#story: the ballad of tammi lynn

[ellisnyeland]

LibreOffice I need you to understand that that is the opposite of what I was trying to say, and also I spelled it right on the first try

[maximumbob-universe]

Kitty Wells opened the door for women in country music in 1952 with her smash hit "it Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels." In the sixties, strong performers like Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette moved women closer to parity with their male counterparts, but still stood in the shadows of the men in the profession. That all changed with Dolly Parton. In the seventies she outgrew her singing partner and boss Porter Wagoner to become not only the most popular female performer, but the top star the music has produced period. Her pop ascendancy in the eighties established her as a superstar, regardless of genre, allowing her to become a media icon. People who never heard a note of country music or of the Grand Ole Opry knew her name, as Dolly became a multimillionaire and icon of the entertainment world. For all of her glitzy showbiz success, it was her remarkable talent that her empire rested upon, particularly as a songwriter, the one part of her multiple abilities she herself is most proud of. Her first hit, "Dumb Blonde", was an indicator that she was a strong writer and performer, but it was during her tenure with Porter Wagoner that she really blossomed. Her first RCA album "Just Because I'm a Woman" treated us to the proto-feminist title track, a sentiment that the overtly feminine Parton could make without backlash, a trait that pointed the way to her future. The shocking ending of "The Bridge" displayed her flair for the dramatic, which was encouraged by Porter, himself the king of the psychobilly ballad. The song is about a young woman who goes to the bridge to take her own life. The song abruptly ends as she finds her jumping off spot, just as the life telling the tale would have ended. Another dark side of life song, “Evening Shade” is about a girl in a home for wayward women where the cruelty of the head matron prompts the girl to burn the place down, with the matron still inside. 

1969's "In the Good Old Days When Times Were Bad" remains a classic. "No amount of money could buy from me the memories that I have of then. No amount of money could pay me to go back and live through it again. Anything at all was more than we had, in the good old days when times were bad." She was having hits with her duets with Wagoner, but continued to  work on her own material, delivering such great songs as "Down From Dover", a tale of an unwed pregnant mother waiting for her lovers return. Her first big solo hit was a remake of the Jimmie Rodgers/Bill Monroe classic "Mule Skinner Blues" in 1970, but it was a song she wrote the following year that separated her from the rest. "Coat of Many Colors" was a truly great song, interweaving the story of  a young girl's ragged home made clothes with the biblical story of Joseph. The song was so effective that people outside of the core country audience began to notice, and Dolly began to outgrow her girl singer status on the Porter Wagoner show. 1974's "Jolene" pushed the envelope open further, with it's chunky acoustic guitar's aggressive stance marking tension with the pleading in the lyrics. This combination of toughness and tenderness find their perfect vehicle with "I Will Always Love You."

The song is sung in a way that is so vulnerable, so fragile and packed with emotion, yet the lyric makes no retreat on the subject of leaving. The recording is exquisite, with Dolly turning in one of her most beautiful vocal performances. Soon after she left Wagoner's show, moved to L.A., became a pop singer and a movie star, all while continuing to  hone her country girl persona and remarkable busines skills. "Here You Come Again" was her first big crossover hit, but many others followed, including "9 To 5" and "Islands in the Stream." After her pop hits trailed off, she continued to make movies, opened a theme park in her economically distressed home state, did TV specials and concerts, performing with everyone from Ricky Skaggs to Smokey Robinson. Her songwriting abilities never waned, penning some wonderful things for a trio of albums she did for Sugar Hill Records that focused on traditional country sounds and bluegrass." The Grass is Blue", "Little Sparrow",  and "Steady as the Rain" rank with the best songs of her career. A true legend, she continues to perform with the energy of someone half her age, and seems to be able to deliver amazing music at will. The many talents she has have been delivered with such grace, charm and wit over the years that I doubt if anyone could really touch her one to one. A talent like Dolly Parton is so vast it just can't be replicated, she is one of kind.