The one album Dolly Parton was the most proud of: ‘This will stand up long after we’re gone’
There’s a certain sheen coming off of nearly everything Dolly Parton ever worked on.
No artist can claim to be absolutely perfect on every single song they make, but there’s a certain charm that comes off of Parton’s catalogue that makes it endearing even when she’s singing some of the corniest material ever written. But even after becoming a country legend, some of Parton’s favourite records were reserved for when she got to work with some of the greatest musicians she could.
It was one thing to be welcomed into the country community with Porter Wagoner, but there was a lot more to her than playing second fiddle to her singing partner. She never wanted to leave with any hard feelings, but if she hadn’t been able to make songs like ‘Jolene’ or ‘Coat of Many Colours’ on her own, that would have been the real tragedy. But even when she was singing someone else’s song, she could own every single word she sang.
She might not have been cut out to be the rock star type, but even on her latest records, she could hold her own alongside some of the greatest vocalists in the rock field as well, whether that was singing opposite Stevie Nicks or harmonising with a metal warlord like Rob Halford. Parton was willing to put her voice up against anyone else, but there were more than a few country singers who could give her a run for her money.
Loretta Lynne and Tammy Wynette belonged in their own separate category, but when the singer-songwriters started coming out of the woodwork in the early 1970s, California became the hotbed of all great country rock. Eagles were dominating the musical landscape, people like Jackson Browne and JD Souther were writing fantastic material, but it didn’t take long for Parton to realise the kind of singing that she could do with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris when they joined forces.
Everyone had heard what Crosby, Stills and Nash could do, but each member of Parton’s trio could work off of each other perfectly. The country legend always had a softer timbre to her voice, but with Ronstadt’s powerhouse vocals and the more introspective writing from Harris, the two records that they worked on made for the perfect female answer to a band like the Traveling Wilburys that we all wanted but never got.
And even years after Ronstadt retired from singing, Parton felt that the Trio debut record belonged alongside her classics, saying, “I know, for me, this will always stand as one of the great musical things that I’ve ever done in my entire life. I’ve never been prouder of anything. I love these girls like sisters, but what we did as a trio, really, I think is going to stand up long after we’re gone.”
Each of them could sing their hearts out together if they wanted to, but the real magic of the record comes from how much fun they were having throughout the making of the record. You can practically hear them having the time of their lives when they’re working on one of their own tunes or singing some of those old standards, and since Ronstadt had been working in other genres for so long, this was her opportunity to reconnect with her roots with some of the best in the business.
While Parton has made so many records that it’s hard to keep count most of the time, there’s a reason why Trio should be thought of as one of the highlights of her career. No one could have blamed her if she wanted to retire a few decades before, but she was never going to pass up the opportunity to have some fun with some of the best female singers that the country world had ever produced.
