From NPR to PBS:
Dolly Parton Charms A Television
Audience
Superstar makes first ever appearance on 'Austin City Limits.'
sonicnet.com
AUSTIN — Dolly Parton brought both the charisma that's made her a superstar and
the singing and songwriting talent that have been the foundation of her career to
the stage of "Austin City Limits" Thursday evening, for her first ever appearance on
that show.
"I think I've been looking as forward to being here as you all have been to having
me, from what I hear," she said as the packed house of about 400 people in the
sixth floor studio of KLRU-TV clapped, stomped, and cheered her arrival on stage.
"And I wore my Texas outfit to prove it!"
Dressed in a tan leather skirt with fringe, a matching vest and a long
sleeved cream-colored blouse with peach and gold ornamentation, the
vibrant Parton opened her hour and a half set with a fast paced "Train,
Train," the story of a woman telling a man to go ahead and leave if he
must. In an intriguing twist, playing off the tempos of the two songs,
she included several verses from "Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No.
8)" (RealAudio excerpt).
"I see we have a few gray hairs in the audience, about my age," she said, "and some of you will
probably remember that was my first big country hit, back many years ago." (It reached #3 on
the Billboard country chart in 1970.)
With the informal humor that marked the evening, Parton commented, "I love to sing them old
sad songs. Even when I'm happy — or think I am — I love to suffer through those sad songs,
and to write them sad songs. Some are just plumb pitiful. Here's one — it's the title |
