The greatest voice Dolly Parton had ever heard: “He was so gifted”
There are hardly any other artists on this planet that seem to radiate sunshine in the same way that Dolly Parton does.
Even though she doesn’t have to make the most thoughtful music in the world by any stretch, some of her best tunes are usually the ones that have a lot more going for them than just a bunch of country values across their runtime. She wanted to make tunes that told stories that could make everyone a little bit happier, but a lot of that starts with getting the perfect voice for every song that comes out.
You have to remember that the Nashville music scene was a goddamn factory when it started, and it was going to be difficult for someone like Parton to ever gain a footing if she wanted to make her own tunes. She knew that being a songwriter was her calling, and after making her own tunes with Porter Wagoner for the longest time, she understood that she wasn’t going to get the results that she wanted if she didn’t have the right kind of tunes that fit her voice.
‘Coat of Many Colors’ was the perfect vehicle for her when she first started, but most people weren’t as lucky as Parton was when writing tunes like ‘Dumb Blonde’. Most of the greatest songwriters in the world usually started off as session people behind the scenes, trying their best to get the right person to relate to their song, and while Parton took to her tunes like a fish in water, it was a while before someone like Glen Campbell got his foot in the door.
That said, no one was thinking that Campbell couldn’t make great music when he wanted to. His time working on some of The Beach Boys’ greatest records made him one of the greatest sidemen of all time, and while his music was something he did on the side, it wasn’t that hard for him to start fleshing out his ideas in between sessions, like when he borrowed Carol Kaye’s bass to finish off ‘Wichita Lineman’.
But it was the voice that Parton related to more than anything. Campbell had done his fair share of living before he ever got into the spotlight, and when you listen to him singing on a song like ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’, he clearly understood that character like the back of his hand. Plenty of people came to Music Row trying to make their dreams come true by strapping on a pair of boots, but not many of them possessed the same instrument that Campbell had.
Apart from being one of the finest songwriters in town, Parton felt that the reason why Campbell endured so much was because of that voice, saying, “Well, Glen Campbell was special because he was so gifted. Glen is one of the greatest voices that ever was in the business, and he was one of the greatest musicians. He was a wonderful session musician as well. A lot of people don’t realise that, but he could play anything. And he could play it really well. So he was just extremely talented.”
And for someone who had gone through her fair share of obstacles in the music business, Parton knew exactly the kind of story that Campbell was dealing with. She could have never imagined being able to play on that many people’s sessions and still find time to make her own music, but Campbell came from the school of music, being almost like second nature every single time he performed.
Because as much as people like to imagine having written thousands of songs and eventually retiring, Campbell didn’t want to be known by a couple of songs that he had done in the past. He and Parton both set out to make songs that would last forever, and a lot of that came down to honing their craft every time they picked up a guitar.
