Dolly Parton collaborated with an awe-inspiring list of artists from the rock world on her new double-album, Rockstar. Yet, the country legend has revealed that one of her very favorite tracks from the 30-song project was one that she recorded with ex-Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty. Parton teamed up with Fogerty for a rendition of the 1970 CCR hit “Long as I Can See the Light.”
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In a video clip of a recent interview with SiriusXM radio host Eddie Trunk, Parton explained what inspired her to record the tune, noting that she loved Creedence Clearwater Revival and Fogerty, and thought he was “one of the greatest voices and writers ever.”
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Parton also revealed that both she and her husband, Carl Dean, were big CCR fans, but admitted, “I think I liked them more than Carl did.”
As for why she specifically chose to do “Long as I Can See the Light,” she explained, “I had heard that song on one of the albums and I just loved it. It just reminded me kind of a country song and … it kind of had a gospel flavor to it. And I grew up in the church.”
Parton also noted that she didn’t want to choose a very well-known CCR song that many other artists had recorded, such as “Proud Mary.” She wanted her album to feature some variety, so she picked “Long as I Can See the Light.”
When Parton asked Fogerty if he would record the song with her, she told Trunk he wholeheartedly agreed, adding that he had an interesting suggestion.
“John said … ‘[W]hy don’t we do it like the old days? Why don’t I just come to Nashville, get a band together, and we just do it on the spot,’” she recalled. “‘We’ll get in there and sing it together at the same time.’”
Parton said she loved the idea, and she “really loved” doing the session with Fogerty, noting that the experience did remind her of the way she used to make records.
“People don’t record like that anymore,” she said. “We got the band, we had a four-hour session set, we got in, we get the track, we sung along with the band. They had the best time doing it … Some of [the session players] were younger musicians, but some of the older ones remembered how that’s how we used to record, everybody in the studio with the singer at the same time.”
Parton said that recording live together “was pretty much natural” for her and Fogerty.
“We didn’t have to do it over and over. And our vocals … we were playing off each other, and it felt so good and natural,” she explained. “And we’re both old-timers … so to speak, and we just got stuff that you just wouldn’t get if you were just singing it over and over just to get it perfect. We didn’t care if it was perfect. It was perfectly fine with us that it was perfectly good.”
She added, “That’s one of my favorite things on the whole album.”
As previously reported, Rockstar bowed at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, making it the country great’s highest-charting album ever on the tally. The record also debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales list, her first-ever album to reach the pinnacle of that tally in the chart’s 32-year history.
CCR originally released “Long as I Can See the Light” as a double single with “Lookin’ Out My Back Door,” which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September of 1970.
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