Dolly Parton Shines At The Hollywood Bowl!
by Don Wilson
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| Photo Credit: Billboard |
HOLLYWOOD,CA.: -- October 2, 2016
Dolly Parton did not disappoint her fans in Hollywood on Saturday night. Dolly's appearance at the famed Hollywood Bowl thrilled fans at the sold out performance. Parton is enjoying success with her latest album "Pure & Simple", which recently hit number one on the charts. The tour is named after the album title.
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| The marquee at the Hollywood Bowl. Photo: Don Wilson |
I moseyed back to the Artist's Entrance and watched the VIP's make their way back to see Parton before her performance. Some didn't make it, as she noted later during the show. They were stuck somewhere or another.
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| The Artist Entrance at the Hollywood Bowl. Photo: Don Wilson |
The concert scheduled at 8:00 p.m. was delayed for a few minutes. So many fans were either milling around outside the Bowl or caught up with incredibly long lines. Roughly everyone was in their seats around 8: 30 p.m. I was anticipating seeing Dolly in person, I have been an admirer of hers since I was a kid watching "The Porter Wagoner Show" on Saturday night Televison.
I saw Dolly's first appearance on Wagoner's show nearly 50 years ago and I remember it like yesterday. Porter's program was one of my favorites when I was growing up, it featured his band The Wagon Masters and Musician/Comedian Speck Rhodes. I had been upset that Wagoner announced that his singing partner Norma Jean was leaving the show, but that quickly was put by the wayside.
Dolly Parton performs "Mule Skinner Blues" in 1970.
I recall my grandmother was watching the show with me. She said "I don't know if I should send you to the other room D." She said "You are watching her for her singing?"
I asked "What else?" and she said "That hair and those boobs!" At the time, I really was oblivious to what she was saying, I just liked Dolly and all that went with her. That's never changed throughout the years.
Parton came out like gangbusters to a cheering crowd performing the rousing "Train, Train". It set the mood for the nights performance. Parton spoke a lot during her show, she was very frank, funny and always entertaining, sometimes even surprising for her fans. Some highlights from different sources are featured in this article for your enjoyment. Here is an example of Dolly and her rapport with her audience:
Parton told of a woman that influenced her and her image in her hometown. She will portray that woman in the new NBC-TV movie "Christmas Of Many Colors" set to air on November 30. The film is a follow-up to the well received film "Coat Of Many Colors" that aired last year on the same network. The original cast will return in their roles. I will note that the cast was in attendance at Parton's show.
Dolly Parton performed so many songs that I can't list them here. The first leg of the performance lasted 90 minutes, there was a 20 minute intermission and a finale. In this next clip Parton performs "Little Sparrow" which I overheard members of the audience say "That's so sad" and "Wow,that's eerie sounding..." No matter, you could hear a pin drop during the performance, except a couple of fans who yelled or screamed in appreciation.
Dolly changed the mood in one section of her performance. She sat down on a small platform that doubled for her sitting on a porch in her Tennessee mountain home. She wanted to convey that feeling to her audience and it seemed to work. She started by performing "Precious Memories" an old time spiritual.
Next, Parton sang her iconic song "Coat Of Many Colors" and told the story behind her mother making the fabled coat. The song was a major hit when it was first released in 1971 and is closely associated with the music legend which is Dolly Parton.
Dolly picked up the pace and told the story of her monster hit "Jolene". The beauty worked at a bank where her husband Carl Dean frequented and Parton became adamant to leave her alone. She told her husband to "Deal with some hairy legged boys with your business, instead of some long legged beauty!"
Parton picked up a banjo and continued to draw from her well of memories with a song based her her childhood friend Jackson Taylor. Taylor was known as "Apple Jack" to her and the community. Continuing with her banjo Parton took us up to "Rocky Top" and then switched to the fiddle. Her cowboy stagehand handed her a saxophone and she tore into "Yakety Sax" and then she played it backwards as you can see in this clip:
Parton played the dulcimer as she sang another mega hit from 1973, "My Tennessee Mountain Home", she did seem to transport the Hollywood fans to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, I noted some fans tearing up and reaching for tissues.
This writer was hoping she would have performed "Joshua", one of her early hits or "Mule Skinner Blues" even earlier. She didn't, but enough gems were still left to be sung. Dolly did a Gospel medley that ended with "I'll Fly Away" and then there was a 20 minute intermission.
When Parton came back on the stage to perform the second half, she performed "Baby, "Im Burning" and went into "Two Doors Down".
Parton said she was battling a cold, but the audience would never have known. She said twice "It's getting cold!" and it was I felt it too. Nothing would have kept me from this show. The hits kept coming with her first million seller
"Here You Come Again":
I heard the strains of "Islands In The Stream" start up and I heard "Is Kenny Rogers here?" He wasn't, it would have been fun, but Parton held her own as she performed the song.
Parton told the audience how blessed she truly has been. Not only did her dreams come true by making records, singing for crowds and being a member of the Grand Ole Opry - she made movies. She touched on her co-stars and the films like "The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas", "Steel Magnolias" and "Joyful Noise". Dolly had fans on their feet for the title song from her hit movie "9 To 5". She thanked her fans for "putting food on the table and rhinestones on my back!"
Parton and her band went into a medley of 60's and 70's standards like "American Pie", "Blowing In The Wind", "If I Had A Hammer" and "The Night They Drove Ole Dixie Down". I heard the capacity crowd of the Hollywood Bowl sing along and have a great time.
Parton closed with her classic 1974 hit single "I Will Always Love You". A song originally written as recorded as Dolly was leaving her singing partner Porter Wagoner. The song became the one she usually closes shows with - for her fans. Despite the monster hit recording by Whitney Houston, Dolly's version is my all-time favorite recording.
Yes, I love Dolly Parton and her music. I have met many performers over the years, maybe one day I will meet Ms. Parton. I have mutual friends who know her and adore her.
I could tell you a lot more about the show, but catch Dolly for yourself. Here is her schedule for the remaining dates on this leg of her "Pure & Simple" Tour:
November 15: Pigeon Forge,TN
November 16: Huntsville, AL
November 18: North Charleston, SC
November 19: Charlotte, NC
November 26: Tampa, FL
November 27: Sunrise, FL
November 29: Pensacola, FL
November 30: New Orleans, LA
December 2: Corpus Christi, TX
December 3: Grand Prairie, TX
December 5: Houston,TX
