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On This Day in 1967, Dolly Parton Released the Song That Put Her on the Map
On this day (May 8) in 1967, Dolly Parton released “Something Fishy” as the third and final single from her debut album. Later that year, it peaked at No. 17, giving Parton her first top 20 hit on the country chart. The song came just months before she replaced Norma Jean on The Porter Wagoner Show and three years before she broke into the top 10 for the first time.
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Parton’s career was finally starting to take off in 1967. After a string of singles that failed to chart, she released “Dumb Blonde.” It peaked at No. 24 on the chart. More than that, it introduced a wider audience to the up-and-comer from East Tennessee and all the sass that came with her ear-catching voice. Six months later, she released “Something Fishy,” delivering the same balance of a catchy country melody and her fiery attitude.
Behind Dolly Parton’s First Hit Single
Today, Dolly Parton is known as a brilliant businesswoman as well as a talented singer and songwriter. “Something Fishy” was early evidence of all of those things. She saw the success she had with her previous single and hoped to top what she had already done.
“When I wrote ‘Something Fishy,’ I guess I was probably trying to think of something commercial that would at least be in keeping with the success I’d had with ‘Dumb Blonde,’” she recalled in her book Songteller. “I was trying to do something a little more uptempo, something that had a little bit of spunk. ‘Dumb Blonde’ was ‘This dumb blonde ain’t nobody’s fool.’ ‘Something Fishy’ was ‘You think you’re going to fool me? I’m too smart for that. You say you’re going fishing. I think there’s something fishy going on. You think you can fool me because I’m a girl, like I don’t have enough sense to know what you’re doing?’”
She notched another top 20 single with “Just Because I’m a Woman” the next year. Her next hit came in 1970 when her version of Jimmie Rodgers’ “Mule Skinner Blues” reached No. 3. Later in the decade, her career took flight with a series of No. 1 hits that included “I Will Always Love You” and “Jolene.”
Featured Image by George Rose/Getty Images
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