Dolly Parton is the unofficial figurehead for Appalachian life in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, which is quite the stark contrast from the gritty hustle and bustle of New York City. So, one could imagine the shock a young Parton was in for when she traveled to the Big Apple as an up-and-coming songwriter from Music City. Little did the city know, it ought to look out for her.
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After all, a city can be fierce and relentless. But so can a country girl.
Dolly Parton Remembers First Time In New York City
During a 2005 appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, country idol and de facto Queen of Appalachia, Dolly Parton, recalled what it was like the first time she arrived in New York City. She decided to make the trip in the late 1960s or early 1970s with her lifelong best friend and then-assistant, Judy Ogle. Neither woman had ever been to the Big Apple before. And considering Parton was still in the process of making it big as a Nashville songwriter, the pair got to enjoy (and not enjoy) the city just as any other regular, non-celebrity tourist might.
The ladies’ tumultuous first visit to New York City started off well enough. They checked into their hotel room, dropped off their luggage, and began exploring the city. But when they returned, they found that hotel management had put their luggage in the hall and locked them out of their rooms. “We’ve been friends since we were little,” Parton explained on the late-night talk show. “So, we just got one room. And of course, I look cheaper then than I even do now. Judy didn’t look any better. [The hotel] thought we were hookers. They thought we were turning tricks up there.”
Parton and Ogle convinced the hotel staff to let them keep their luggage in the lobby while they waited for it to be time to leave. As New York tourists are wont to do, the pair ended up on 42nd Street. And much to the Tennessean duo’s chagrin, trouble didn’t end after their disappointing hotel incident.
You Can Take The Girl Out Of The Country…
…but as Dolly Parton proved during her first trip to New York City, you can’t take the country out of the girl. The “Jolene” singer told Late Night host Conan O’Brien that she and Judy Ogle ran into the same problems on 42nd Street that they had in the hotel lobby. People were wildly misconstruing what the dolled-up women were doing in the city. “This guy thought we were on the make,” Parton said. “We was just trying to get home, killing time. We didn’t know where we were. So, I was a country girl from the mountains. I had a gun in my purse, and this guy wouldn’t leave me alone.”
She continued, “He was just sure I was playing hard to get and that I was really after it. He was definitely after it. So, I just pulled my gun out and said, ‘If you touch me one more time, I’m gonna shoot you.’” Parton said the guy started to back off until Ogle began laughing, after which the unsolicited suitor thought the whole thing was a joke. Ultimately, Parton and Ogden managed to escape the awkward encounter and made it back to Tennessee safe and sound.
Interestingly, the brief standoff went on to inspire a line Parton says in the 1980 comedy, 9 to 5: “I’m gonna change you from a rooster to a hen in one shot. Don’t think I can’t do it.”
Photo by MediaPunch/Shutterstock
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