Dolly Parton: The Legend Behind the Rhinestones.

Kyle Risi: So Dolly has this huge hit under her name, and now she decides it's time to go, but she doesn't just want to write a regular resignation letter. She decides that she's going to write her resignation letter as a song. So She walks into Porter's office and she asks him to just sit down and listen. And then she plays a song from start to finish. Porter just stays quiet the entire time. And by the end, a single tear is rolling down his face. He's gotten the message loud and clear. And he tells her. I will let you go. But only if I can produce this song and that song. Was, I will always love you.

Kyle Risi: Welcome to the Compendium, an assembly of rhinestones and revelations. I'm your host Kyle Risi, and you're listening to the Compendium, an assembly of fascinating and intriguing things. We're a weekly variety podcast, where I ordinarily tell Adam Cox all about a topic that I think you'll find both fascinating and intriguing.

Kyle Risi: This week, Adam is taking a well deserved break. And filling in for him, we have the insatiable, the gorgeous, Lizzie! Yay! Hello. So Lizzie, what's your name, where do you come from? Do you get that reference? I do. I thought you were too young to get that reference. I grew up on good old Cilla Black. So yeah, Lisi, do you want to introduce yourself?

Kyle Risi: Yeah, 

Lizzy Evans: so I'm Lisi. I am a local gal. I love country music, so I'm really looking forward to this episode. Oh, 

Kyle Risi: so you even know what we're covering today. So you've got the clue then, right? 

Lizzy Evans: Yeah, I picked up on that, yeah. I cameoed in the Scientology 

Kyle Risi: episodes that you did. Oh, you did? You were one of the little soundbites that we got.

Kyle Risi: I am one of the 

Lizzy Evans: famous people that wheezes in the shower. Me and my mum. Are you the 

Kyle Risi: one who also stamps the poo down the plughole? 

Lizzy Evans: I'm not even sure if I would admit that. 

Kyle Risi: What do they call that? Waffling?

Kyle Risi: Poo in the shower and just stamp that down the 

Lizzy Evans: plughole? Generally, no. Although I have, I used to work, I did a summer school and some kids would smear their poo all over the walls. Oh god. Almost in protest. Of what? I don't know, they didn't really like the accommodation so they would just smear their shit everywhere.

Kyle Risi: But it's not like they can go anywhere because now they have to, they have to sleep in their shit now. Yeah, it was 

Lizzy Evans: disgusting. But they had rich parents and we charged them for it, so it's fine. And the rich parents as well! They 

Kyle Risi: should know better. Yeah, they should, yeah. That's horrendous. It was disgusting.

Kyle Risi: Well, welcome. Welcome to the show. Thank you for filling in for Adam while he takes a little sabbatical away from the show. So, at the beginning of the show, we like to do a little segment called All the Ladies Sings where we talk about some of the more interesting things that we have discovered from the past week.

Kyle Risi: So, did you come prepared? I certainly did. Well, we should roll the credits.

Kyle Risi: So Lisi, what have you got for us this week? 

Lizzy Evans: It's a bit of a weird one, but I think it's quite fitting, because I don't know if your listeners know, but you've got a giant cat. Mm 

Kyle Risi: hmm. Good old Keith. He's just, he's downstairs at the moment. He's a bit overwhelmed by the new faces in the room, but yeah, we have a giant cat called Keith.

Kyle Risi: He's 

Lizzy Evans: beautiful. He is gorgeous. And I thought that I wanted to find a fitting story, and it just so happens that a few weeks ago, there was a weird news story, obviously in America, and it was an emotional support alligator. I don't know if you've seen this in the news. 

Kyle Risi: Okay. Do you know of it? Um, literally Adam came with this story.

Lizzy Evans: No, just last episode. 

Kyle Risi: But let's see your 

Lizzy Evans: take on it. I just thought it was really cool because I wanted to find something fitting, you know, and you've got a giant cat. So I thought, what other weird and wonderful creatures do people keep? And they took this alligator to a baseball game. Yep. And they weren't allowed in, obviously, because I mean, that's fucking crazy.

Lizzy Evans: But. And watch this video of this guy, and he keeps reptiles and stuff, and they've got three alligators, but Wally, Wally gator, is his name. That's his name, Wally? Yeah, he's like a cuddly gator, which is not a thing in my world. But, they essentially pay to hug him, and they donate to this guy, I've got his name, Joey Hennie is his name.

Lizzy Evans: I've never heard of him. Nicest guy, like, you, you look, and he basically had depression a few years ago, and he, like, Wally got him through it, and I thought it was such a heartwarming story, but that led me to think of all the other weird and wonderful animals, because emotional support animals obviously are a real thing, but a lot of the time it's dogs, especially in the UK we don't really have that weird and wonderful.

Lizzy Evans: Creatures, like, around, apart from, you know, giant Maine Coons. But yeah, he's got 32, nearly 33, 000 followers on Instagram, and I just thought that's incredible for an animal. 

Kyle Risi: But the implications of having a alligator as an emotional support animal, that's pretty dangerous. Like, what if he attacked someone?

Kyle Risi: I know he hasn't attacked anyone, has he, this one, and apparently he eats. Mariah, he only eats dead things. He doesn't actually eat anything. 

Lizzy Evans: Live. Yeah, exactly. I just think that's really weird because he's calm, 

Kyle Risi: rich animal. But still it takes one though. It only takes one for him to just snap. He might just go, boom, you look tasty.

Kyle Risi: But kids pet him. 

Lizzy Evans: But he, he, they take him to cafes and diners and kids pet him. And he is not put anything around his mouth. He just doesn't bite. 

Kyle Risi: Yeah. And I don't trust it. No, I'm sorry. That's not for me. . 

Lizzy Evans: Um, they take him everywhere. The baseball game was in Pittsburgh. Mm-Hmm. , I think. Or was it was in, uh, Philadelphia.

Lizzy Evans: Against Pittsburgh and they were supposed to meet the team He was supposed to be an emotional support animal for the team, bit of a morale and wasn't allowed in obviously So just stood outside hugging people as they went in. Amazing. Yeah But that led me to think of what other weird wonderful animals and it won't surprise you that all of them are in America So you probably haven't heard of any of these but we've got cuddle quack, which is obviously a duck.

Lizzy Evans: A duck Yeah, it helped its owner with anxiety. Then you got pitter pepper The pig. 

Kyle Risi: Pizza Pepper the pig. Yeah. 

Lizzy Evans: It's a bit of a tongue twister. Appropriate. Helped its owner with a medical condition to get through it. So you're sensing a theme here. You've got Alpine, Al for short, a cockatoo, helped its owner through anxiety and depression.

Lizzy Evans: I think it's a social thing I'm picking up. And then you had Emerson, which is a Capuchin monkey, which helped its owner through mental health after sexual abuse. Oh really? So again, similar sort of thing, just psychological. But I think the, the strangest thing, my, uh, my ex boyfriend, one of my first loves, you know.

Lizzy Evans: The one that got away? 

Kyle Risi: No, no. Oh, okay. Gladly not. Clearly got away. 

Lizzy Evans: Absolutely bolted out the door. So, fuck. But, his mum used to own a reptile shop, and they occasionally had other weird, wonderful creatures, and she used to have a capuchin? Capuchin. Capuchin? Sure. Mm. Monkey. And it was little, like a little, almost like a squirrel sized, and it just used to run around the house.

Lizzy Evans: And that was the best part about 

Kyle Risi: our relationship. Tiny shits everywhere. 

Lizzy Evans: Yeah. And then the last one is Big Daddy. What do you think that is? Oh 

Kyle Risi: God, a gorilla. 

Lizzy Evans: No, it's a miniature horse.

Lizzy Evans: Helped its owner with PTSD and anxiety because animals don't judge you. That 

Kyle Risi: is so true, they don't judge you. Keith doesn't judge me. I mean, he hasn't approached me yet. No, he hasn't. He's secretly judging you. But it's crazy that because a lot of them use these emotional support animals for... Connection, right?

Kyle Risi: And it's a reflection of the world that we live in where people are so starved for this human connection that they can't get it from other humans that they find them in animals and thank God we have them, I guess. I think 

Lizzy Evans: it was just a nice story and also quite fitting for you. But a question I had, I guess, for your listeners, maybe more for you is whether they know any weird and wonderful.

Lizzy Evans: Like creatures because I don't personally especially in the UK. Everyone's got a dog or a cat, you know Some people have birds, but most people just the bog standard I don't know anyone with a weird and wonderful creature in the because all these are in the USA Yeah, that's true. So if you know of any right right in yeah, 

Kyle Risi: right in let us know.

Kyle Risi: Yeah, let us know I'll pass messages on Thank you very much for that. Yeah, so my latest things this week Risi is all around this concept of girl math, and you're the first girl that we've had on the show, and really I wanted to get your point of view on girl math. Of course. I speak 

Lizzy Evans: for the 

Kyle Risi: whole population.

Kyle Risi: You speak for the whole population. You have a virgin, and therefore that makes you qualified. Because very often we shy away from female talk, because we're not qualified, we don't have the goods. So, this woman was on TikTok, and she was like, okay. So, basically, if she goes and buys a Starbucks, which is 4.

Kyle Risi: 90, anything under 5 or 5 feels like it's basically free and therefore she hasn't really spent any money. 

Lizzy Evans: It's funny, because I had Starbucks for breakfast. 

Kyle Risi: How much was a Starbucks? 

Lizzy Evans: Oh, I don't want to say. I had a breakfast burrito thing, and it came to 11 with a hot 

Kyle Risi: chocolate. Babe, for breakfast? Really?

Kyle Risi: That's almost a meal. Like it's a dinner meal. Yeah. No, that's too much. Too much. Right. So the next one, she could turn something at Zara for 50 or 50. She bought something else that was 100. Therefore, it only cost her 50. Yeah. Go math. Yeah, yeah. 

Lizzy Evans: What? It's basically 50 percent off. No, but you spent 100 before.

Lizzy Evans: You spent 100 total. No, no, because that 50 had already left her account. So it's already gone in your mind. That's the real thing. 

Kyle Risi: That's what she was saying, basically. No, I didn't get it, but so she also says even though you buy tickets months in advance you show up at the concert and Basically the concert's free because you bought them so far in advance.

Kyle Risi: Yeah, so is this a free concert? Yeah Yeah, 

Lizzy Evans: go math. But again, it's the same premise that account left that money left your account so long ago It doesn't register now because you paid for it say in April and you went in July, 

Kyle Risi: right? I mean, I get it. I get the logic but it's probably not the best way to live your life, 

Lizzy Evans: but it's gone.

Lizzy Evans: It's past You can't regret anything. It's already had. 

Kyle Risi: Let's just spin this around you pay for a prostitute in advance and then months later You have sex with a prostitute. So basically you haven't paid for a prostitute. Yes, she's free

Kyle Risi: Okay, so She would apparently never spend 500 on Amazon, but she would happily spend 100 five times. Girl, man. Yeah. I get that one. Yeah, it's a bigger amount, 

Lizzy Evans: right? So you feel 

Kyle Risi: the guilt. Yeah, yeah. Okay, no, I get that one. So she almost got a pedicure, but she didn't. Now she has 50 extra to spend. Yeah. You're 

Lizzy Evans: saving money, you know?

Lizzy Evans: One bad decision leads to another. No. 

Kyle Risi: Okay. So when you're on your period, yeah, technically calories don't count. Girl math. 

Lizzy Evans: Yeah, because it's just the dragon and you can't control that. Oh, she's a different entity within you. Yeah. You have no control over that. If I've popped into Tesco on my way home, that's not my fault.

Lizzy Evans: It's the dragon. 

Kyle Risi: Okay. So see, girl math, interesting, but just to spin this around. Let's try some gay math. 

Kyle Risi: So I found this guy on TikTok and he just blew my mind. If it takes a regular person 15 minutes to get there, a gay man will make the same journey in 7.

Kyle Risi: 5 minutes. Gay math. Okay. Because we're very efficient, right? We know where we're going, we know what to do, we walk very fast, we're very mincy. Planned it ahead. Gay math. Yeah. So, if you have four siblings in your family, One of them is gay. If you have three siblings in your family, one of them is gay. If you have twins in your family, one of them is gay.

Kyle Risi: If you're an only child, The dad is gay. That's just science. So he also says that if someone looks at you one time or two times, they're not interested in you. Yeah. If they look at you a third time, that is the love of your life. You're falling in love. Book the venue. 

Lizzy Evans: Okay, okay. That's 

Kyle Risi: intense, but okay.

Kyle Risi: That is intense. But if they look at you a fourth time or more, you go back to being not interested. Really? 

Yeah, 

Lizzy Evans: because Why would they 

Kyle Risi: look at you a fourth time? Because they're too keen now. Because they regret their decision? No, if they No, you're not interested anymore. Not them, because they're too keen now, right?

Kyle Risi: Oh, they're too keen, okay. Yeah, you a fourth time and you're like, I've got the ick now. Yeah. You 

don't 

Lizzy Evans: resonate with that? I get the ick yeah, I get it. After four looks? Mmm, depends how many drinks I've had. 

Kyle Risi: Okay, fair enough. And then, um, Ooh, this one's a good one. If I call you a bitch or a slut, we're best friends.

Kyle Risi: Okay, 

Lizzy Evans: that's good to know. Gay math. 

Kyle Risi: Reassuring. Yeah, I call you that all the time. If I call you honey or sweetie... We're mortal enemies. I hate you. That's just gay math. Yeah, I understand that. 

Lizzy Evans: I appreciate that. Although I've been called Sweetie a few times. 

Kyle Risi: Not by you. But I think it's more condescending when people, especially gay men, call you Sweetie.

Kyle Risi: Yeah. You know, oh, Sweetie, what's this? When you came in today, I was like, hmm, you dressed like a farmer. I was like, Sweetie, what is this? It's fucking 

Lizzy Evans: cold. 

Kyle Risi: And that was all the latest things. So Lizzy... Are you ready for this week's Topic of the Week? I'm very excited, yeah. In today's episode of The Compendium, I'm going to be telling you about the life of a truly remarkable human being.

Kyle Risi: Known by many names, the Backwoods Barbie, the Smoky Mountain Songbird, the Queen of Country Music, and even the Dolly Llama. Her story is one for the ages. This person's charisma, her uniqueness, her nerve, her sheer talent. seems to strike a chord with nearly every person who knows her name. This amazing woman can play more than 20 instruments and has penned over 3, 000 songs.

Kyle Risi: She's won so many awards that even counting them is just an impossible task. But her story doesn't start in the world of sparkle and fame. It starts from humble beginnings and it's a heartwarming tale. that begins in a one room shack nestled in the smoky mountains of East Tennessee. Today, Lisi, I'm going to be telling you the story of the insatiable life of Dolly Parton.

Kyle Risi: Tell me, what do you know of Dolly Parton? 

Lizzy Evans: I listen to 

Kyle Risi: country music a lot. Because you're a huge, you're a huge fan of country music and I'm surprised how eclectic your music taste is. 

Lizzy Evans: Yeah, so my main country playlist is 27 hours long now. Jeez. And I have that. That's 

Kyle Risi: the only. That's too much country.

Kyle Risi: That's why you dress like a farmer today. It's all 

Lizzy Evans: different types of country though. So you have modern, contemporary, say like indigo, which is a side of country. Then you've got the older style, but Dolly kind of comes in a mixture of that. And obviously she's still putting out music. She's still performing.

Lizzy Evans: Yeah, she is. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, she's definitely grown over the years. 

Kyle Risi: She's transcended through the ages. 

Lizzy Evans: Yeah. Well, I was talking about her breasts, but. 

Kyle Risi: They're good too. Yeah. 

Lizzy Evans: But I think she, she puts out some really heartwarming, but then I think, I think country music is all heartwarming because it's all from the heart.

Lizzy Evans: It's always a story, isn't it? Exactly. And I think that's why I resonate with it so much. I do love her music. Sure. Islands in the stream. It's probably one of my pet peeve songs because it's so overplayed. Work a nine to five though. 

Kyle Risi: You know, the interesting thing about Islands in the Stream is that she didn't write it.

Kyle Risi: Neither do Kenny Rogers, no. Really? It's a Bee Gees song. Is it? Yeah. You're gonna find out a lot about Miss Dolly Parton today. Okay. So should we get on with it? Yes, please. Okay, so Dolly Parton was born Dolly Rebecca Parton on January of 1946. This is the same year of Freddie Mercury. Sylvester Stallone, and the magnificent Liza Minnelli.

Kyle Risi: So she was the fourth child to Robert Lee Parton Sr. and Avie Lee Caroline. Now at the time of her birth, her mother was just 19 years old and her father was just 21. Her parents both married when they were 15 and 17 years old, after which they immediately started just popping up babies literally every single year.

Kyle Risi: Dolly's family was dirt poor, and when I say dirt poor, I mean Like, as poor as it can get, right? They lived in a small one room shack on a remote farm in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, in a small town that even today has only got like 500 people living in it, so it's really tiny. So to give you a sense of just how poor they were, when Dolly was born her family couldn't afford to pay the doctors, so instead they gave the doctor a bag of cornmeal because that's literally all they had to spare.

Kyle Risi: That's crazy. And what's cute is that Dolly even joked about this today saying that her birth was paid for with a bag of flour and ever since she's been rolling in the dough. How good 

Lizzy Evans: is that? I 

Kyle Risi: love that. So as time passed her parents eventually had 14 children and they were all living in this one single room shack.

Kyle Risi: And many people just assumed that Dolly's parents were Catholics because they had so many kids. Yeah. But according to Dolly... That wasn't the case. Her parents were just really horny hillbillies. Dolly said that once she had found, uh, a diaphragm in her mother's drawer and she couldn't work out why it was there because she clearly wasn't bloody using it.

Kyle Risi: Wow. So growing up, Dolly's family, like, lived a really basic life. They didn't have any running water or electricity, and as soon as the siblings were old enough to walk or even hold a tool, they were, like, literally expected to help out around the farm. And eventually, the Partons did manage to upgrade their shack to a two bedroom shack, and then to a three bedroom shack, but even then, during the colder months, they didn't have, like, any electricity to kind of warm themselves, so all the kids would just have to cuddle together.

Kyle Risi: I guess it's one of the perks of having 12 kids. Yeah, everyone mucks him. So despite tough conditions, Dolly was a really happy child. She loved being the center of attention, which makes sense when you're one of 12 kids, you kind of have to like really compete for attention and Dolly managed to find her own special way to stand out.

Kyle Risi: And that was her voice, even from a really young age, when she was four years old, she started to learn all the different folk songs that she would hear from her mother and she would just mimic them because she knew that was the way that you got attention. And even at the age of four, Dolly showed an amazing talent for singing.

Kyle Risi: And by the time that she was five, she had already taken the steps to start making her own songs. And remember she hadn't even started school at this point, but she had this kind of natural gift for really putting words together and creating these really cute little girly little melodies. And it was clear that she had something really special.

Kyle Risi: Natural gift. Yeah, for sure. So every day Dolly would put on a show, she would force her siblings to sit and watch, or act as her backup singers. And if her siblings weren't available, she would just go in the backyard and literally just perform for the chickens. And she's so vocal about the days that she would just spend singing to these damn chickens in the garden.

Kyle Risi: Can you imagine when they're going to call the chickens? Because like, you're killing my fans. These are my groupies. My groupies, yeah. So one of Dolly's favourite places to sing was, of course, her local church, where her grandpa was a local preacher. And it was a big part of who she was. Whether or not it was family, farm animals, or at church, she always found a way to draw the attention of an audience or a crowd.

Kyle Risi: She had a very unique voice. When you hear, like, different clips of her singing when she was a child, it's just angelic. It's beautiful. She's so cute as well, and you can tell there's like a little Dolly Parton. Like, it's a mini Dolly Parton when you hear her sing. Yeah, she's got that already! So Dolly's uncle Billy, he worked in the music industry and he was really quick to notice Dolly's talents and he was truly impressed with the uniqueness and purity of that little voice.

Kyle Risi: So when Dolly was just eight, her uncle Billy heard that she had tried to make a guitar from a bunch of broken instruments that she had found. And this really made him realize just how deeply serious she was about music. So he goes and buys her a real guitar, and he takes the time to teach her how to play.

Kyle Risi: And what's really touching is that, beyond Dolly's obvious talent, she also had someone that truly believed in her. And I think if you have someone that's going to nurture that within you, then 

Lizzy Evans: you're not half way there. Especially when you're young, you need someone to fight your 

Kyle Risi: corner. Yeah, for sure.

Kyle Risi: And that's exactly what Billie did. So when he gave her her guitar, like Dolly was literally over the moon and she played it so much that her tiny little fingers would bleed. But he told us like, you've got to keep going because the more you keep playing, you'll develop these little calluses on your fingers.

Kyle Risi: Imagine 

Lizzy Evans: being told that as a child, like, if you play enough, they'll go numb. Yeah, 

Kyle Risi: They'll fall off you, you'll be fine. But yeah, she just continued to play and she was a complete natural. And what makes this even more remarkable is that she, even to this day, she cannot read sheet music at all. No.

Kyle Risi: Everything she plays is completely by ear. So Dolly and her uncle Billy begin writing a bunch of songs together. And because he was involved in the music industry, He teaches her the ropes, basically. And he also manages to get her a bunch of opportunities to sing at local radio stations. And he puts her name out there.

Kyle Risi: He's constantly advocating for her. And that's what I mean, like, he's the one that's always back in her corner. He's the one that's really driving her forward. So when Dolly is 10, Billy books her on a spot on a famous TV show. But the ironic thing is, is that Dolly's family don't even own a TV, so they wouldn't even get to even see her perform for the first time.

Kyle Risi: It's really sad. She is a huge hit and part of the appeal, of course, was obviously her age, but mostly it was that really unique and captivating little voice that grabbed people's attention. And Dolly had this, just this magnetic stage presence too. And it's no surprise that she just kept getting booked on various gigs all around the country.

Kyle Risi: And by the time that she was 12, she was often making more money in a week than her father was, and that effectively made her the breadwinner of the family. Can you 

Lizzy Evans: imagine? I mean, it happens, but you don't think 

Kyle Risi: about it. No. I wonder how her dad felt about it. I mean, it sounds like, like, she had a very supportive family anyway.

Lizzy Evans: They're probably relieved that one of their children 

Kyle Risi: is successful. They've finally made it. They've made 12 kids. Like, finally. Finally someone's paying. It 

Lizzy Evans: paid off, yeah. 

Kyle Risi: Around the time she was 13, her uncle Billy introduces her to Johnny Cash, who was already, of course, a huge deal at the time. Do you know much about Johnny?

Kyle Risi: I love Johnny. Do you? Yeah. Well, gets introduced to her and he helps her kind of land a spot on a show called The Grand Old Opry. Have you heard of that? I haven't. So this was like kind of a weekly country music radio show based in Nashville. And at the time was literally one of the biggest country music TV shows.

Kyle Risi: So being on the show was a massive deal for Dolly, not just because it was obviously significant to her career opportunities, but because it was a family's favorite show. It's the one show that they listen to every single week on the radio. So for Dolly, this was literally like a dream come true. And Dolly's performance was just a massive thing.

Kyle Risi: smashing success and the crowd was so taken with her performance that they demanded three encores. But because she'd only prepared the one song on that night, she just came out and played that same song again and then again. Which I just think is so sweet, but Just a few days later, Dolly Parton was back at school, but she was facing a completely different challenge because Dolly was severely bullied so badly that kids would lock her in cupboards, they would taunt her, and they would often physically hit her, which is just so sad.

Kyle Risi: Like, you don't hit Dolly 

Lizzy Evans: Parton. But why though? Was she a weird one? I don't know. 

Kyle Risi: Do you think she was really annoying? 

Lizzy Evans: I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what vibe she gives when she's younger, but some people... Are you justifying bullying? No, I'm not justifying it. There's like a standard process, right?

Lizzy Evans: Something about them for you to 

Kyle Risi: pick on. Yeah. Are you a moving target, basically? So for Dolly, like, school's really difficult. So much so that she did contemplate leaving several times. But thankfully, the contacts that she had made in the music industry, they all convinced her, like, you need to stick at it because having an education...

Kyle Risi: Was going to be the one thing that's going to help you navigate the complexities of the industry without being taken advantage of. And so she just sticks at it and yeah, fast forward to graduation of 1964, the teachers going around the class, asking everyone to stand up and talk about what their plans are.

Kyle Risi: After graduation and Dolly announces that she's going to Nashville to become a star and literally everyone laughs at her Which is so not so because remember she's already had loads of years experience and success 

Lizzy Evans: on TV But I feel like that's standard at school. Yeah, whatever. Yeah, but she's already famous It's like fleeting, you know high school like the best days of your life.

Lizzy Evans: They say it's absolutely not true, by the way But that's what they say. So when she's like, yeah, I'm going to be a big star, you know, for the rest of my life, it's like, whatever. No one thinks when you're in your eighties, you're going to be a star. Yeah, I guess so. You know, it's not going to last 

Kyle Risi: forever.

Kyle Risi: But I mean, the people in the community just believe that people like us don't make it big beyond the small towns. So they 

Lizzy Evans: don't come true. 

Kyle Risi: But Dolly, of course, isn't Faze. The next morning, she literally hops on a bus to Nashville, carrying all of her belongings in literally paper bags. So for Dolly, life in Nashville wasn't easy at all.

Kyle Risi: The only place that she could afford was like a cheap trader, and to make ends meet, she would literally go shoplifting in the local supermarket. Okay. And when she wasn't shoplifting, she would scavenge leftovers from hotel service trays that were left outside the rooms and occasionally find work babysitting.

Kyle Risi: At the time, like, Nashville was the go to place, especially if you wanted to make it big in country music, as obviously, you know, that's where everyone goes, right? So it was super competitive. They say, like, at that time, nearly a thousand people were moving to Nashville every single week, and only a handful of them would make it.

Kyle Risi: The majority of them would leave, like, after the first year, which is... Guttering. Her chances aren't great. She would have to be really amazing and obviously she is amazing because she made it big. Yeah, but that's why everyone laughed at her. Well, exactly. Yeah. So her uncle Billy would come and visit her from time to time and offer some help, but for the most part, she was literally on her own.

Kyle Risi: Literally pounding the pavement to try and sell her songs. At first, she didn't make any money. Partly because she was still, like, largely unknown. But also, because she was a woman. In a male dominated industry, like at the time, only a select few women were big in country music. And if you were big, you were typically in a duo with another man.

Kyle Risi: Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, I do, yeah. That's just shit. I am familiar. Oh, babe, I'm sorry. Um, but obviously she just kept going and in 1965, she does sign a contract with Monument Records. But the record label thought they should be better in a bubblegum pop rock genre. And this is all kind of just based on her look and obviously her voice.

Kyle Risi: They just didn't think that there was an appetite for someone that looked like Dolly in country music. So Dolly does kind of give pop music a try, but it's only because that's what was on the table. But her pop singles don't even make a dent in the chart. But ironically, the country songs that she's writing for other artists, they end up doing really well.

Kyle Risi: Yeah. The label decided, alright, fine, we've made a mistake, we'll give you a go at country music. So in 1966, Dolly records and releases her first album and it's called, Hello, I'm Dolly. Are you familiar with it? 

Lizzy Evans: I'm not, no, not the actual album. 

Kyle Risi: No. No. So most of the songs were written by Dolly and Billy, and the first single from that album was called Dumb Blonde.

Kyle Risi: And this conveyed a very clear message, like, don't judge me. Based on my looks and do you know what it charted really well and was the first time that dolly's name Was getting up there in the charts and this marks kind of that first steps to her rise to fame So by the time all of this happened dolly had already met the man that she was going to marry in fact She had already married him, but had been keeping all a secret.

Lizzy Evans: Did you know this? No, I didn't. Why? Why a secret? Well, 

Kyle Risi: for a sex appeal. So basically on the first day that Dolly arrived in Asheville, the first day she was waiting outside a laundromat, a laundromat, a laund, a laundromat, a laundromat. Laund. A lat, yes. . So she was waiting outside of Laundre when a guy called Carl Dean just drives past and he just yells something at her.

Kyle Risi: Um, something like along the lines of like, Hey, you're going to get sunburned, like showing that much skin. And for Dolly, like just being her sweet self, she just politely smiles and she waves at him out of habit because like, she's used, even at this age, used to people just catcalling her based on her looks because she already had a nice big flub for his breasts, right?

Kyle Risi: And also she's just like, well, that's just what country folk do. So Carl Dean parks his truck. He walks back to the laundrette and basically starts laying on the moves. Now, Dolly does try to brush them off. But he follows her inside, and he starts helping her kind of fold all her laundry, and then eventually he walks her home.

Kyle Risi: Once he knows where she lives, which is creepy as fuck, he starts visiting her every single day. So after a few weeks, he finally asks her out, to what Dolly thinks is a proper date. So she's all excited, she thinks they're going to a nice fancy restaurant. Instead, Carl Dean takes her home. He doesn't introduce her to anyone, and he just announces, Mama, fix this little gal a plate.

Kyle Risi: She's the one I'm gonna marry. That's sweet. That is sweet. Yeah, but in that moment Dolly just gasps because at that point they haven't even kissed let alone Discuss being boyfriend and girlfriend. Well, this guy's a bit too forward. Yeah, 

Lizzy Evans: but it's sweet. It's very intimidating Like some would you know nowadays you'd definitely get the ick.

Lizzy Evans: Would you get the ick? Yeah, cuz so it's whoa slow down You know, I'm not sure Do 

Kyle Risi: you know what, there's something really endearing about it. I'm a hopeless 

Lizzy Evans: romantic, but But you just said it gave you the ick. Yeah, but Yeah, 

Kyle Risi: well That's not the words of a hopeless romantic, babe. 

Lizzy Evans: Yeah, but there's a line, 

Kyle Risi: isn't there?

Kyle Risi: Right, and you think this 

Lizzy Evans: is the line. Yeah, at least kiss me first. I mean, 

Kyle Risi: fucking hell. Eventually, when the time comes for him to propose, there's no ring, there's zero romance, and his words were along the lines of, You live too far away. We should get married so we can move in together. And obviously Dolly is completely shocked again, because they haven't even talked about future plans together at all, let alone marriage.

Kyle Risi: And in fact, they hadn't even said, I love you at this point. And he's proposing. But she accepts and they start making plans for a wedding. And when she tells potential producers, they argue that she's more marketable as a single woman. And they tell her, of course, not to get married, but she ignores them.

Kyle Risi: And Dolly and Carl, they elope to a small little chapel in Georgia. That's really weird. I think she just knew what she wanted. Come on, you gotta lean into it. You did say that you're a hopeless romantic. Lean into it. I am 

Lizzy Evans: a hopeless romantic, but hopeless being the operative word. Sounds like 

Kyle Risi: you're a hopeless romantic who's been bruised.

Lizzy Evans: Let's not get into that. Haven't we all, ladies? So Dolly's 

Kyle Risi: mum makes a little dress and their honeymoon is just two hours long because afterwards they have to drive back to Nashville for work the next day and they don't tell anyone for six bloody years. Six years? Yeah. Isn't that mental? So on their first anniversary...

Kyle Risi: Carl asked Dolly about her past relationships and Dolly is just honest with him and Carl is Completely heartbroken even though he himself wasn't a virgin before meeting her. Double standards, huh? It is double standards, yeah. So years later, Dolly releases a song, Just Because I'm a Woman, that's the title, and the song says that my mistakes are no worse than yours, simply because I'm a woman.

Kyle Risi: And the song is all about the unfair standards that women are held to, and men just get away scot free. But 

Lizzy Evans: this is what I love about country music, because it always 

Kyle Risi: realised. 

Lizzy Evans: Yeah, and it always comes from the heart of whoever's obviously singing it, so it makes sense. But you never piece it together because you don't know their life story.

Kyle Risi: Yeah, that's it. What I find so interesting is that from early on in the marriage, Carl makes it clear that he wants to stay out of the public eye. And he tells Dolly, you can become as famous as you want. I just have no interest in the spotlight whatsoever. So Carl would avoid all parties, all events. And for Dolly, this arrangement works really well.

Kyle Risi: And they agreed to keep their private life private, while Dolly could go out and do whatever she wants in public. And it's obvious that this is a secret to their successful marriage, because they are still married today. 

Lizzy Evans: Yeah, just the time apart. That makes so much sense though, because if you've spent, if you've spent enough time away from your partner, I think you'll be forever, together 10 

Kyle Risi: years.

Kyle Risi: Right? Let's, every time that we're together, that's a clock ticking, but every time, moment that we're apart, that doesn't count as part. So let's just spend as much time apart. And then we can have a lovely 10 year marriage that spans 80 

Lizzy Evans: years. That makes so much sense. It does 

Kyle Risi: make sense, babe. So Dolly does describe her marriage as open, but not in a sexual way.

Kyle Risi: She says that we're both each other's primary partner, but we're both free to kind of flirt with other people. She says that he's not jealous. I'm not jealous. He knows I flirt. I know that he flirts. But I would kill him if I thought that he was doing anything more and he would shoot me too. But yeah, so they kind of allude to the fact that they have an open marriage, I 

Lizzy Evans: guess.

Lizzy Evans: I completely understand that. I think it's very normal for you as a human being to have interactions with other people, but as long as it doesn't extend beyond 

Kyle Risi: anything. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if she does have sex with these other guys as well, because she's very open about how strong her appetite for sex is, and if she's away for eight months of the year...

Kyle Risi: On a hill, really? Exactly. And she's from that stock. I know what you mean. But if she's away for eight months of the year... Yeah. Come on. Yeah. What are you doing? You just like putting ice down there in your loins? Like cooling it down? No. We're not 

Lizzy Evans: all obsessed with sex. Let's just 

Kyle Risi: go, you know, Dolly Parton's obsessed with sex.

Kyle Risi: Trust me. Trust me. So in 1967, Dolly's career soars to a whole new height. And she's offered the role as girl singer on the Porter Wagner show, which at the time is the highest rating TV show in the USA. Now Porter Wagner was a massive name in country music at that time. Like he quite literally has millions of fans.

Kyle Risi: So initially Dolly was brought in to replace the previous girl singer called Norma Jean, who was like. incredibly popular on the show. So this sudden change didn't sit well with fans, partly because they were used to kind of Norma, but mostly it's because the women were like completely polar opposites of each other.

Kyle Risi: Norma Jean was kind of this brunette type with a slim figure and kind of a fairly low voice. But Dolly was, of course, blonde, she was a bit thicker and juicier, and she had a kind of a higher pitched voice. What you're describing 

Lizzy Evans: there is best friends. What do you mean? Like a blonde and a brunette, you know, total 

Kyle Risi: opposites, but they end up...

Kyle Risi: Yeah, because you're not competing on each other's turf, right? Yeah, because you're totally different. Yeah, I guess so. But it didn't obviously sit well with them. So for the audience, this was really jarring, they had been expecting something a bit more familiar. So as a result, the audience were really harsh, and even booing her during her performances, which I think is really horrible.

Kyle Risi: It's really sad. So Dolly was super crushed at the time, understandably, because she like really hoped that this gig would be the thing that kind of takes it to that next level. So it seemed like she might lose her job, but Porter stepped in. He starts like kind of doing these duets with her on the show.

Kyle Risi: And just like magic, it worked really well. The audience got used to her voice and they started to really enjoy the solo performances in her own right. And over the years. She and Paula released a string of successful duet albums. Paula even produced Gloddy's own solo albums. But their relationship was also A super intense roller coaster filled with ups and downs.

Kyle Risi: And even when they worked really well together, they just disagreed a lot on stupid things. And this was really tiring for Dolly. So she made a promise to herself. She'd stay with the Porter show for a maximum of five years, and then she would use this experience to launch her own solo career. So fast forward to 1971.

Kyle Risi: It was obvious that Dolly was the star of the Porter Wagner show. And a big moment for her was when she released a song called Coat of Many Colors. Okay. Have you heard of it? I think I have, yeah. This is essentially a thank you note to a mother. So the song tells a story of a coat that Dolly's mother had made for her out of rags, and Dolly was so proud to wear it to school that the other kids kind of just tease her for it.

Kyle Risi: And so the song is a tribute to Dolly's mother and the love and the care that she put into making this coat. It's very sweet, yeah. So it's so heartfelt. Yeah. And the thing is, it really resonated with the audience as well, because to the audience, the themes of kind of shame and poverty, was what really resonated with him the most and the song was that one hit that catapulted dolly to kind of the next level and porter was really pissed he was really resentful of the fact that she was starting to kind of manifest herself into kind of this real big star yeah So, he just starts being really mean to her, and not just behind the scenes, but also on live TV as well.

Kyle Risi: It's horrible. Like, in the middle of a song that they're singing together, he would tell Dolly to stop playing the guitar. I've got this. I can handle it. Didn't he get, 

Lizzy Evans: like, shamed for that? No, 

Kyle Risi: he didn't. You can see it in her face like she just steps back and she's all like a little mousy and she like retreats and it's horrible.

Kyle Risi: There's compilations on YouTube that you can watch of all this happening. It's just horrible. Poor Dolly. 

Lizzy Evans: Yeah, obviously you feel sorry for her. Yeah. No 

Kyle Risi: one deserves that. No, especially not Dolly. How many people do you know that hate Dolly? Name one person that has a bad word to say about Dolly. 

Lizzy Evans: I don't, but then I don't know many people who listen to country music.

Kyle Risi: The only people I know are those bullies that bullied her. Yeah, they claim to fame. 

Lizzy Evans: I used to bully Dolly Parton.

Kyle Risi: So Dolly just knew that she had to leave, but as she pulled away, like Porter could sense it and things just got even more intense between them. And in his mind, he believed that he had made her into the star that she is, so effectively, like, she belonged to him. He just couldn't stand the fact that she was becoming more popular than him.

Kyle Risi: But he also didn't want her to leave at all. So it took her another three years before she managed to break free. So she had to endure all that bullshit. That's such a long time. It's horrible! Yeah. So in late 1973... Dolly releases a song called Jolene. We all know. This is the best song, one of her most iconic songs.

Kyle Risi: Of course. So this was the first time she had charted on the overall billboard charts and outside of country music. Did you know this? No, I didn't know. This is kind of like her 

Lizzy Evans: breakthrough. Doesn't surprise me, but yeah. It's been endless covers of it as well, like really good 

Kyle Risi: covers. Amazing. Yeah.

Kyle Risi: Brilliant song. So the story... Behind Dolly Parton's song Jolene is just incredible. So Dolly notices that Carl Dean was visiting the bank more than usual. So curious, she decides that she's going to go with him to the bank one day. And she notices that Carl starts chatting up the cashier. So she's got this kind of stunning auburn hair.

Kyle Risi: Like really beautiful skin. She's got this gorgeous little voice and Dolly thinks to herself, Ah, I see what's happening here. So she decides that she's going to store this little observation inside the back of her mind because every song needs a story. Yeah. And she's just waiting for the right story.

Kyle Risi: Then fast forward a couple of years later, Dolly is on tour when this little cute little 10 year old girl approaches her for an autograph. And when Dolly asks the girl for her name, she hears Jolene, even though the little girl says Julene. So Dolly is like, Oh my God, what a beautiful name and tells the girl that she's going to write a song about that name one day and the girl's like, Uh, okay.

Kyle Risi: And she leaves and then she realizes that Dolly's written Jolene instead of Julene. So she does contemplate going back to get a corrective, but she's like, fuck it. She goes, she off she goes. So meanwhile, Dolly is frantically trying to make sure that she doesn't forget the name in her head. So she's repeating it over and over and like adding this little melody to it because that kind of helps reinforce the memory.

Kyle Risi: So she starts singing, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene. And just like that, the song Jolene is born. Wow. 

Lizzy Evans: Sounds so simple when you put it like that. 

Kyle Risi: So yeah, that was it. 

Lizzy Evans: That's incredible. I love that song. I really do. It 

Kyle Risi: is such, it's for the ages. When I was like young, if there was ever karaoke, it would always be that song.

Kyle Risi: And I'm like, that's the gayest song that a man could sing, I guess. Is it? I think so. I don't know. Oh, maybe. So Dolly has this huge hit under her name and now is the time. So she needs to leave the Paula Wagner show, but she doesn't want to just write a regular resignation letter. Oh no. This is Dolly Parton we're talking about, right?

Kyle Risi: So she decides to write her resignation letter in a song. Okay. So she walks into Porter's office and she asks him to just sit down and listen. And then she plays the song on her guitar from start to finish and Porter just stays quiet the whole time. But by the end, like a single tear is rolling down his face and he's gotten the message loud and clear.

Kyle Risi: And he tells her, I'll let you go, but only if I can produce this song. And that song was, I will always love you. 

Lizzy Evans: Oh, that's sad and happy. That is sad. It's like closure. 

Kyle Risi: But my whole life I always thought, I will always love you, was a song between two lovers. But it's actually a resignation letter to your damn boss.

Kyle Risi: And the lyrics are like, if I should stay. I would only be in your way, so I'll go. And when you read through the lyrics, it makes complete sense. It's just... I 

Lizzy Evans: think I can safely say that I will never sing that to my boss. Like, fuck you. Fuck you very much. 

Kyle Risi: But yeah, she decided to sing what would become one of Whitney Houston's biggest songs ever.

Kyle Risi: Yeah, I just think it's one incredible story. I love the backstories. So the wild thing is that Jolene and I will always love you. Those songs were literally written on the same day or at least consecutively because when you look through Dolly's old notebooks on one page you see Jolene and the next page is I always love you.

Kyle Risi: Yeah, 

Lizzy Evans: she just had a really 

Kyle Risi: good couple of days. Yeah, and she always says that when you like listen to interviews that she has she always says I've written like 3, 000 songs and maybe five of them are good. 

Lizzy Evans: But it's like when you take a selfie isn't it and you'd have to take like a hundred and one is good.

Lizzy Evans: Yeah. In your 

Kyle Risi: opinion. Yeah, I guess so. It's a good way of putting it. That's a Gen Z insight. Yeah. It's a Doddie Parton's insight. Am I Gen Z? I think so. Well, you're 25. 26. 26. You're on the cusp. You're, you're a, you're a Gen Z elder or, uh, or a millennial youth. I don't like being a millennial. Okay, so we'll slot you with a Gen Z elder.

Kyle Risi: I'm a 90s baby. 

Lizzy Evans: Gather round children. Let me tell 

Kyle Risi: you the story of the landline. 

Lizzy Evans: I remember dial up. Dial up? Yeah, flip up phones. 

Kyle Risi: Babe, I think you might be millennial. No. Yeah, no, babe, millennial. If you remember dial up, you're millennial. Yeah, sorry. Okay. Millennial youth. Okay. So it's the millennial elders that are saying gather around children, let me tell you the story about the landline.

Kyle Risi: You're like, I already know it. I'm beyond my years. Okay. 

Lizzy Evans: Fine. I'll accept 

Kyle Risi: that. So, Dolly makes a decision to let Porter produce a song, hoping that it will kind of obviously help her escape the strained relationship. So the song becomes like a massive hit, and even Elvis Presley falls in love with the song.

Kyle Risi: So much so that he sings this song to Priscilla Presley on the day of their divorce. I know! Oh, wow. And he loves it so much that he asks Dolly if... She will let him cover the song and Dolly is like, um, hell, yes, like one of the biggest stars in the world. Yes, I'll let you sing it. But when it comes down to terms, Elvis's manager demands half ownership rights to the song and Dolly is just like, do you know what?

Kyle Risi: I cannot bring myself to just let go of the song. And so this refusal turns out to be one of the smartest moves that she ever makes in her life because later Whitney Houston herself will cover the song and it will literally make her So much bloody money, like annual royalties in the millions. It's just mental.

Kyle Risi: Yeah, it's crazy. So after breaking ties with Portner, he is still producing some of the music. And after a few more disagreements, he tries to sue her for 3 million saying that she stole that money. from him when she decided to go solo. What a bastard. Yeah, I knew that was gonna happen. Of course you knew that was gonna happen.

Kyle Risi: So he also starts badmouthing her, which like really starts to affect her reputation. So Dolly responds by agreeing to just give him a million dollars just to make him go away. And even that. Almost ruins her. Like, she doesn't have a million dollars at that time. But 

Lizzy Evans: it's crazy when you think where we started in this story and she had nothing.

Lizzy Evans: Yeah. And now she's like, well, I'll just give her a million. Yeah. 

Kyle Risi: Where? I don't think it was a, uh, I'll give you a million. She was like, I need to gather a million dollars. That's all I can afford. Yeah, so Dolly starts branching out into different genres like disco and pop, and initially her fans are like, um, no.

Kyle Risi: But Dolly knew that they would adapt, and they did. And she starts touring globally. She makes hundreds of TV appearances. One of the highlights is an Emmy nominated performance with Cher, which leads to her hosting... Her own tv shows and even appearing on the cover of playboy and this is that cover. 

Lizzy Evans: Oh my god She looks so good.

Lizzy Evans: She looks like a sexy bunny playboy. Marilyn monroe. 

Kyle Risi: Yeah, she does She also looks a little bit more distinguished and a bit more mature She doesn't look like your young kind of 20 year old. She looks like she's got Yeah, she 

Lizzy Evans: looks like a mature playboy for sure, but she looks very naturally beautiful.

Lizzy Evans: And it's classy as well. It is classy, yeah. Really classy, beautiful. I have also worn that outfit. Have you? To a club, yeah. Oh. And in other places. 

Kyle Risi: And do you think you look like her? No, 

Lizzy Evans: no, I don't. I don't have the breasts. 

Kyle Risi: I mean, that's why chicken fillets are awful, right? Just stuff your bra. It's not 

Lizzy Evans: worth it for me.

Kyle Risi: So Dolly receives a package in the post. It's from Jane Fonda, and it's a script for a film called 95. So the character of Dora Lee was specifically created with Dolly in mind and she's obviously the southern kind of secretary who people often misjudge based on her appearance and her accent and at first Jane Fonda doesn't think that Dolly would even be remotely interested but she shoots a shot and Dolly just loves the script and she agrees to be in the film and her only condition is that she would get to perform the theme song which Jane Fonda is like um okay.

Kyle Risi: Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure. If you want, are you sure, should I ka ching? So, up until this point, Dolly has never acted before. So, in preparation for the film, she memorizes not just her own lines, but everyone's lines in the script. Because, remember, she's used to live TV, so everything is done in just one single take.

Kyle Risi: And she thinks that movies work the same way. So you can imagine her surprise when she shows up on day one, when she finds out that there's a whole new script. I'm just like, but hang on a minute, I just memorized the whole thing. And everyone thinks it's bloody hilarious, but she then goes ahead and memorizes the new script as well.

Kyle Risi: Wow. And yeah. Dedication. Yeah, for sure. That shows like her commitments and her work ethic. She's just incredible. Yeah. So the film turns out to be a huge hit and even today the friendships between Dolly, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, they're all just super close. Have I haven't seen it. You haven't seen it?

Kyle Risi: No. Babe, you have to see it. Okay. I can't believe you haven't seen 

Lizzy Evans: it. I feel like I'm such a 

Kyle Risi: novice. Babe, go, go home and watch it. You'll love it. Okay. So let's talk Dolly and makeup for a second because it's clear that it's obviously a huge part of who she is. So from childhood, she was super fascinated with it, but she was never allowed to kind of wear makeup growing up.

Kyle Risi: So to get creative, she would use iodine from berries for lipstick. She would use flour for face powder, and she would even like burn matchsticks and use that as eyeliner. And she would do this all in secret. She would go out into the woods and just do it all there, then wash it all off before she came home.

Kyle Risi: Because she knew that she'd 

Lizzy Evans: be in trouble. That's really resourceful though. I feel like that's the kind of thing they do 

Kyle Risi: in prison. Babe, it is exactly what they do in prison. Is it? Yeah, you've got to be resourceful. When my nan was growing up in the wall, because there was a nylon shortage, what they would do is they would mix up some bisto gravy and then they would smear that over their legs to make it look like they were wearing pantyhose and then they would get an eyeliner pen and draw a big long line right up their leg because the old nylon stockings had that seam going at the top.

Kyle Risi: And they would just fake it. But didn't they smell? Probably. Can you imagine if it started raining? What's that smell? That's my nanny. 

Lizzy Evans: Not my fanny.

Kyle Risi: Babe, kids listen. 

Lizzy Evans: I'm not even sorry. 

Kyle Risi: So, to her, makeup was just magic. And she has always maintained that if she didn't make it in entertainment, she would have been perfectly happy. Being a beautician or a hairdresser. Yeah, I can see that for her. Yeah, I see that for her as well. So even some of her closest friends have never seen her without her makeup or her iconic wigs, which she's been wearing since the 60s, by the way.

Kyle Risi: I didn't know they were 

Lizzy Evans: wigs. I thought she just had a bouffant. 

Kyle Risi: No, like they're all wigs. Sometimes six of them all at once. Really? Yeah. Oh, I guess that's why it's so big. So sometimes she gets up at 2am in the morning just to apply a full face of makeup before even like setting foot in a makeup trailer.

Kyle Risi: And once she's there, she'll just tell the makeup artist, can you just do as little as possible, please? Because, because, you know, I've got it nailed. She often tells the story. about when she was caught in an earthquake one year and her friend was like, Dolly, come on, we've got to get out. And Dolly's like flat out refuses because she's got no makeup on.

Kyle Risi: So Dolly made a promise from that day on that she will never be caught unprepared again. So before she heads to bed. Every night she puts on a full face of makeup, so she's ready for anything that might come her way. That's crazy. And it's not just makeup. Dolly is a huge advocate for plastic surgery. She says that if it sags, bags or drags, she's got to get it knit, tucked, plucked or sucked.

Kyle Risi: That's my 

Lizzy Evans: Dolly accent. I love that. But just for comparison, if you look at my face... I don't, can't relate. No, because 

Kyle Risi: I mean, you're like Thai as a tambourine, babe. Yeah, but I just... I can literally smack your face and it'll just bounce back. I can flick peas off your 

Lizzy Evans: cheeks. Yeah, everything stays exactly where it is.

Lizzy Evans: But I mean, I don't wear a lot of makeup or anything, so I can't relate to her spending so much time. It takes a certain dedication to do it before you go to bed. I lay on my front 

Kyle Risi: when I sleep. Right, so if you had makeup on, you'd just be like... Just 

Lizzy Evans: a face in the pillow, yeah. But she would have to sleep on her back.

Lizzy Evans: Although I suppose because of her breasts, she'd have to do that anyway. But I just think it's fascinating. And then she'd wake up and wouldn't have to do that. Whereas I wake up and do my makeup, very little makeup, half asleep. So, different 

Kyle Risi: world. Donny knows that people often joke about how she looks, but what's amazing is that she's always ready to also join in on the laughter as well.

Kyle Risi: But one of her most famous lines is that it takes a lot of money to look this cheap. So she knows, and this is the kind of sense of humor that just makes her so charming and so like sweet. Like, how can you be mad at that? I didn't know that was her saying. Yeah, that's her saying. So she's just a pro at just not taking herself too seriously and this ability to just make fun of herself.

Kyle Risi: It's just something that like really draws people into her. Yeah. And it's not just about her look. It's like her whole persona. It's so thoughtfully built because she's all, she is just true to who she is. I know she's a character, but that's who she is. Yeah. You 

Lizzy Evans: can't take yourself too seriously. No. Yeah.

Kyle Risi: So here's a little interesting story. So when she was filming the movie 9 to 5, she found herself playing around with her acrylic nails. So she noticed that it sounded very similar to the typewriters that were on set. So, believe it or not, that little unique kind of background sound to the song 9 to 5 is actually Dolly's nails.

Kyle Risi: And they even give her nails a credit in the actual music video as well, listing like nails by Dolly Parton. It's incredible. 

Lizzy Evans: But you can make anything into an instrument, right? 

Kyle Risi: You could do. Creative enough. And she's resourceful, right? She came from nothing, you gotta think on your feet. And there's more like the backing vocals in that song.

Kyle Risi: Those are women who were like working on the film set. So Dolly really wanted real working women to be part of the song. However, she does say that she kind of regrets telling the nail story because now every interview that she does, people are like, play the nails, play it, play it. So she's like, Oh, God's sake.

Kyle Risi: But she reckons it was worth it because the song got an Oscar nomination for best original song. And she also won two Grammys because of it. Wow. Isn't that incredible? Yeah, doesn't surprise me. So moving on to her next film project, Dolly takes the lead role in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Have you heard of this one?

Kyle Risi: No. So alongside Burt Reynolds, the movie is Based on basically a stage musical and it turns out to be one of the toughest experiences of Dolly's career She openly admits that working with Burt Reynolds was just a complete nightmare Primarily because like he had the biggest ego in the world and there were also rumors circulating that they were having an affair And when she was questioned about it dolly was like We are way too much alike to be having an affair.

Kyle Risi: Like she says, we're like brother and sister. We both wear wigs, we both wear makeup, high heels, and tiny little girdles to hide our pot bellies. And Bo Reynolds, he's absolutely furious. Because he really wanted the public to believe that they were having an affair. Like, he was angling for that. He wanted people to know.

Kyle Risi: Why? For popularity? For popularity, for street cred. Because she's a huge star at the time, right? Yeah. So, the film seemed plagued with issues from the start, and as people were constantly getting fired, scenes needed to be re shot, and the director told her she was a really bad actress, in response she was like, I never said I was a great actor, I just need you to be a good director and tell me what to do.

Kyle Risi: Which I was like, that was just the best response ever. Such a good comeback, yeah. So, once filming wrapped up, she said that she probably would never act in another movie again. So, in her late 30s, Dolly found herself sinking into a severe depression, which she describes as a midlife crisis. And it was basically because she was pushing herself to the brink.

Kyle Risi: Like, she was working to the point of physical and mental exhaustion. And adding to the burden, she was also neglecting her health particularly. Did you know that she had endometriosis? No, I didn't, 

Lizzy Evans: but it's very common. 

Kyle Risi: Basically, this eventually led to her needing a hysterectomy. Yeah. Pushing her into early menopause, so having biological children was no longer an option for her.

Lizzy Evans: Yeah, because I was going to ask you, has she got any children? 

Kyle Risi: No, she never had any kids of her own. She thought that she had time and then boom, before you know it, she doesn't have the option. She's also been really open about how she came really close to ending her life. Can you imagine a world where there's no Dolly Parton?

Kyle Risi: No, I can't. Horrible. She brings a lot of joy to my life. She does. Recognizing a need for change, Dolly makes a conscious decision to refocus her life, prioritizing projects that will only promise to give her genuine happiness. And notably, She scores huge success with Islands in the Stream, and it's a song that she performs with obviously Kenny Rogers.

Kyle Risi: Interestingly though, as I said earlier on, she didn't write it. It's a Bee Gees song. Didn't 

Lizzy Evans: know that. I can't imagine the Bee Gees singing it though. Yeah, because their whole... Persona is really high pitched. Yeah, that's it.

Kyle Risi: And it's really fast and upbeat. So she does return back to filming, starring in a movie called Rhinestone with Sylvester Stallone, which is a massive flop. Okay. And in the movie, she's a country music star played by obviously Dolly. And she must turn this obnoxious New York cabbie, which is a perfect role for Sylvester Stallone.

Kyle Risi: I imagine him as a cabbie. And for a bet, she has to turn him into a singer. in order to win that bet. But although the film was a financial failure, Dolly got two top 10 hits out of that. So she's the only one who was successful out of this whole film. Everything else was a flop. And then again, the tabloids start suggesting that she and Stallone were doing it.

Kyle Risi: Was he really famous 

Lizzy Evans: at the 

Kyle Risi: time? Oh yeah. Okay. Yeah, he was really famous. But yeah, they weren't doing it, but papers wanted her to be doing it. So the thing about the tabloids is that they were obsessed with her. And for a time she was the third most photographed person on the planet next to Madonna and the Pope.

Kyle Risi: One of the biggest rumors at the time was that she was a lesbian with her best friend Judy. They'd just been best friends since they were kids. They'd go on holiday together and they'd always been snapped together. And so the papers claimed that they were in love and they called him was just a beard and that maybe he didn't even exist at all because he's never photographed with them at all.

Lizzy Evans: Yeah, but you could say that about the Queen. Like, she had her lady in waiting who was there all the time. Maybe they were lesbians. 

Kyle Risi: Maybe. I guess the papers just were really obsessed with people who were gay in the 90s, right? Yeah, because it was a big thing. 

Lizzy Evans: Yeah. 

Kyle Risi: Still is. So, in 1986, the year that Dolly turns 40, significant changes take place in her life.

Kyle Risi: First off, she purchases a theme park in East Tennessee. After some reservations and obviously expansions, she names it Dalit word. And one of the main reasons for doing this was that so she could kind of provide job opportunities for the local community, which hadn't seen any growth for years and years, and despite her accountants and lawyers and managers telling her, like, this is a seriously risky move.

Kyle Risi: She just stands her ground and yeah, the park becomes one of the most popular theme parks in the world. TripAdvisor's 2022 Traveller's Choice Best of the Best Awards named Dollywood as the number one theme park in the United States. And the 8th best theme park in the world? That's insane. 

Lizzy Evans: That's backstory.

Lizzy Evans: Nope. I just thought that it was more from a commercial point of view. Yeah. And actually it's for job opportunities and providing for the local community. She's 

Kyle Risi: genuinely caring. So imagine a place with roller coasters, water slides, bumper cars, but also... With a museum dedicated to Dolly herself. So the museum includes, like, totally unique items, like the dry cleaner receipt, where she first wrote the lyrics of Coat of Many Colors.

Kyle Risi: A huge collection, obviously, of her wigs. And, of course, the famous coat itself. The Coat of Many Colors. So the park also has an exact replica of the shack that she was born in. And I think it's just incredible. Yep. So in that same year, Dolly's record label makes the decision that they're gonna part ways with her.

Kyle Risi: And they just believe that she was past her prime. Okay. However, it doesn't set her back. Another label wasted no time in signing her. And that allows Dolly to really immerse herself in the music that she's always cherished. So she's finally, finally just doing everything that she wants to do. That's so rare as well.

Kyle Risi: It is so rare. Yeah. And remember she's in the forties now. So it's taken her all these years to finally just be like, I'm a big enough star to just. Do that what the hell I want. So Dolly also, as we've already discussed, embraces philanthropy. Within her career, particularly in East Tennessee, the Dollywood Foundation has a clear mission, and this was to improve education in the area, because at the time, high school dropout rates were alarmingly high compared to the rest of the country.

Kyle Risi: They were 40%. Do we know why? I guess it's just because no one's pumping money into it. People aren't telling kids that you can be somebody. Yeah, it's a shame. So in just a few years though, the Dolly Foundation manages to drastically reduce that down to just 6%. So just a little bit of love and attention and care, you can do things.

Kyle Risi: You can make an impact, and she does. Later, the foundation launches the Imagina I love this. The Imagination Library. Okay. So the concept behind this is beautifully simple. Send free books to children under the age of five. Because Donny understood that teaching kids to read before they start school is literally the best way to give a kid a significant advantage in life.

Kyle Risi: Yeah. And the program isn't just limited to Tennessee. If you live in the US, if you live in Australia. The UK or Canada parents can register and their kids will receive a free book every single month until they begin school. Wow, that's amazing. And the Imagination Library. Has really deep roots for Dolly, because her father, despite being one of the most intelligent people that she ever knew, he couldn't read or he couldn't write, and Dolly strongly believes that if he could just imagine the incredible things that he would have achieved in his life, so she's just committed to offering words Strong educational foundations to as many kids as possible.

Kyle Risi: In fact, there are kids all over the world that don't know her as a celebrity that she is, but as the book lady. Because her face is so heavily associated with the Imagination Library, so they're like, oh, that's the book lady. But that's 

Kyle Risi: so initially, Dolly believed that she wanted children of her own, but obviously, circumstances changed and that path just wasn't available to her at all. However, As she looks back, she realises that she really had a fulfilling family in a unique way, because when she made it big, several of her younger siblings came to live with her and Carl Dean.

Kyle Risi: And essentially they ended up raising them. And now their children see her as a grandmother figure and they call her Auntie Granny, which I think is so sweet. It is. So in a way, she did end up having a family, but just not in the manner that she initially envisioned. Yeah. Life works out, So in 1986 Dolly establishes a film and TV production company called Sand Dollar.

Kyle Risi: They played a pivotal role in bringing us Shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer both the movie obviously and obviously the iconic TV show Yeah, so it's safe to say that without Dolly Buffy might not have kind of graced our scene. My sister 

Lizzy Evans: loves Buffy. 

Kyle Risi: Buffy is incredible Yeah, I 

Lizzy Evans: do like it. Not my generation.

Kyle Risi: It's because it's a square screen, right? You watch it's like otherwise screen square Like why is it not rectangle? I like books and 

Lizzy Evans: music 

Kyle Risi: Don't make yourself out to be something kind of more intellectual 

Lizzy Evans: I'm sorry, I'm not, I'm not wearing glasses. So . 

Kyle Risi: So Dolly remained incredibly prolific in her music career.

Kyle Risi: She consistently released a new album almost every year for two decades. So here's a cheeky anecdote about I Will Always Love You. So the song that we talked about earlier on. Yeah. So from as we know, it's from the movie Bodyguard, and obviously it was made famous by the late Miss. Whitney Houston. So Dolly was driving home on the freeway, and Whitney Houston's voice came on the radio, and it surprised her so much because she had no idea, that she pulled over just to listen, and you see Dolly had given kind of Kevin Costner permission to use the song in the movie, but she had no idea that it would become the single for the movie soundtrack, so she'd never heard Whitney's version until that moment on the side of the freeway.

Lizzy Evans: Isn't that amazing? That's incredible. Hearing someone else 

Kyle Risi: sing your song. And so beautifully as well. So what made this even more special was that this was the first time that anyone had ever covered that song, including the third verse, which Dolly herself had only ever performed. And this rendition by Whitney moved her so much that she just sat there and she sobbed, she cried.

Kyle Risi: She was so amazed by what Whitney had done with what she thought was just such a simple song. Yeah. It's just incredible. And then, of course, royalty checks started rolling in, making her even more thankful to Whitney, because to this day, that song remains the sixth biggest selling single of all time. And it literally generates hundreds of millions of dollars.

Kyle Risi: I don't 

Lizzy Evans: really get how royalties work. I think it's obviously fascinating and it's just a percentage I'm guessing, but how do they work it out? And how do you police that? Yeah, exactly. Happy Birthday, for example. I think that was owned by Warner Brothers, isn't it? And they get a percentage, but... If I say that, if you put Dolly on here and you say about copyright and stuff, do they, how do, I just don't know how it works.

Lizzy Evans: I have no 

Kyle Risi: idea. Fascinating. Maybe like stations have a quota and they have these, all the songs that you played and then they calculate the royalties from that. I don't know. 

Lizzy Evans: Yeah. Cause a lot of them play chart songs over and over again and they must, yeah. I don't know. 

Kyle Risi: Fascinating. Yeah. So in the same year, Miley Cyrus.

Kyle Risi: who is Dolly Parton's goddaughter. Did you know that? Yeah, yeah. She comes into the world, um, both share a strong commitment to supporting the LGBT plus community and Dolly has always embraced her gay fans and her trans fans. And remarkably, even her conservative fans don't challenge her on this stance.

Kyle Risi: Having their beloved drag queen advocate for such inclusivity serves like just such a beautiful bridge to bringing people together. Yeah, she knows people. Exactly. Because no one hates Dolly Parton. Everyone can jump on board Dolly Parton. Come on board boys! We wish we could, yeah. So around 2004, Dolly decides that it's the perfect time to remind everyone.

Kyle Risi: That she was still a powerhouse. So she embarks on one of the biggest tours of her career, which was a resounding success. And after the tour, she announced her plans to transform her popular song, nine to five into a stage musical. So the musical made its debut on Broadway in 2008. And while it wasn't a massive hit.

Kyle Risi: It's still going today and has earned, like, a Tony nomination, which is, in itself, just an incredible achievement. Is it 

Lizzy Evans: on West End as well? 

Kyle Risi: I don't know. Yeah, I think so. I'm sure I've seen it on advertised in the underground. Yeah. We should go 

Lizzy Evans: and see it. We should. I think 

Kyle Risi: it'd be good fun. 9. 95, learn all the other songs.

Kyle Risi: Yeah, exactly. In 2016, Dolly celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary with Karl Dean, renewing their vows in a ceremony. More grandiose than obviously the original wedding that she had. And in 2021, Dolly's Imagination Library dispatched its 150 millionth book, which is just an incredible achievement. Yeah, done so well.

Kyle Risi: Yeah. In 2020, her foundation made a donation of 1 million to support. Covid 19, and as a result in 2022, Jeff Bezos pledged a staggering $100 million to Dolly's Foundation to spend in any way that she wants. In any way. No holds barred. Okay. Which I think is, she's gonna spend that pretty well, right? Yeah. I think it's, she sounds like a good, 

Lizzy Evans: honest person.

Lizzy Evans: Trust, yeah. Trust her to spend it rather than him. . 

Kyle Risi: He might have had a clause in there saying no makeup, no wigs. Gotta help the kids. As of January 19, 2023. Dolly celebrated her 77th birthday, but retirement, of course, is far from her mind. She's still actively involved in writing and performing music. In fact, she has thousands of unreleased songs just waiting to be recorded.

Kyle Risi: And while she knows she's unlikely to finish them in her lifetime, she's taken a unique approach because Dolly has recorded samples of her voice. Singing every syllable, every note, every key, spanning various vocal tones. And this is going to allow future producers to piece together her vocals, creating new songs that we've just never heard before.

Lizzy Evans: Yeah, I think that's amazing. I think it's incredible. Yeah, didn't they do that with Michael Jackson as well? There were some recordings of his voice because they brought out a new album after his death. Oh really? And it had new 

Kyle Risi: vocals on it. I think it's incredible, yeah. You're leaving behind legacy for your kids to be able to capitalize on.

Kyle Risi: Yeah. I know she doesn't have kids, but she's got all of her nieces and nephews and stuff, 

Lizzy Evans: and grandnieces. But she's gone. Yeah, why not? 

Kyle Risi: Yeah. It's a shame that she won't be able to see some of those as well. That's the biggest tragedy there. Yeah, but there's 

Lizzy Evans: always a spike in popularity when someone dies anyway.

Lizzy Evans: Yeah, 

Kyle Risi: and if you've got some albums in the pipeline to capitalize on that. Yeah, someone will. What's truly remarkable about Dolly is that her creative journey isn't just about boosting her own ego. Instead, it's about letting something greater than herself permeate the universe. And I think that this is a testament to her enduring impact on the world of music and storytelling.

Kyle Risi: Yeah. And that, my friends, is the story of the insatiable Dolly Parton. 

Lizzy Evans: It's a beautiful story. I love her even more now, from a deeper perspective. She's 

Kyle Risi: just incredible. I just liked her music before. Yeah, now and now you realize that she's actually a decent person. Yeah Yeah. Yeah. I love it. Philanthropy.

Kyle Risi: Yeah. Philanthropy. Philanthropy. My favorite is the Imagination Library. What a legacy to leave behind though. 

Lizzy Evans: Yeah. I think it's a beautiful story and again, it comes from the heart. I've said that so much, but it genuinely does. And I think she obviously has a big heart to go with. The big chest. 

Kyle Risi: Actually, if you ever get the opportunity, there is a brilliant, she does the opening address for I think the graduating class of, I want to say like 2018 East Tennessee University, where she gives the opening speech to the people graduating that year.

Kyle Risi: It's just incredible. She comes out. She's all like full of fun and love and stuff. And she's telling the story about where she got her look from and she's like, I'm not someone who should be giving advice because if you follow my advice, for some of you boys out there, it'd be very, a very bad mood for some of you.

Kyle Risi: And she talks about where her look came from. And do you know where her look came from? I think I do. Go on, tell us. You tell us. So she, when she was a very young kid, she would see this woman walking around the town and she was like, she's so pretty, like, she's so beautiful. And everyone was like, you stay away from her.

Kyle Risi: She's like, She's bad news. She's the, she was called the Town Trial ip and she was just like, I don't care. I want to look like that. And that's what she's based her 

Lizzy Evans: look on. Yeah, because she was, I've never seen anyone so beautiful. Yeah, she was dolled up. Literally. 

Kyle Risi: And when you listen to this address, it's about 18 minutes long.

Kyle Risi: If you're ever feeling down or sad, listen to it. It will just cheer you up because it's just so beautiful. She's just so genuine and so lovely. Yeah, 

Lizzy Evans: but yeah, it doesn't, surprisingly, it doesn't take much to make me cry. 

Kyle Risi: Oh, you, I did tear up when I was watching it. Did you? Yeah. Beautiful. On YouTube? It's on YouTube.

Kyle Risi: I'll link it in the show notes, but yeah. So should we run the outro? 

Kyle Risi: So we've come to the end of another episode of The Compendium, an assembly of fascinating and intriguing things. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please consider subscribing and leave us a little review. It really helps us out. And don't forget to set your episodes to download automatically so you never miss a thing.

Kyle Risi: You can stay connected with us on Instagram where you can find us at The Compendium Podcast. You can also visit our little home on the web at thecompendiumpodcast. com. New episodes are released every Tuesday. And until then, remember, if it sags, bags, drags, get it nipped, tucked, plucked, or sucked. See you next time.

Kyle Risi: See you next Tuesday.