Early this morning I went, as I often do, to the nearest Mapco Express convenience store for coffee & the "laptop lottery". As usual the TV screen high up on the end wall was on Fox News, "Fox and Friends". And there communicating with the two guys & gal (not in-studio but long-distance) was Dolly Parton!
Let me confess here & now. When I first converted into a tolerator of & shortly afterward a fan(atic) of Country & Western Music, I became aware of Dolly. I considered her to be simply some dumb blonde who happened to be well-endowed in a certain area & that probably implant-enhanced. And not exactly well-endowed in the vocal cords.
Oh, how time changes everything!
For one thing, she's recorded some very good songs, and she's written some terrific lyrics. E.g., "Coat of Many Colors" sings such a great truth! And she wasn't bad acting in those Tinseltown flicks either. Maybe not Oscar-nomination worthy, but some actresses have won the coveted golden statue with less talent. Better yet, Dolly bought a struggling theme park near her hometown in the Great Smoky Mountains, gave it her name, "Dollywood", and caused it to succeed. Plus she's given much back to Nashville, her other hometown.
Listening to her speak on "Fox & Friends" about this year's 25th anniversary for Dollywood, I was impressed again (as I seem to be every time I hear her speak) that here is no "dumb blonde" but rather one smart cookie! My newer-and-now good impression got underlined a few months ago when Dolly got a star in the Music City/Nashville Walk of Fame on the same day as did Charlie Daniels, the late Ernest Tubb, etc. I was at the induction ceremony & afterwards got fairly close to the country superstar. Close en'uf that I could have said, "Hello, Dolly!" and she would have heard above the noise of the crowd around her.
Plus, Dolly has said two things that simply delight me. Great quotes! One is, "You'd be surprised how much it costs to look so cheap." And the other, "There are only three real women singers: Streisand, Ronstadt and Connie Smith. The rest of us are just pretending."
Now, don't tell me"some dumb blonde" would say stuff like that! No, Dolly Parton is one smart cookie! (Especially when it comes to Connie Smith -- LOL.)
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