Such big heart, no bigger entertainer, no bigger philanthropist, she was just big! While on a lonely night in my jobsite trailer, I brought out my music library on the computer and played I Will Always Love You on repeat, all night long. God bless you, life well done, now rest in peace. Brad
She was a lovely person who did many generous things. Another person we did not need to lose.
My question is what was that banjo? And how did she play with those nails. I guess for what appears to be strumming and frailing, they are a benefit. She had a unique style on banjo and in life.
We know "a little" of her philanthropy, like reading programs with books for kids, and her status as an investor in Moderna when they were developing the Covid vaccine. The world will probably never know all the wonderful things she was up to.
I watched her debut on the Porter Wagoner tv show when I was just a kid. She was with the Porter Wagoner show at the civic center in Bangor Maine in the 1960s when the audience, who mostly had never heard of her, nearly heckled her off the stage because they wanted to see PORTER. She persevered, as they say.
I'm happy Dolly Parton had a presence in my first grade classroom with her book and its cassette for our Listening Center -- Coat of Many Colors, sung by Dolly with illustrations that matched the lyrics. It's remarkable to recognize her as being so much a part of our collective experience.
Dolly was mainstream Country, but she also understood Bluegrass and knew how to do it. She knew how to take a song from another genre and make it work in a Bluegrass context, and of course, she always got the best pickers to help her out. Here's a link to one of my favorites from Cole Porter and Dolly.