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Posted by on Mar 14, 2022 in Blog, Music and Concert Reviews | 2 comments

Dolly Parton Belongs in the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame

 

 

Hello Dolly!

So, news flash today — Dolly Parton declined the nomination to be inducted into this year’s Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

Read:  Dolly Parton Bows Out of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominations

Predictably, I have a few thoughts:

(1) The Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame is really more a celebration of popular music, not just a recognition of the rock genre. Stevie Wonder, James Brown, the Temptations, the Platters, Johnny Cash, Etta James, the O’Jays, and Leonard Cohen are but a few of the inductees with little or no music in the rock canon. Had you walked into a record store back during the height of their careers, none would have been considered as rock artists. Hence, Dolly Parton would fit among this illustrious group, given the precedent and history. She’s no more out of the rock mainstream than any of the aforementioned inductees. In other words, she belongs in the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

(2) If the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame wants to have any future and not take the place of a musical dinosaur, it better adjust to the times and make attempts to become more inclusionary. That means a few things — (a) opening up nominations to all forms of popular music and influences, and (b) changing the name or adding a more descriptive official name — something like “The Rock n’ Roll and Pop Music Hall of Fame.” This is especially true given so much cross-pollination of genres now, not to mention going global.

(3) Who doesn’t absolutely love, respect, and adore everything about Dolly Parton? ‘Nuff said.

(4) Finally, I hope she follows up on the offhand comment about (maybe) making a rock album. I might be way too nostalgic and perhaps am naive, but if she somehow put together a band of rockers as backups (or better yet, co-collaborators), wrote 5-6 originals with a few covers, composed an album, and then toured, I’ll give you 9 to 5 odds it would blow the sky off and probably be an instant nominee for an “Album of the Year” Grammy.

2 Comments

  1. Can’t support your position on this one, Nolan.

    First, no one gives a damn about the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. That itself is a joke.

    Second, you don’t think Motown music was considered rock? Dead wrong. Motown acts — including the Tempts, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, and the Four Tops — appeared all the time in early ’60s rock concerts at the Brooklyn Fox and other eastern venues, some of my earliest rock concert memories.

    Third, ditto for the Platters and O’Jays. Their airplay was exclusively on rock stations. They appeared on American Bandstand. As to Stevie, Fingertips Part 2 was a huge hit on every rock station in existence — a huge number one.

    Fourth, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t consider Dolly Parton a country artist, and a minor one at that. Apart from writing “I Will Always Love You”, appearing in a succession of bad movies, and a vague association with Burt Reynolds, who cares about her?

    Three thumbs down on this one…

    • Nolan Replies:

      This might be the worst reply I’ve seen on here in a long time, and that’s saying something. You ask, “who cares about her?” and say she’s a “minor” country artist.

      Huh?

      From the Wiki page on Parton:

      — She has had 25 songs reach no. 1 on the Billboard country music charts, a record for a female artist.
      — She has 44 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and she has 110 career-charted singles over the past 40 years.
      — She has composed over 3,000 songs.
      — She was the co-star of country music’s first national TV Show (Porter Wagner Hour).
      — She has starred in films such as 9 to 5 (1980) and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), for which she earned Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress, as well as Rhinestone (1984), Steel Magnolias (1989), Straight Talk (1992) and Joyful Noise (2012).
      — She has garnered 11 Grammy Awards and 50 nominations, including the Lifetime Achievement Award; ten Country Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year and is one of only seven female artists to win the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year Award; five Academy of Country Music Awards, also including Entertainer of the Year; four People’s Choice Awards; and three American Music Awards. She is also in a select group to have received at least one nomination from the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Tony Awards, and Emmy Awards. In 1999, Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
      — Then, there’s her activism and charity work, which is probably more extensive than any artist in country music (or rock music, for that matter).

      I strongly suggest you seek out and watch the KEN BURNS documentary on the history of country music. Dolly Parton is featured prominently throughout as a huge trendsetter. YOu may come away with a far greater appreciation for he talents and what she’s done.

      — ND

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