 2: that young, I think that's where I began my interest
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  Speaker 2: in Dolly Parton, as seeing her as... As more than
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  Speaker 2: she appears.
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  Speaker 1: Well, one of the things that and I know that
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  Speaker 1: that people won't really bring it up, but when she
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  Speaker 1: did nine to five, I'll never forget my country music
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  Speaker 1: radio station program director being upset because he felt like
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  Speaker 1: that Dolly was turning his back on what made her famous.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm going, no, no, no, she is. She is
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  Speaker 1: going to be Dolly Parton. In fact, we're just going
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  Speaker 1: to call her Dolly.
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  Speaker 2: She knew what she was about. She did. But that
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  Speaker 2: reaction of your colleague was not uncommon. People just thought,
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  Speaker 2: what is she doing? Moving into show business now and
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  Speaker 2: movies and all of that. But she constantly wanted to
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  Speaker 2: challenge herself. Dolly always said she woke up with an
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  Speaker 2: idea a minute. And even in her last days, I
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  Speaker 2: think she was, from what we know from reports, she
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  Speaker 2: had more plans. more fun fun things to do more
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  Speaker 2: more ways that she that she wanted to do all
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  Speaker 2: she could.
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  Speaker 1: Was she addicted to creativity or did she hear in
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  Speaker 1: her heart that god was saying reach the people dolly
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  Speaker 1: go get the people you'll know what to do when
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  Speaker 1: you get there.
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  Speaker 2: Well, she certainly was, in Dolly's words, a very spiritual woman.
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  Speaker 2: She was raised in her grandfather's Pentecostal church, the little
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  Speaker 2: house of prayer up there in the hills in Sevier County.
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  Speaker 2: And so she did believe that she had a calling.
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  Speaker 2: And her songwriting, in particular, became a very intense time
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  Speaker 2: for her. When she was writing, she felt as though
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  Speaker 2: she said that she felt as though she were communing
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  Speaker 2: with a higher power in some ways. And, you know,
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  Speaker 2: so I think I think, you know, was she addicted
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  Speaker 2: to creativity? Well, I think she was a very creative person.
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  Speaker 2: She wanted to do everything she possibly could. But she
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  Speaker 2: also saw herself as having a gift that should be
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  Speaker 2: used and used for good.
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  Speaker 1: Please come back to this show anytime in the future.
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  Speaker 1: Eight minutes with you is not enough. And I know
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  Speaker 1: that you put so much energy into projecting stories of
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  Speaker 1: the women who stood up and really became a presence
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  Speaker 1: in our lifestyle. So please come back to this show
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  Speaker 1: so we can dive into your real journey into telling stories.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, I appreciate that. Thank you so very much.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you be brilliant today, okay?