We’re back for round two of the Dolly Parton deep dive, because one show was never going to cover this catalog. Tonight’s block stays in her early RCA Victor years, 1970 through 1973: seven albums, sixty-eight tracks, and just under three hours of a songwriter figuring out exactly how good she was.
We open with The Fairest of Them All (1970), which is worth sticking around for if only for “Down from Dover” — the unwed-pregnancy ballad country radio was too spooked to play back in 1970, and still one of the boldest things she ever put to tape. From there it’s a hard left into Golden Streets of Glory, a full gospel record, before Joshua (1971), the album and title track that gave Dolly her first #1 country hit and made it very clear she didn’t need Porter Wagoner’s name on the cover to sell records — though she gave him one anyway with My Favorite Songwriter, Porter Wagoner, a whole album thanking her mentor and duet partner for the songs he wrote her early on.
The back half moves through Touch Your Woman and Bubbling Over before landing on My Tennessee Mountain Home (1973) — self-written top to bottom, the record where the Smoky Mountains stop being a backstory and become the whole point. It’s as close to a thesis statement as she’d written by this point in her career, and a good place to pause the story for the week.
Agent K’s back in the chair next week, so we’re stepping away from the Dolly deep-dive to let the regular show breathe — but we’re not done. There’s easily one, maybe two more installments left in her catalog, and we’ll pick the thread back up the next time he’s off the schedule.
PLAYLIST
HOUR ONE
01. Dolly Parton - Daddy Come And Get Me - The Fairest of Them All - RCA Victor - 1970
02. Dolly Parton - Chas - The Fairest of Them All - RCA Victor - 1970
03. Dolly Parton - When Possession Gets Too Strong - The Fairest of Them All - RCA Victor - 1970
04. Dolly Parton - Before You Make Up Your Mind - The Fairest of Them All - RCA Victor - 1970
05. Dolly Parton - I'm Doing This For Your Sake - The Fairest of Them All - RCA Victor - 1970
06. Dolly Parton - But You Loved Me Then - The Fairest of Them All - RCA Victor - 1970
07. Dolly Parton - Just The Way I Am - The Fairest of Them All - RCA Victor - 1970
08. Dolly Parton - More Than Their Share - The Fairest of Them All - RCA Victor - 1970
09. Dolly Parton - Mammie - The Fairest of Them All - RCA Victor - 1970
10. Dolly Parton - Down from Dover - The Fairest of Them All - RCA Victor - 1970
11. Dolly Parton - Robert - The Fairest of Them All - RCA Victor - 1970
12. Dolly Parton - I Believe - Golden Streets Of Glory - RCA Victor - 1971
13. Dolly Parton - Yes I See God - Golden Streets Of Glory - RCA Victor - 1971
14. Dolly Parton - The Master's Hand - Golden Streets Of Glory - RCA Victor - 1971
15. Dolly Parton - Heaven's Just a Prayer Away - Golden Streets Of Glory - RCA Victor - 1971
16. Dolly Parton - Golden Streets of Glory - Golden Streets Of Glory - RCA Victor - 1971
17. Dolly Parton - How Great Thou Art - Golden Streets Of Glory - RCA Victor - 1971
18. Dolly Parton - I'll Keep Climbing - Golden Streets Of Glory - RCA Victor - 1971
19. Dolly Parton - Book of Life - Golden Streets Of Glory - RCA Victor - 1971
20. Dolly Parton - Wings of a Dove - Golden Streets Of Glory - RCA Victor - 1971
21. Dolly Parton - Lord Hold My Hand - Golden Streets Of Glory - RCA Victor - 1971
22. Dolly Parton - Joshua - Joshua - RCA Victor - 1971
23. Dolly Parton - The Last One to Touch Me - Joshua - RCA Victor - 1971
HOUR TWO
01. Dolly Parton - Walls of My Mind - Joshua - RCA Victor - 1971
02. Dolly Parton - It Ain't Fair That it Ain't Right - Joshua - RCA Victor - 1971
03. Dolly Parton - J.J. Sneed - Joshua - RCA Victor - 1971
04. Dolly Parton - You Can't Reach Me Anymore - Joshua - RCA Victor - 1971
05. Dolly Parton - Daddy's Moonshine Still - Joshua - RCA Victor - 1971
06. Dolly Parton - Chicken Every Sunday - Joshua - RCA Victor - 1971
07. Dolly Parton - The Fire's Still Burning - Joshua - RCA Victor - 1971
08. Dolly Parton - Letter to Heaven - Joshua - RCA Victor - 1971
09. Dolly Parton - Everything Is Beautiful (In Its Own Way) - My Favorite Songwriter, Porter Wagoner - RCA Victor - 1972
10. Dolly Parton - Lonely Comin' Down - My Favorite Songwriter, Porter Wagoner - RCA Victor - 1972
11. Dolly Parton - Do You Hear The Robins Sing - My Favorite Songwriter, Porter Wagoner - RCA Victor - 1972
12. Dolly Parton - What Ain't To Be, Just Might Happen - My Favorite Songwriter, Porter Wagoner - RCA Victor - 1972
13. Dolly Parton - The Bird That Never Flew - My Favorite Songwriter, Porter Wagoner - RCA Victor - 1972
14. Dolly Parton - Comes And Goes - My Favorite Songwriter, Porter Wagoner - RCA Victor - 1972
15. Dolly Parton - Washday Blues - My Favorite Songwriter, Porter Wagoner - RCA Victor - 1972
16. Dolly Parton - When I Sing For Him - My Favorite Songwriter, Porter Wagoner - RCA Victor - 1972
17. Dolly Parton - He Left Me Love - My Favorite Songwriter, Porter Wagoner - RCA Victor - 1972
18. Dolly Parton - Oh, He's Everywhere - My Favorite Songwriter, Porter Wagoner - RCA Victor - 1972
19. Dolly Parton - Still On Your Mind - My Favorite Songwriter, Porter Wagoner - RCA Victor - 1972
20. Dolly Parton - Just As Good As Gone - My Favorite Songwriter, Porter Wagoner - RCA Victor - 1972
21. Dolly Parton - Will He Be Waiting - Touch Your Woman - RCA Victor - 1972
22. Dolly Parton - The Greatest Days of All - Touch Your Woman - RCA Victor - 1972
HOUR THREE
01. Dolly Parton - Touch Your Woman - Touch Your Woman - RCA Victor - 1972
02. Dolly Parton - A Lot of You Left in Me - Touch Your Woman - RCA Victor - 1972
03. Dolly Parton - Second Best - Touch Your Woman - RCA Victor - 1972
04. Dolly Parton - A Little at a Time - Touch Your Woman - RCA Victor - 1972
05. Dolly Parton - Love Is Only as Strong (As Your Weakest Moment) - Touch Your Woman - RCA Victor - 1972
06. Dolly Parton - Love Isn't Free - Touch Your Woman - RCA Victor - 1972
07. Dolly Parton - Mission Chapel Memories - Touch Your Woman - RCA Victor - 1972
08. Dolly Parton - Loneliness Found Me - Touch Your Woman - RCA Victor - 1972
09. Dolly Parton - Bubbling Over - Bubbling Over - RCA Victor - 1973
10. Dolly Parton - Traveling Man (1973 Version) - Bubbling Over - RCA Victor - 1973
11. Dolly Parton - Alabama Sundown - Bubbling Over - RCA Victor - 1973
12. Dolly Parton - Afraid to Live and Afraid of Dying - Bubbling Over - RCA Victor - 1973
13. Dolly Parton - Love with Me - Bubbling Over - RCA Victor - 1973
14. Dolly Parton - My Kind of Man - Bubbling Over - RCA Victor - 1973
15. Dolly Parton - Sometimes an Old Memory Gets in My Eye - Bubbling Over - RCA Victor - 1973
16. Dolly Parton - Pleasant as May - Bubbling Over - RCA Victor - 1973
17. Dolly Parton - The Beginning - Bubbling Over - RCA Victor - 1973
18. Dolly Parton - Love, You're So Beautiful Tonight - Bubbling Over - RCA Victor - 1973
19. Dolly Parton - The Letter - My Tennessee Mountain Home - RCA Victor - 1973
20. Dolly Parton - I Remember - My Tennessee Mountain Home - RCA Victor - 1973
21. Dolly Parton - Old Black Kettle - My Tennessee Mountain Home - RCA Victor - 1973
22. Dolly Parton - Daddy's Working Boots - My Tennessee Mountain Home - RCA Victor - 1973
23. Dolly Parton - Dr. Robert F. Thomas - My Tennessee Mountain Home - RCA Victor - 1973