HERE SHE COMES AGAIN
Dolly talks love and touring
Next to her songs, Dolly Parton’s giggle is one of the most heavenly sounds on Earth.
It’s the last thing you expect to hear in the middle of a conference call with a dozen or so Canadian journalists and radio hosts. But as the country and feminist icon ruminates about the possibility of shooting a music video with skinny-dipping seniors, her voice erupts into squeaky and girlish tee-hees, adding a personal touch to what is rather an impersonal interview format.
“I’m getting goofy now,” laughs the 70-year-old singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist behind such classics as Jolene, I Will Always Love You and Coat of Many Colours.
Pure & Simple could be used to describe the sound of Parton’s giggle; it’s also the title of her 43rd album and current tour, which brings her to Rogers Place on Saturday, Sept. 17.
“When I decided I was going to do a tour called Pure & Simple, we stripped it down musically,” she says. “Then I thought: ‘Well, we need a CD’ ... and every song in it should also not be overly produced or overly done. I wanted to purposely do it kinda like how it was in my early days. Of course, with the new sounds and new technology, it sounds really good but we really captured that feeling of what my early sessions were — had that realness and that honesty, just pure and basic simple stuff, done in a pure and simple way.”
Pure & Simple focuses on the complexities of the heart, including Never Not Love, a song about undying love; Can’t Be That Wrong, a cheating number; and I’m Sixteen, a tune about finding that special someone in your later years. (Hence, the aforementioned skinny-dipping seniors.)
“I wanted to cover all the shapes of love in this, not just true love. I call it my Love of Many Colours album. All those feelings are real to the people experiencing them and even if it’s not something I’ve experienced myself, I’ve taken stories of people close to me and situations that I know of personally.”
She may be emotional and giggly, but don’t forget — she’s also a savvy entrepreneur. Over the years, she’s launched her own publishing company, record label, TV and film production company, and amusement park.
Here are some excerpts from Parton’s recent conference call, including her thoughts on love, potatoes, and dropping dead on stage.
Q I’m Sixteen is such a sweet song. It’s about young love and feeling young through love. How do you stay feeling young? What advice about love would you give your 16-year-old self?
A When I wrote the song, I was able to draw from my 16-year-old self with situations and things that I did at that age and remembering how I felt at that age. I wrote the song based on ... one of my sisters that’s in her early 60s. She had given up on love, then all of a sudden, she finds the true love of her life and she acts like she’s 16 and they’re just so cute.
I thought it was a cute song and it’s really about people feeling like they’re young and I love the little part that says: “It goes to show you’re never old unless you choose to be / And I’ll be 16 forever as long as you love me.” I think it’s just about a good attitude in love. I’ve always had a good attitude toward love. My husband and I were married 50 years on Memorial Day this year, and so I know a lot about love and all of those feelings. So this seemed to be a good year to write a whole album of just love songs.
Q How do you prepare yourself physically and mentally for being on the road? And how do you pick a set list when you have so many great songs plus you want to get some Pure & Simple in the show?
A First of all, I love doing shows and the audience kind of participates and they give me a lot of energy. So energy begats energy. But I tell ya, the hardest part of doing a show is actually working it up and deciding what you’re going to do. I still love it like I always did. I pace myself pretty well; I try to choose the songs based on the dynamics of the show. You don’t want to do two or three slow songs in a row. I try to do it where I can keep the energy level at a good pace. When it starts to get a lull, then I’ll do an uptempo song.
But I love to tell stories and people seem to be interested in that, so I try to place those things throughout the show to where we’re all kind of in it together. I kind of base some of my talk on the audience that night. I can tell if they’re into the stories, so maybe I’ll tell more stories. If they’re more into the music, I’ll do less talk and more music. If you’re in tune to your audience, you’ll do a good show.
Q What’s your absolute favourite thing to eat when you’re on the road?
A When I’m on tour, I have to try to purposely stay on a low-carb diet because I’m a big eater and in low-carb, you can actually eat a lot more things but I try to have to stay in my stage clothes. On days off, though, I’m a big junk-food person. Potatoes are my weakness. Every diet I ever fell off of was because of potatoes in one form or another. I’ll eat a bag of potato chips, I’ll eat a baked potato, I’ll eat french fries and all that.
Q At the stage of life you’re in, do you still love it as much as you did the very first day you performed?
A Yes, I love it as much. I really can’t tell you how I love to do it now and how important it is ‘cause I want to do this forever and I recognize the number in my age and so I think: “I ain’t got as much time as I used to have so I want to make the most out of every single minute. Don’t want to lose a minute.” I’ll never retire. I hope to drop dead right in the middle of a song or onstage one of these days in the future.
I wanted to cover all the shapes of love in this ... I call it my Love of Many Colours album. All those feelings are real to the people experiencing them and even if it’s not something I’ve experienced myself, I’ve taken stories of people close to me and situations that I know of.