The musician who always had “a headlock” on Dolly Parton’s heart
The name Dolly Parton has never been too far from follow-up comments about her appearance or belittling assumptions about her personality. Although times have changed somewhat, Parton’s rise to fame was often inseparable from media and public objectification, causing her talent and artistry to become partially ushered to the sidelines. Thankfully, some of the singer’s contemporaries had her back.
Parton’s trajectory has been marked by some of the most extreme corners of misogynistic culture, where focus is either placed on the way she looks or what it is that she has to offer men. Her male counterparts in the country realm, like Willie Nelson for instance, were always lauded for their musicianship and the innovations they contributed to the genre. Parton, on the other hand, was moulded into the less-intelligent sex symbol figure.
The singer wrote songs about it, too. In fact, the blonde balladeer has always remained confident in the face of sexism, describing her appearance and aura as strong characteristics that are “fun for me” and not for anyone else. It seems even a label as offensive as ‘Dumb Blonde’ couldn’t have prophesied the singer, who transformed the male gaze into a token of power, dispelling myths about her intelligence by consistently churning out world-class music.
At the peak of fame, there were a handful of artists who treated her with the level of respect she deserved. And in return, she respected them back and deemed them some of her favourite artists of all time. One such figure was Tom T. Hall, who first crossed paths with Parton when he was invited onto her variety show, Dolly, in 1976.
They also performed together at the Cumberland County Memorial Auditorium in Fayetteville, which advertised their show with an amusing sign that read “Dolly Parton Tom T. Hall Wrestling”. Parton saw the hilarity in the wording at first, but then realised that the description was probably appropriate considering the relationship they had developed.
She also described her feelings towards Hall as someone who “always had a headlock on my heart.” Parton’s gravitation towards a figure like Hall could have probably been connected to the singer’s aptitude for literature. For years, there was a running joke that Hall was the only person who could accurately describe Parton, which was a significant achievement considering the ways she was often talked about both to her face and behind her back.
However, Hall states that this was likely due to his college degree rather than the specific words themselves. As he explained in American Songwriter: “When I first got to Nashville, somebody said Tom T. Hall and Kris Kristofferson at the time were the only two people who could describe Dolly Parton without using their hands.”
He added: “Kris and I came into town and created this illusion of literacy, somehow.”
At a time when descriptions about the country singer often reverted to derogatory gestures to sexualise her before anything else, Hall’s ability to talk about her with dignity seemed like a breath of fresh air.
