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I am serious, and it took years for a lot of people to realize that because my 'Backwoods Barbie' look has thrown a lot of people off, not knowing if I take myself seriously or not. Through the years, people who've really watched it know I'm dead serious about my work. I don't take myself that serious but I take my work dead serious. This is what I do. This is my art, my gift. I'll never give it up. -Dolly Parton |
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Image of Dolly Parton by Kii Arens
Her affinity for Marie Antoinette worthy wigs, loud clothes and thick make-up is part of why her work sometimes gets less credit than it merits. Parton doesn't take herself too seriously - always an admirable trait – but an honest listen to her music will tell you where her priorities truly lie.
Dolly Parton
"I can look artificial as long as I'm being real [laughs]. That's why it's hard for me to be in the movies and be taken seriously. No matter what I do it's still Dolly. Even if it's goofy it's still Dolly," says Parton about her trademark glitzy persona. "That's me. It's a country girl's idea of glam. This is how I think I look good. I know it's trashy and I joke about how much it costs to look this cheap. I'm not a natural beauty, and it's how I think I look my best. I'm not held to being fashionable because people know I haven't got a lick of taste. If I don't look like the Dolly people have come to know - and I've come to know - I'm uncomfortable. It's like I'm naked if I'm not dolled up. It's a comfort zone for me. Everyday I wake up and put on my make-up and high heels because I never know who's going to come by my house. I put on make-up for my husband! Maybe sometimes when I'm sick or on one of my writing binges I won't put on new make-up, but I don't take off all the make-up I had on before so there's leftover [laughs]."
Parton wrote nine of the twelve cuts on Backwoods Barbie and many measure up with her best work, especially "The Lonesomes," "Only Dreamin'" and the title track, which puts her back on that dust road farm where she grew up. However, this purebred country gal still has her sights set on the bright lights of the Great White Way.
"I've written all the music for a Broadway musical for 9 to 5. We're gonna be at the Ahmanson Theatre [in Los Angeles] in September and part of October with a full cast and everything [for more details pop over here], and then it opens on Broadway in 2009. 'Backwoods Barbie' is the song I wrote for the lil' Doralee character I played in the movie. It's so my story that I thought I'd still do it for my album. Hopefully one will boost the other."
Her fine business instincts have earned her the nickname "The Iron Butterfly." From the start, she's held a tight rein on her affairs.
"I've been doing my own records for years – paying for my own sessions and then leasing them for a period of time to different companies. My masters go back to me after a certain time," explains Parton. "When I started Dolly Records it was a chance to start fresh with a focus on me and an outlet for my records. So, if [Barbie] does good then I'll get all the money [laughs]."
Dolly Parton
Parton is one busy lady. Besides a new album, a theme park, a dinner theatre and a musical she's also got a children's book coming out in June called I Am A Rainbow. "It's about all the colors and the moods of different people, that it's okay to feel them all but in balance. You can't be happy all the time or you can't be jealous all the time like when you're green," chuckles Parton.
The 23rd season of Dollywood begins April 11 and 12, and Parton is doing a tribute to her old duet partner and early professional cheerleader, Porter Wagoner, who passed away last October.
"We're doing all Porter songs and Porter-Dolly duets. I'm dressing my band in Wagonmaster suits. I'm having Don Warden, the little steel player that sang with and managed Porter for years, in the show. He's almost 80 now, and it's so precious! I'm doing a little tribute to him as well. And there was a comedian on Porter's show named Speck Rhodes, who passed away, and we've got one of our guys from the Imagination Library, my children's literacy program, who's gonna play Speck's part. It's gonna be a fun weekend for those of us who remember the old Porter-Dolly days," says Parton.
Parton's initial rise into mainstream consciousness coincided with the heyday of television variety shows in the '60s and '70s where musical performances freely mingled with sketch comedy, interview segments and anything else they threw into the hopper. She took a crack at the genre first in 1976-77 with Dolly! and then again in 1987-88 with the exclamation point free Dolly.
"I was really hopeful my variety show would do well years ago but they wouldn't let me do what I wanted to do. It got to be so Hollywood. They tried to keep me in that Hollywood feel so it got lost in the shuffle. They tried to make me into that and it just didn't work. You have to let me be myself or I'm no good," observes Parton. "I come across as phony if I try to live in that make believe world and be made to do things that aren't true to me. I can pull it off if I'm doing stuff that's coming from my gut and my heart."
Given a strict 15-minute time limit with Parton, we cut our conversation short. There are folks to see and an entertainment empire to run, but not before she offers up one last glimpse of her impish spirit.
"They're standing in the doorway waiting for me. They're either telling me one minute or giving me the finger. And I think they're giving me the finger," giggles Parton before disappearing in a cloud of blond voluptuousness.
I'm just a Backwoods Barbie
In a push-up bra and heels
I might look artificial but where it counts I'm real
And I'm all dolled up
And hopin' for a chance to prove my worth
JamBase | Tennessee
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