In between releasing her two albums in 1973, My Tennesse Mountain Home and Bubbling Over, Dolly Parton released the single “There’ll Always Be Music” on June 25, 1973, with her collaborator in the early ’70s, Porter Wagoner.
Written by Parton, the song highlights the power of music through time and in the face of hardship—Man’s burdens are made lighter with a song.
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‘Music is the Voice of the Story’
A mother sings as she rocks her babies
Children sing the noted nursery rhymes
The old church bell is ringing
For the Sunday morning singing
Music is as old as the time
As the farmer works the fields, he sings a song
The songbirds in the trees sing along
And the wind makes melodies
As it whistles through the trees
Man’s burdens are made lighter with a song
There’ll always be music as long as there’s a story to be told
There’ll always be music ’cause music is the voice of the story
There’ll always be music
Rain makes rhythmic sounds when it’s falling
There’s music in a newborn baby’s cry
There’s music all around
And there is no sweeter sound
For that’s the way a man expresses life
‘Tina Turns the Country On!’
A year after Parton’s song was released, Tina Turner started recording her debut solo album, which tapped into the same genre that was building steam by the early ’70s.
Tina Turns the Country On! featured a collection of covers by Turner, including two songs by Bob Dylan, along with her renditions of songs by Kris Kristofferson, James Taylor, and Olivia Newton-John‘s 1974 country hit “If You Love Me (Let Me Know).” The album also featured one original, the opening “Bayou Song,” written for Turner by Peter-John Morse.
In an interview in 2023, shortly after Turner’s death, Parton said she didn’t recall how “There’ll Always Be Music” ended up on Turner’s album, but it was still one of the highest compliments to her music.
“I’m always complimented when anybody wants to do my songs,” said Parton. “I don’t even remember what year that was, but it was long, long ago when I wrote that.” Parton sings, “‘There will always be music ‘cause music is the voice of the soul.’ I was very proud of it at the time.”
‘Rockstar’
When Parton was working on her 2023 album Rockstar, she had the perfect song in mind for Turner to sing with her. At the time, Turner was very ill and died on May 24, 2023, at age 83.
“I love Tina Turner,” said Parton in 2023. “In fact, I did not know she was ill, or as ill as she was, and I wanted her to sing on my rock and roll album. Chris Lord-Alge, who mixed the album, knew her. He was going over there to do some business anyway where she lives, so he was going to take that to her. And he told me, ‘You know, she’s not in good health. I don’t think this is going to happen.’”
Parton continued, “I was really sad about that because I had the perfect song that we were going to do. I didn’t even put it on the album. It was a song I wrote called ‘Stay Out Of My Bedroom’ (recorded with Sylvester Stallone for the film ‘Rhinestone’ in 1984). Maybe I’ll do it some other time with somebody else.”
When Parton accepted her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, she wore an outfit inspired by Turner, who was inducted in 2022.
“But I love Tina and that outfit I wore for the Rock & Roll acceptance speech, I was thinking of her the whole time,” said Parton. “It felt like something that she would wear. I showed my legs, which are not nearly as beautiful as hers, nor as long.”
Photo: Richard Nairin/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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