Via Andrea DenHoed at the New Yorker:
Dolly Parton must be one of the only singers around whose voice could undergo such extreme manipulation and sound not sadly distorted but, rather, beautifully remade. Her baby-high soprano has always seemed slightly unreal anyway, a record played a little too fast. As it happens, one of her longtime stage stunts is mimicking a 45 r.p.m. record played at 78 r.p.m.: she goes into full Chipmunk mode, not missing a syllable or a wave of vibrato—an offhand joke at the expense of her own voice, as well as a flourishing exhibition of her impressive control of her instrument…
srv
She always had impressive instruments.
She did some duets with Kenny Rogers – or the botox face lift formerly known as Kenny Rogers.
Damn, and that hair:
http://www.twangnation.com/blog/http://example.com/uploads/2013/08/dolly_parton191.jpg
Jewish Steel
To my shame I do not know who is playing guitar here (Chris Hillman?) But he is rocking that B Bender fo sho. I think I now need one.
Jewish Steel
@Jewish Steel: Oh, it could be this unlucky chap.
Mike E
@Jewish Steel: Lloyd Green, according to wiki.
Jane2
Parton’s voice is pure.
piratedan
I just want to say as a former teenage white boy with limited dance skills, thank you to all of you erstwhile musicians out there that have given us the pop music power chord riff.
case in point: The Raspberries….. Go All The Way
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybB6BWvb6bk
mai naem
I like this version. I saw a clip of Dolly Parton on Fox and Friends when she was out promoting something and they started to get political and she kind of cut them off in a real aw shucks sweet way that only Dolly Parton could pull off. BTW this was also about the same time she was on Colbert and, while I love Stephen Colbert, his singing “Love is Like A Butterfly”(my fav Dolly Parton song) with Dolly bordered on cringe worthy.
Suzanne
How much do I love that song. Dolly just gives it so much pain without being overwrought. Perfect.
fuckwit
I saw a video of her playing guitar on her TV series in the 1970s and was stunned by what a damn good fingerstyle guitarist she was!!! I’m not generally impressed with singers but I’m really impressed when a really good singer knows how to play an instrument well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv90nFTTqqc
Also amazing: Aretha Franklin playing piano expertly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSoXJl2ALUk
tom
Dolly is great at any speed.
Rob Beschizza at Boing Boing made a slowed down version of Yakety Sax, which is delightful.
pseudonymous in nc
Living not terribly far from Dollywood, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by the tackiness, but it’s better to remember just how good an artist she is, and how she’s been in control of her image and business from the very start, which is pretty damn rare in Nashville, and has brought a fuckload of money to East Tennessee, which has a lot of fuck-all.
burnspbesq
@Jewish Steel:
The late, great Clarence White.
The prophet Nostradumbass
The late, great Huell Howser did a couple of interviews with Dolly Parton. You should watch them.
Jewish Steel
@burnspbesq: Hit by a drunk driver at 2 AM loading gear. What a shitty way to go.
YellowJournalism
First the Lily Tomlin wedding article, now this one gives me a jump thinking the star is being eulogized. Do it for Jane Fonda, and I’ll have the “9 to 5” trifecta of false death scares!
hilts
@Jewish Steel:
Great performance. Thanks for posting.
Alison
It’s a music thread and I don’t have any Dolly Parton, but hey, let’s broaden the topic, and allow me to annoy you.
Last ten in shuffle:
1. A Secret – Basia Bulat
2. Down to the Underground – Client
3. Walking With A Ghost – Tegan and Sara
4. In My Eyes – Robyn
5. The Lookalikes – Toktok vs Soffy O
6. Me and Mr Jones – Amy Winehouse
7. The Killing Jar – Siouxsie and the Banshees
8. 57821 – Janelle Monae
9. The Weeping Song – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
10. Silly Boy Blue – David Bowie
hilts
@Jewish Steel:
Be on my side, I’ll be on your side
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ucxo2xAMaRQ
TheMightyTrowel
Oh music thread! This is my earworm of the week – the happiest break up song I’ve heard in a long time!
Trigger Warning for slightly pretentious, vaguely hipsterish, indie pop sung by the gingerest ginger to ever ginger.
ETA: they had to film the vid in b/w to tone down the ginger. [says the ginger archaeologist who can’t get enough of the damn irish tenor. fuck. my mom would be so proud.]
Yatsuno
Thanks AL. Thanks.
Jewish Steel
@burnspbesq: @hilts:
Mercy! What a picker.
BruinKid
I see an Indian-American just won the Miss America Pageant. Which has caused racists to come out of the woodwork with their stupid comments about her being “an Arab”. BuzzFeed names ’em and shames ’em.
burnspbesq
Clarence influenced generations of guitarists. It goes way beyond his mentoring of a very young Tony Rice. You can hear echoes of Clarence in guys as varied as Vince Gill, Brian Setzer, and Cesar Rosas.
burnspbesq
@Alison:
You can’t steal TBogg’s shtick unless you post a picture of Shakira.
Suzanne
While cooking dinner, I listened to my Favorite Album of All Time: “Graceland”.
Every stinkin’ song is just wonderful. Back to front great.
burnspbesq
Can’t have Dolly without Porter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Qt_ixpI8A0
Amir Khalid
@fuckwit:
And it’s always wonderful to hear Dolly sing with Emmy and Linda, too.
The prophet Nostradumbass
What the Fuck? This country is fucked.
Hal
@The prophet Nostradumbass:
Well you know what they say; “Gotta be Merican to win Ms. Merica.” I can’t believe someone actually tweeted.
piratedan
@Hal: well lets hope that they’re up for some public shaming
Yatsuno
@The prophet Nostradumbass: Part of it is the bitchiness about Miss Kansas not winning. Personally, I found miss Kansas intriguing, but Miss New York is an inspired choice. And the haters can suck it.
PS: I wonder if these inner Klansmen have the huevos to say this to Nikki Haley or Piyush Jindal. Wait don’t answer that.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Yatsuno: I didn’t watch it, have no idea what any of the others looked like. The winner is very good-looking, but then, they all are. Miss Kansas is white, right?
James E. Powell
Ever hear the slowed down Robert Johnson? Crossroads? Love in Vain?
There is great big internet argument about whether the recordings with which we are familiar were recorded at the correct speed.
MikeJ
@The prophet Nostradumbass: Tattooed, bow hunter, in the (or ex?) military.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@MikeJ: So, the fans of “Duck Dynasty” are mad, intersecting with the usual racists?
Villago Delenda Est
Play ARS’ Imaginary Lover off their 33 1/3 album at 45, and you’ll swear it’s Stevie Nicks singing it.
Villago Delenda Est
@The prophet Nostradumbass:
Ever since 4 November 2008, the racist fucks have gone even more batshit insane than normal, determined to let their hate flags fly.
Thlayli
@BruinKid:
Just imagine what it was like when an actual Arab won one of those things.
Craig Pennington
The vocals sound a bit like Cher back in the day. Very cool.
Paul in KY
@fuckwit: Aretha is considered to be a fantastic pianist. Her best instrument by far.
drkrick
@burnspbesq: Not to mention Jerry Garcia. He would have hardly played on some of the Dead’s early ’70’s tunes if he’d been forced to give up his Clarence White licks. Rumor is that he insisted the Dead tolerate the taper phenomenon because he’d traveled around taping the gigs of Clarence White and Bill Monroe quite a bit in his folkie days.