The singer Dolly Parton called one of the greatest songwriters of all time
The entire musical community can normally be broken up into two distinct categories: those that think that Dolly Parton is a legend, and those who are wrong.
Regardless of how you feel about country music, the legacy that Parton will leave behind is that of someone that never compromised her vision and managed to be one of the most kind-hearted individuals that Nashville has ever come to know. But for all of the great music that she brought to us over the years, that only came from having a community behind her that were all looking to try their best to make the next perfect song.
Because the country music machine tends to look a lot different these days than it did when Parton first started. While it’s for better or worse depending on your preference, the more boilerplate version of country music about nothing but simple living, trucks, and beer isn’t what Parton grew up with. Her colleagues told stories in their songs, and they were often enough to break someone’s heart if they weren’t careful.
After all, it’s not by accident that Parton singled out George Jones’s ‘He Stopped Loving Her Today’ as one of the best country tunes of all time. No one needs to know the ins and outs of the relationship in that song, but when you hear Jones talk about this man passing away and that romance of a lifetime suddenly being shattered, there isn’t a soul on this Earth with a working pulse that doesn’t want to burst into tears.
But for all of those slice-of-life songs in country music, there was a whole different dimension of songs lingering on the other side of Nashville. Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson had their fair share of simple country songs, but the world or outlaw country had a lot more dirt under its boots. There’s no question that these artists were great at what they did, but whereas everyone else was playing the role of a country singer, these felt like actual cowboys that happened to be making songs for a living.
And in that world, Merle Haggard was in a class all his own. Compared to the thick baritone that Cash had whenever he sang or even the weathered voice that Nelson had, there was so much authority to everything that Haggard sang. ‘Mama Tried’ may have shown everyone that badass little kid underneath the cowboy persona, but there was always a hint of danger underneath that cowboy hat as well.
So when that voice suddenly fell silent, Parton knew that it was about more than losing another great singer. Those songs were classic pieces of American music, and she realised that she had lost touch with a true original in the world of country music, saying, “We’ve lost one of the greatest writers and singers of all time. His heart was as tender as his love ballads. I loved him like a brother. Rest easy, Merle.”
That’s not to say that there haven’t been people willing to pick up the mantle for outlaw country. Chris Stapleton had the same gravitas in his voice that Haggard had in his early days, and while Orville Peck is a much different breed of country singer than most of Nashville was used to, hearing him do his own version of a tune like ‘Fancy’ took the basis of what made the original great and turned it into a tune that could have been used in the background of Sinners.
Even though Parton managed to keep her distance from outlaw country most of the time, there’s no way to ignore the pure swagger that Haggard had when he entered a room. Most artists may have been putting on an act every single time they walked up onstage, but rarely has anyone managed to look like they wore that artistic skin so close to the chest.
