The Queen of Country!
Dolly Parton is the most famous female country singer in the world, she has sold over 100 million albums and is considered an American popular culture icon.
With 44 top-ten country albums and 110 chartered singles, no one else is even close to her success in the world of country music.
Having composed over 3000 songs, Dolly has been in the public eye since 1967 when she released her debut album, let’s take a look at this remarkable woman’s tunes, decade by decade.
During the late ’60s, Dolly released four albums, Hello, I’m Dolly, Just Because I’m A Woman, In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad), and My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy.
With a mix of covers, her own compositions, and cowrites, she didn’t manage any big tunes on any of these albums. The only well-known cover is In The Ghetto (Elvis).
This trend changed radically during the 70s when she would release an astonishing 17 studio albums!
Too many to list here, let’s focus on the hit tunes. Coat Of Many Colors was Dolly’s first big tune. Released as the lead single from the 1971 album it earned her a Grammy, and the Country Queen was born.
1974 she released Jolene, here the title track and I Will Always Love You is also found. Both went to #1.
In 1977 she released two covers on the album New Harvest… First Gathering. They were My Girl and Higher and Higher.
The same year she released Here You Come Again, the title track earning her a Grammy as well as a #1.
Before the ’70s is over she released two more well-known covers on the album Great Balls Of Fire. The title track (Jerry Lee Lewis) and Help! by The Beatles.
The ’80s were less intense than the ’70s for Dolly who instead of 17 studio albums released 10. The biggest was 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs, which also was a film, and perhaps her best-known single as a solo artist, 9 To 5.
On the same album, she also squeezed in another cover of The House Of The Rising Sun.
Dolly’s biggest success
Dolly’s biggest success came in 1983 with a duet named Islands in the Stream. Originally written by Bee Gees for Diana Ross, Dolly, and Kenny reworked it into a country style and had a worldwide #1.
This was followed up by recording covers. In 1984 she does an entire album called The Great Pretender. Here we find Save The Last Dance For Me, I Walk The Line, Downtown, I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch), and of course the title track.
This was followed by a Christmas album, mainly consisting of covers too.
1985, Dolly and Kenny have another go at a duet in Real Love. It didn’t do as well as Islands in the Stream, but still, it got to #1 in the U.S. and Canada.
In 1987 she teamed up with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris to release Trio. Big tunes were To Know Him Is To Love Him, Telling Me Lies, and Those Memories Of You.
The collaboration won a Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group as well as being nominated for Album of the Year and Best Country Song (Telling Me Lies).
At the Country Music Awards, it won the Album and vocal event of the year.
The ’90s saw another Christmas album, a second Trio album, more covers (Walking On Sunshine, After The Gold Rush), and some Christian-themed recordings.
Without a doubt, the biggest ’90s event for Dolly is when she lets Whitney Houston record I Will Always Love You. Produced by David Foster it was one of the biggest tunes of the ’90s, hitting #1 in over twenty countries!
Post the millennium, Dolly has simply kept on going. Releasing more albums and collaborating with more artists, for example, Norah Jones on her 2004 release Creepin’ In.
She also joined Kris Kristofferson in 2005 to record his classic Me and Bobby McGee, a tune she’d sung many times before that.
Dolly Parton Tunes | Related Pages
9 To 5
You can learn how to play 9 To 5 by Dolly Parton using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| F# |
Tumble outta bed and I stumble to the kitchen…
Creepin’ In
Learn how to play Creepin’ In by Norah Jones using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, chord chart, and a Spytunes video guitar lesson.
| G | C (Csus2) | G | Dsus2 (D) |
There’s a big ol’ hole, that gone right through the sole, of this old shoe…
In The Ghetto
You can learn how to play In The Ghetto by Elvis Presley using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, chord chart, and the original recording.
| Bb Bbsus4 | Bb Bbsus4 Bb |
As the snow flies…
Islands In The Stream
Learn how to play Islands In The Stream by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, chord chart, and the original recording.
| C | C |
Baby, when I met you there was peace unknown…
Jolene
You can learn how to play Jolene by Dolly Parton using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, chord chart, and the original recording.
| Am C |2/4 G |4/4 Am |
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene…
Me and Bobby McGee
You can learn how to play Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, chord chart, and the original recordings.
| G | G |
Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waitin’ for a train…
Dolly Parton on the web
Artists & Bands
Behind every single tune you learn, there’s an artist or band with an entire catalogue of music, waiting to be discovered.
Find out more about these great Artists & Bands, and let their tunes guide you to success.
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was an article about Dolly Parton tunes, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
