Fuld transskription af Alanna Nash on interviewing Dolly Parton at home

didn't really exist, 72 00:04:09.449 --> 00:04:12.289 that she had invented him because he didn't go anyplace 73 00:04:12.330 --> 00:04:13.370 with her, you know, in public. 74 00:04:14.370 --> 00:04:16.889 Yeah, he didn't. I think he went to one thing 75 00:04:16.970 --> 00:04:20.550 she said in an interview. He went to. One performance 76 00:04:20.569 --> 00:04:22.540 and that was enough. He said, you live your life 77 00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:24.399 and I just want to be here. And didn't he 78 00:04:24.459 --> 00:04:27.199 also trick people who would come to the front gates 79 00:04:27.259 --> 00:04:30.019 or whatever and act like he was an employee out 80 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:31.860 there just digging up bushes or whatever? 81 00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:35.800 Well, yes, because you could easily believe that because he 82 00:04:35.860 --> 00:04:38.629 worked outside all the time. And, you know, like when 83 00:04:38.670 --> 00:04:41.189 my father would do yard work with a bandana tied 84 00:04:41.230 --> 00:04:43.810 around his head, he didn't he didn't look like the 85 00:04:43.850 --> 00:04:46.639 person who lived there. but yeah carla what was a 86 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:49.379 practical joker yet he really was it was interesting when 87 00:04:49.430 --> 00:04:51.990 she first brought him in he was out of the 88 00:04:52.009 --> 00:04:55.250 yard and that now this was february of seventy seven 89 00:04:55.970 --> 00:04:58.250 and it was cold in this little room where we 90 00:04:58.310 --> 00:05:01.389 were and she said i want carl to come in 91 00:05:01.430 --> 00:05:04.170 and fix the fire uh... we were listening to a 92 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:08.040 test pressing of her new album which was uh... uh... 93 00:05:08.939 --> 00:05:10.920 gosh i can't remember the title right now i'm blanking 94 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:15.129 at but She said, but I can't have the record 95 00:05:15.310 --> 00:05:18.730 on while he comes in. And I said, well, why 96 00:05:18.790 --> 00:05:24.329 is that? She said, well, he don't like my singing. What? Yes, 97 00:05:24.379 --> 00:05:26.920 he didn't like her voice. New Harvest First Gathering, that 98 00:05:26.939 --> 00:05:29.220 was the title of the album. So she said, yes, 99 00:05:29.259 --> 00:05:31.800 he just can't stand my voice. I remember she said, 100 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:34.540 he loves me good and all, but he just can't 101 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:35.680 stand my voice. 102 00:05:36.660 --> 00:05:38.040 Oh, my goodness. 103 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:40.879 I know, it's funny, isn't it? So she went out 104 00:05:40.899 --> 00:05:42.990 and got him, and I heard him come up the stairs, 105 00:05:43.050 --> 00:05:44.810 and he said, well, I don't want to do no interview. 106 00:05:45.870 --> 00:05:49.009 And she said, well, you won't have to, Daddy. And 107 00:05:49.029 --> 00:05:51.290 he came in, and it was pretty awkward. I remember 108 00:05:51.310 --> 00:05:53.170 I stood up to shake his hand, and he wasn't 109 00:05:53.209 --> 00:05:56.069 having any of that. But he did fix the fire, 110 00:05:56.110 --> 00:05:59.459 but nobody was talking. So she offered him some of 111 00:05:59.509 --> 00:06:02.259 her hot chocolate, and he turned around and he went, nope. 112 00:06:03.029 --> 00:06:05.689 and fix the fire, and then he was gone. So 113 00:06:06.110 --> 00:06:09.329 I thought, well, I'll never see him again. But the 114 00:06:09.370 --> 00:06:11.930 next day he was pretty friendly. So I don't know 115 00:06:11.970 --> 00:06:16.600 about Carl, but he was delightful and kind of a puzzle. 116 00:06:16.769 --> 00:06:19.709 Well, maybe he thought because Dolly invited you a second 117 00:06:19.769 --> 00:06:22.379 day that you were okay then. 118 00:06:23.339 --> 00:06:26.160 Maybe. Maybe so. That's a good theory. 119 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:30.079 How much was she able to reveal to you in 120 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:33.000 the house? I mean, you said she's playing a test pressing. 121 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:35.819 I mean, so clearly no one had heard that music yet. 122 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:38.139 It was just something they had just pumped out. And 123 00:06:38.250 --> 00:06:41.040 so was she looking to see what you thought of it? 124 00:06:42.430 --> 00:06:44.769 I think she was because this was at a pivotal 125 00:06:44.829 --> 00:06:47.730 time in her career. This was a cover story for 126 00:06:47.769 --> 00:06:54.610 the magazine, Country Music Magazine, because she... So this album... 127 00:06:55.069 --> 00:06:57.629 The New Harvest First Gathering had a lot of that 128 00:06:57.709 --> 00:07:00.209 new kind of material on it. And I remember she 129 00:07:00.250 --> 00:07:03.220 did a cover of My Girl. Well, you know, you 130 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:05.779 don't expect Dolly Parton to be singing that kind of music. 131 00:07:05.860 --> 00:07:07.060 Temptations. 132 00:07:07.500 --> 00:07:12.680 Yeah, temptations, exactly. So it was, and Nashville just kind 133 00:07:12.699 --> 00:07:15.500 of went crazy because they thought she was leaving everybody 134 00:07:15.550 --> 00:07:17.370 who had made her what she was and that she 135 00:07:17.410 --> 00:07:21.310 was a cornerstone of modern country music and she was defecting. 136 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:23.720 And she just kept saying, you know, the whole point 137 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:25.959 of this interview was to say, I'm not leaving anybody. 138 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:27.660 You know, a country girl should be able to go 139 00:07:27.699 --> 00:07:31.000 to the city, but she's still a country girl. But 140 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:33.939 she was seeking management in Los Angeles, and she had 141 00:07:34.180 --> 00:07:37.819 big dreams and big plans, as she said. And she 142 00:07:37.860 --> 00:07:39.990 wanted to do films, and she wanted to do whatever 143 00:07:40.060 --> 00:07:43.529 she could do. And that meant going outside of Nashville 144 00:07:43.550 --> 00:07:46.230 to do it. But

people were really upset about that. 145 00:07:47.350 --> 00:07:50.649 But she maintained control of her career all the way through, 146 00:07:50.670 --> 00:07:53.339 you know. People would try to push her around in 147 00:07:53.399 --> 00:07:55.410 interviews sometimes, and she wasn't having it. 148 00:07:56.649 --> 00:07:59.810 She wasn't having it. And I remember when Barbara Walters 149 00:07:59.850 --> 00:08:02.269 interviewed her, wow, she really came back at her in 150 00:08:02.310 --> 00:08:07.029 a polite way. I remember Barbara asked her where she 151 00:08:07.069 --> 00:08:12.160 was from, if it was kind of like dog patch. Oh, my. 152 00:08:12.220 --> 00:08:17.319 A pretty demeaning remark. But, you know, my mother was 153 00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:20.579 from the same little town in Tennessee, Sevierville in East Tennessee. Okay. 154 00:08:21.379 --> 00:08:25.259 But and Dolly was born in 1946. And, you know, 155 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:29.620 even there, you know, an area that was shaped by 156 00:08:30.120 --> 00:08:35.440 religious fervor and cultural isolation and that kind of harshness 157 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:38.220 of life that either beat folks down or or gave 158 00:08:38.259 --> 00:08:41.159 them a kind of steely resilience. She stood out even 159 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:45.730 as a kid, as a child. People recognize the specialness 160 00:08:45.779 --> 00:08:48.990 about her. And the way she struck me at 31, 161 00:08:48.990 --> 00:08:52.929 that's how she was when we did our interview. She 162 00:08:52.950 --> 00:08:56.870 had just turned 31. She had a kind of calling, 163 00:08:57.190 --> 00:08:59.970 not just to be the best entertainer she could be, 164 00:09:00.289 --> 00:09:04.129 but to do good, as she said. She said, I 165 00:09:04.169 --> 00:09:07.009 want to do good. And part of the doing good 166 00:09:07.860 --> 00:09:10.779 was to raise up that area of East Tennessee, which 167 00:09:10.820 --> 00:09:13.960 had been so impoverished, certainly when my mother was growing 168 00:09:14.019 --> 00:09:20.820 up there. My mother was born in 1930. But my 169 00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:23.379 mother's family was about as poor as the Partons. So 170 00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:28.309 Dolly really had this calling and this mission to make 171 00:09:28.389 --> 00:09:32.090 life better for what she called her people. And wow, 172 00:09:32.149 --> 00:09:34.929 did she make good on that pledge and that mission. 173 00:09:35.529 --> 00:09:38.279 So you wrote this interview, or you delivered this interview 174 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:40.620 for this magazine, but ultimately you wrote a book, a 175 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:42.200 biography of Dolly, correct? 176 00:09:42.220 --> 00:09:49.120 Yes. Yes. The magazine came out in the spring of 77, 177 00:09:49.250 --> 00:09:53.129 and there was a small publisher in New Hampshire called 178 00:09:53.210 --> 00:09:56.029 Read Books, and the wife of the publisher read that 179 00:09:56.129 --> 00:10:00.590 story and absolutely loved Dolly Parton and she said to 180 00:10:00.629 --> 00:10:03.190 her husband, I want a book on Dolly Parton. So 181 00:10:03.230 --> 00:10:05.789 they came to the magazine and partnered with them in 182 00:10:05.860 --> 00:10:09.039 publishing it. And since I'd done the magazine piece, I 183 00:10:09.059 --> 00:10:10.620 got plugged in as the writer of the book. 184 00:10:11.980 --> 00:10:14.879 And now you told me a few days ago that 185 00:10:15.379 --> 00:10:18.809 you were just putting together like an update of And 186 00:10:18.850 --> 00:10:22.070 this is prior to her death. So now, obviously, you 187 00:10:22.090 --> 00:10:23.070 have to reshape that. 188 00:10:24.509 --> 00:10:28.049 Yes. I was working on a new edition of it. 189 00:10:29.090 --> 00:10:32.669 And I finished the long prologue on August 19th. And 190 00:10:32.710 --> 00:10:34.409 she died on the 25th. Nobody knew her. 191 00:10:35.470 --> 00:10:35.850 Yeah. 192 00:10:36.830 --> 00:10:39.470 So I have to redo some of it. And I've 193 00:10:39.529 --> 00:10:45.250 added a lot of photographs and another section of captions 194 00:10:45.370 --> 00:10:49.440 that has a lot of quotes and new information. I've 195 00:10:49.480 --> 00:10:53.529 expanded it a little bit, but I'm still actually working 196 00:10:53.669 --> 00:10:55.750 on it. But I think I'll have books by Christmas. 197 00:10:56.029 --> 00:10:58.110 Okay, that's what I was wondering. So people will be 198 00:10:58.129 --> 00:10:59.789 able to look for, is the name of the book 199 00:10:59.830 --> 00:11:00.809 just Dolly Parton? 200 00:11:01.769 --> 00:11:02.330 Just Dolly. 201 00:11:02.710 --> 00:11:03.840 Dolly, of course. 202 00:11:03.960 --> 00:11:04.269 Dolly. 203 00:11:04.580 --> 00:11:08.259 That makes sense. Alana Nash, it is always a pleasure 204 00:11:08.279 --> 00:11:09.720 to spend a few minutes with you. 205 00:11:11.139 --> 00:11:14.460 Terry Miners, I send that right back to you. Thank 206 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:15.240 you for having me. 207 00:11:15.340 --> 00:11:18.009 Well, thanks for your... Thanks for your brilliant work, because 208 00:11:18.029 --> 00:11:21.350 you've met a lot of astounding people that are known 209 00:11:21.389 --> 00:11:24.029 around the world, and they always open up to you. 210 00:11:24.090 --> 00:11:26.909 I just think that's such a great gift, so congratulations. 211 00:11:27.529 --> 00:11:29.820 Oh, thank you so much. That means a lot. Thank you. 212 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:31.500 All right, my friend. I'll see you down the road. 213 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:33.779 I hope so. Thank you. 214 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:36.980 There you go. Alanna Nash, who has written a book 215 00:11:37.779 --> 00:11:40.240 about Dolly, and the photo I'm going to attach with 216 00:11:40.279 --> 00:11:44.730 this on social media will just crack you up. But she, 217 00:11:44.850 --> 00:11:47.769 as you just heard, she's sort of having now to 218 00:11:48.909 --> 00:11:54.269 update things and we'll reissue, they'll reissue that book around 219 00:11:54.549 --> 00:11:57.429 the holiday season. So we'll learn more. But she's a 220 00:11:57.509 --> 00:12:02.100 Louisville treasure right there. Alanna Nash, known in all writing 221 00:12:02.179 --> 00:12:05.899 circles for her brilliant work. And she's got a master's 222 00:12:05.940 --> 00:12:12.620 from Columbia University in New York. And I think it shows. She's, 223 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:14.779 I mean, a lot of people look at Hunter Thompson. 224 00:12:14.820 --> 00:12:17.470 I'm like, yeah, he's second. So that one right there, 225 00:12:17.490 --> 00:12:19.919 Atlanta Nash. Back in a minute on News Radio 840 WHAS.