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American Morning

Interview With Country Music Legend Dolly Parton

Aired July 09, 2002 - 08:14   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: They tell us she's on a songwriting binge again. Listen carefully and you'll hear country music legend, singer/songwriter/actress Dolly Parton. She has a new album just out that might surprise some of her longtime fans. It's called "Halos and Horns" and includes Dolly singing, of all things, the Led Zeppelin classic "Stairway TO Heaven."

We're going to hear a bit of that in a moment.

And Dolly Parton joins me.

Great to see you.

DOLLY PARTON, RECORDING ARTIST: Well, it's good to see you, too. I always enjoy watching you in the mornings and now I get to be part of it.

ZAHN: That's nice to hear.

Congratulations. You're going to hit the road for the first time in 10 years.

PARTON: Yes. We've put together a new show. I have a group called The Blueniques (ph) and we have, they also played on the "Halos and Horns" album, all the stuff on there, including "Stairway To Heaven." And so tomorrow night here in New York at the Irving Plaza is our first concert as a group. So we're very excited about that.

ZAHN: Now, you just brought up the issue of "Stairway To Heaven." It is though you have trampled on sacred ground recording this song.

PARTON: You're right. You're right.

ZAHN: Now, who else other than Led Zeppelin has done it? Tiny Tim, Frank Zappa, Dolly Parton.

PARTON: Well, I guess me and Tiny would be in the same category. But actually I took the song very serious. I actually did. There's 14 songs in the CD. I wrote all of the songs but two. I did "Bread," David Gates' song "If" and "Stairway To Heaven" because those are two songs I always just loved.

And we're doing like -- my group is called the Blueniques (ph), which kind of like blue, like bluegrass, unique bluegrass. So I flavored "Stairway To Heaven" up a bit with the bluegrass flavors like we did "Collective Soul Shine" last year and won a Grammy for it.

And so I just loved the song, thought it would be something different. And I'm not afraid. At my age, who am I going to be afraid of? Just Led Zeppelin? But they happen to like the song, Robert and Jimmy, you know, really liked it.

ZAHN: Let's listen to it right now. And you have a video out of this, yes.

PARTON: No, later on...

ZAHN: So as we listen to it...

PARTON: It's not a single, it's just...

ZAHN: .... the audience will get to look at you.

PARTON: OK.

Well, that's a famous lyric there.

ZAHN: Here comes your voice.

PARTON: That's cute.

There's a lady who's sure...

ZAHN: Well, I like it.

PARTON: Well, that's not what -- that's the usual part. But actually toward the end I actually added a choir on the end. I always thought of this more, this particular song as more of a gospel song, like somebody trying to buy their way into heaven. And I threw in a few little ad libbed lines to make it more like it was. It kind of turned out to be almost like a gospel toward the end. And we used our bluegrass instruments and the choir to make that big part where, you know, where Jimmy Paige usually played, you know, all that stuff.

So we kind of made it bigger in all our ways.

ZAHN: You've been on somewhat of a songwriting binge lately. How many, how much music is dancing around in that beautiful head of yours?

PARTON: Well, thank you for the compliment. But I write all the time. I've been writing songs serious since I was seven years old. I've copyrighted 3,000 songs. I've recorded hundreds and hundreds. But I write all the time and I wrote all summer. And actually the way this CD came about, I was auditioning musicians and I just took my songs that I had written. I thought well, I'll just go demo these songs in the studio up in Knoxville, Tennessee, my old stomping grounds.

And so it started sounding so good, we just actually turned it into the album. "Halos and Horns" is just about people that are weak, or too good to be bad and too bad to be good and were caught somewhere in the middle. You know, it's like we sin and we ask god to forgive us, take off our horns and wear halos a while till we, you know, stumble and fall again.

But the first single off of this comes out today. The CD came out today and the single is called "Dagger Through The Heart."

ZAHN: Now, I know some of your experiences early on in life have formed the kind of writing you do now. Are you as inspired as you were in those early days when you had so many of those tough days to talk about, the internal struggle that you faced?

PARTON: Well, I do...

ZAHN: You were dirt poor.

PARTON: I was. But I draw from that, too. But everybody back home was dirt poor. It's not like we were old poor, pitiful, us, we were poor people and we were the only poor people. Everybody had a hard time then.

But we were also very close as a family, always had a great faith in god. And that gave us strength and all. And I still draw from that because I stayed close to my family and my home. I didn't leave home to get away from them. I just went to do some better things so I could go back and do more stuff, you know, at home, like the Dollywood Theme Park that we have that's been open 17 years. It's like a wonderful thing for the area.

But I still just close my eyes, go home and just, I can always draw from those. It's a great time in my life right now because I am being able to go back and write that music that I understand so well, the mountain roots music. But I've enjoyed all the parts of my career.

ZAHN: I respect the fact that you write all of this music. But I think what people in the audience may not know is that the number of kids across America you're getting to read. You've been very involved in literacy efforts and through a program you're involved with, kids who can't afford books are being given, what, a book a -- is it a month?

PARTON: Yes. Well, actually it started in my county, Severe County (ph). And we were giving children born, you know, in the county a book -- from the day they were born they'd get a book a month until they started kindergarten so they can learn to love books. They get their little bookcase. It's called the Dollywood Foundation Imagination Library. And they love to run to the mailbox. They think I put the books in, like, you know, Peter Rabbit or something. They call me the book lady.

But actually now the United Way has gotten involved and it's all over the country now. So we're doing this for children. But, you know, you don't have to be poor children. That's the thing about it. This is for rich children, as well, you know, or people that are well to do. It's just about children getting books, because it doesn't matter, you know? We just want children to learn to love the books and feel, you know, close to it.

So it's really a wonderful thing because many of my people weren't able to read and write and had the opportunity to get an education. So this gives me something to do. And when you get in a position to be able to help, you should do whatever you can. And this is a wonderful thing. And thanks for bringing that up.

ZAHN: Yes. Congratulations. It's great.

PARTON: Thanks.

ZAHN: Now, Leon Harris mentioned earlier this morning...

PARTON: Leon's funny. I love him.

ZAHN: ... that you were the first famous person he interviewed. Do you remember the first question he asked you?

PARTON: Yes, I do.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, no.

PARTON: I remember. He won't like this because he would be embarrassed. He was so nervous that morning and I had on a low neck shirt and he looked at me and the first thing out of his mouth, he said, "Are they real?" And I said, "What, my fingernails? My eyelashes? My hairdos?" And he said, "Well, I'm talking about your beautiful green eyes. Are they real?

HARRIS: There you go. See, I cleaned it up.

PARTON: He cleaned it up for me. But he was so embarrassed and they laughed at him so hard at the station. But I've always loved Leon.

ZAHN: Well, you have never been shy, too, talking about what you've enhanced along the way. Do you want to go public with any of that today?

PARTON: Oh, I -- well, they're pretty public as they are.

HARRIS: Amen.

PARTON: I don't know if I'm supporting them or if they're supporting me. But it doesn't matter. It's like I'm never offended by the jokes. I'm flashing 'em out there. So, I mean it's all part of the whole package. But I had plenty before I enhanced 'em, too.

ZAHN: Well...

PARTON: I just have to pick 'em up now and then.

ZAHN: Well, we are so delighted that you're back on the road again and that you shared some of this newest music you've written with us this morning.

PARTON: Well, thank you for having me. Yes, so "Halos and Horns" out today on Sugar Hill Records.

ZAHN: Continued good luck to you.

PARTON: Yes, thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: Take care.

PARTON: You do a wonderful job.

ZAHN: Thank you very much.

PARTON: By, Leon. Where's old Jack? I miss seeing him.

ZAHN: He's right there in the corner.

PARTON: Well, in the corner? I remember him, too. Oh, we've had some pretty good interviews, as well. He's part of that "Halos and Horns" crowd of mine.

ZAHN: Well, just, you welcome to the old AMERICAN MORNING family here.

PARTON: Yes.

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