The true story behind Dolly Parton song ‘Dr. Robert F. Thomas’
On a stormy winter’s night back in 1946, Dolly Parton was brought into the world, surrounded by the rural isolation of her family’s small cabin in Locust Ridge, Tennessee. Were it not for the generosity of one Dr. Robert F. Thomas, however, Parton might never have made it, and the cultural fabric of the United States would have looked very different indeed.
Parton didn’t waste much time in establishing herself among the greatest voices in country music, and that particular genre owes the world to the litany of timeless classics which have been belted out by the performer over the years. Ultimately, though, Parton’s skills have never been limited exclusively to the musical realm; even when her success was still in its relative infancy, the songwriter had dedicated a core part of her being to helping others, whether through her various charities and appeals, or through her music.
There have been multiple moments over the course of her discography where the country star’s activism has crossed paths with her musical output, and the 1972 track ‘Dr. Robert F. Thomas’ is among the greatest examples.
On the face of it, the song is a fairly run-of-the-mill early-1970s country effort, with Parton’s distinctive voice guiding you through a narrative focused on America’s rural backwaters and pastures green. Dig a little deeper, though, and the song offers a much more profound message, not just about Dolly Parton herself but about the very fabric of community and kindness that she grew up with.
For those who have never visited – or cannot tell by its name – Locust Ridge is not an expansive settlement with all the modern infrastructure and convenience boasted by the state’s surrounding cities. There is, for instance, no hospital for some 40 miles and, particularly back in the 1940s, that left many of its residents stranded when it came to medical care. For much of the community, their salvation came in Dr Thomas.
A missionary doctor who ran the nearby church in Locust Ridge, Thomas became a core pillar of that rural community, especially where childbirth was concerned. As Parton herself recalled in her memoir, Songteller, “A lot of [people] would hold a gun on him: ‘If my wife dies or my daughter dies, you’re going to die, too.’” She added, “But anytime you cut a leg half off – you couldn’t go all the way to Knoxville to the nearest hospital – you’d go get Dr. Thomas.”
Seemingly, that is just what Parton’s father, Robert Lee, did back in January 1946. In the middle of a rainstorm, Dr Thomas came to the family’s cabin to deliver the future country music icon and, in return, was afforded a sack of cornmeal in lieu of any payment – a financial model which the current US healthcare system might consider reintroducing.
Parton never forgot the kindness that the doctor showed to her family, or the many other families living in rural East Tennessee at that time, and penned ‘Dr. Robert F. Thomas’ as a homage to him and the tireless work he carried out throughout his life.
Not only is it one of her most autobiographical anthems, but it is also among her most heartfelt, made all the more so by the fact that, since 1983, the songwriter has served as the honorary chairwoman of the Dr Robert F. Thomas Foundation, which still provides healthcare to those in Sevier County to this day.
