Dolly Parton can walk her own walk, talk her own talk, and in the world of music, do whatever she wants. Given her complete autonomy, Parton can say “no” and or “yes” to anyone who approaches her for some sort of collaboration. Well, Parton, being unapologetically herself, denied one of the biggest musicians of all time when they asked to cover one of her many hit songs. The musician and song in question—Elvis Presley and Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.”
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Many would have loved to see Presley cover this song, as it perfectly fits his musical wheelhouse and would have birthed a collaboration for the ages. However, that seemingly did not appeal to Dolly Parton whatsoever, as when Presley approached her she stayed loyal to her convictions and turned him in the other direction.
Dolly Parton & Colonel Tom Parker’s Publishing Dispute
In an interview on The Howard Stern Show, Stern asked Parton about Elvis and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker’s desire to cover her iconic track, “I Will Always Love You.” Parton’s response, “I was so excited that Elvis was going to record the song” and “Elvis, his producer at the time, had called and asked me to come down to the studio.” Parton continued, “[Elivs’ producer] said, ‘Elvis wants to meet you and he’s going to record “I Will Always Love You.”‘
Even though Parton was overcome with excitement about Elvis wanting to cover her song, Parker killed the collaboration due to his high demands. “Colonel Tom had called and said ‘You know that we don’t record anything with Elvis unless we have the publishing or at least half the publishing,’” Parton recalled. Her simple response, “That’s not possible.”
At the time the song was Dolly Parton’s most important copyright to both her and her publishing company. So, even when Parker pushed, Parton held her ground and continued to say no to his demands. Despite being quite torn up over the lost prospect, Parton knows she made the right choice by giving it to Whitney Houston.
“After Whitney Houston recorded I was so thankful that I had made that choice,” Parton stated. Even though the collaboration between the two greats would have been iconic, kudos to Dolly Parton for standing her ground. Especially to the historically cutthroat and ruthless Colonel Tom Parker. Furthermore, in the end, Dolly Parton did more than fine without Elvis or the Colonel.
Photo by Andrew Putler/Redferns
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