Dolly Dazzles in London, Eyes New ‘Jack’ of Trade at Home

Dolly Parton may hail from deepest rural Tennessee, but she's not short of the odd friend in the UK. In 2008 and 2009, the legendary songbird played sold-out shows at London's O2 Arena, which are now immortalized in a live CD and DVD called 'Live From London.' The 63-year-old country legend 's love affair with the British capital looks like it's here to stay ... and is certainly reciprocated.

Dolly's appeal goes far beyond country circles; she's a gay icon and a credible songwriter for those wanting to look beyond the Dixie kitsch exterior. It's that credibility in the writing world that has made Dolly a much sought-after collaborator, with everyone from Brad Paisley to Jessica Simpson knocking down her door to ask for a duet. In this candid chat with The Boot's U.K. correspondent, Dolly reveals the latest offer on her table ... from a rocker who wears almost as much makeup as she does! And the living legend reflects back to her childhood to the circumstances that made her the entertainer and philanthropist that she is today.

Congratulations on expanding your children's charity, which has done so well in promoting literacy not only in the U.S. but now over here in Britain, as well.

It's called the Imagination Library, and we have a program where we give children a book from the time they're born, once a month, until they start kindergarten, so they can learn to read and have that interaction with their parents or with a sibling. They learn the love of books. It's all over the United States, it started in my home town, and then we went into Canada, and then we started it in the UK. Hopefully, we're going to be more places. You can never have too many books!

Your own childhood wasn't filled with books, though.

Well, I grew up in a large mountain family with eight children younger than me, and we had no books except the Bible, and mother read that to us. I was always fascinated with books, with fairy tales; I enjoyed learning to read. I loved it so much I don't even remember learning how to read! My mother taught me that. I've been reading, since I was little, anything and everything I could get my hands on. It came from a love of books and having so many of my relatives that could not read nor write, that didn't get an opportunity to go to school. My own father could not read nor write. When I started the program, it came from a serious place in my heart. I know how important it is for children to learn early on, even if you don't get a chance to go to college. If you can read, you can find a book on any subject and educate yourself.

You're no doubt a prolific songwriter, but you're also a very hand-on businesswoman. Is it hard to find quiet time to pick up a guitar and write a song?

I have not had that luxury in the last few years. I do find time to write. I try to come up with something so I don't feel like I'm not being productive, but there are so many things going on! But I treasure it when I do have time to get away. That's my outlet, that's my release, that's my therapy, it's my connection with God.

I do plan to take off and spend a lot of time being creative and coming back with new things. I'm going to pull back a little bit on some of the business things and hope that the good people that know how to run my businesses do it well.



Hopefully you're still able to find time every January 19 to write! We know it's your yearly birthday tradition.

I do try and write something on my birthday every year. One of the songs on the DVD – 'Only Dreaming' – I wrote that on my birthday in New York a few years ago, and I just came into the studio and put it down, just me singing a cappella. And then Kent Wells, my guitar player, started putting some of those old-timey sounds. That was a birthday song!

Johnny Cash reached a new generation of fans through his 'American Recordings' with producer Rick Rubin. Any thoughts about doing something similar?

Well, I have been approached about that, the same person that worked on the Johnny album, and I think is that the same one who worked on the Loretta [Lynn] album – Jack White? I've thought about doing it with him [Jack, of the White Stripes and Raconteurs], and he seems to be a fan, and a lot of people have asked me about it, but who knows? You never know what I might do.

Every now and then I get offered those things, and I know if and when the time is right. I'm certainly not opposed to doing that; it's just I usually have a set notion of where I'm headed with a certain project and what I want to get out of it. But Lord only knows what I might do when I get a chance to sit down and think about it again.

The shows on this new CD/DVD set were all sold-out in lightning-fast time. Why do you think British audiences still love you?

I wrote songs about the 'Olde Worlde' and things that people there related to, hard times, and sung with a lot of feeling. It was really things that were in my Smoky Mountain DNA. A lot of those songs I'd sing came from England and Ireland and Scotland, and I think people sense that. 'Coat of Many Colors' was always a favorite of so many people, especially in London. People would say, "I relate to that; my mother made me a coat." I think they take me as one of their own.

We got Irish and Scottish blood in there, and English – my father's people, Parton, that's an English name. I think I've got enough of a mixture to where I'm accepted in all those places.

Are you already thinking of the next visit to Britain?

Well, it won't be for the next two or so years; I've got a lot of things I'm working on now. I will certainly look forward to when I do get a chance to come back. I think that probably with the concerts that we did – we were there twice in a year-and-a-half – and then we did this DVD and CD, so they're probably sick of me now!



Dolly Parton's 'Live in London' is out now on CD and DVD.