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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Dolly Parton

Aired April 06, 2002 - 08:26   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Dolly Parton is one busy lady. She's credited with writing more than 3,000 songs and now she has a new album, a new movie and even finds time for charity work through her Dollywood Foundation.

Dolly Parton joins us now from Pigeon Force, Tennessee, where it's opening day at Dollywood.

Hello, Dolly.

DOLLY PARTON, MUSICIAN: Well, good morning, to you. This is our 17th season at Dollywood so we're very excited about it.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about it. Let's talk this adventures in imagination.

PARTON: Yes, well, we have this whole area called adventures in imagination. One of the things that we have here right where I'm sitting now is chasing rainbows. It's really like my museum. It's a new take on that, but there's a lot of wonderful things, a lot of adventures in it rather than just coming in just to see stuff.

So there's a lot of wonderful things here. But we have the Smoky Mountain adventure simulator ride and where we kind of ride through these flying machines like a movie where you're part of it. You know how that goes when you're, by the time it's over, you think you've really been through the mill with it. So we ride the rapids, go through the Smokies. So that's all fun.

And also the reason I'm dressed in my red, white and blue not only is because I'm an all American girl, but because we have our festival of nations here.

We have people from all over the world that are here for a month and they bring their music and their dance and their foods and clothes and their culture. And the people in the area just love it. So we've got a big season planned this year.

PHILLIPS: No doubt. You've got a lot of things going on. Tell us about this new movie.

PARTON: Oh, well, I have a few little things come, I'm, again, doing the Mae West story for television that's coming up in the next few months. But there is a movie coming out next month. It's a comedy. I play the mother of these young people. It's one of those crazy slapstick, over the top things that's a lot of fun. So we'll just see how it goes. It's called "Frank McCloskey (ph) C.I.," claims investigator. So we'll see how that is. It was fun to do, though.

PHILLIPS: Oh, I bet. No doubt. And this new album. I'm curious to know about the music and I also want to know, as you sit there in your red, white and blue, did 9/11 affect your album and what you wrote and your feelings?

PARTON: Well, actually it did. I think 9/11 affected everybody in one way or another. But as a songwriter, the first song I wrote right after, the day after was a song called "Color Me America: Red, White and Blue," and it's a patriotic song about that. And we're using is in our Dixie Stampede restaurants around the country and we're doing a video of that just to send out.

It's not in the new CD, but in the new CD, which will be out in July, the CD is going to be called "Halos and Horns," but many of the songs are very inspirational. There's songs that were inspired about -- there's one song that I love called "Hello, God." It was a song that I wrote a few days after the tragedy. And it just says hello, god, are you out there? Can you hear us? Are you listening anymore? Hello, god. If we're still on speaking terms, can you help us like before? It's kind of like this old world has gone to pieces. Can we fix it? Is there time? Hate and violence just increases, we're so selfish, cruel and blind. We fight and kill each other in your name defending you. It's like we're so lost and confused, so hello, god, can you just, you know, it's like we need you more than ever, so to speak.

So there's several songs that really kind of just express kind of how I feel and I think how a lot of other people feel about it. So we're just, you know -- but there are a lot of other love songs, too. That's why it's called "Halos and Horns." The halos, of course, are the spiritual end of the album and the horns are more what I'm used to.

PHILLIPS: But, no, absolutely. No...

PARTON: Yes, don't you see my horns?

PHILLIPS: Hey, no. You're quite angelic now, Dolly.

PARTON: But actually it's just songs of life. Well, no I mean songs about life, just some love songs, heartbreak songs. So we got a halos and the horns. So that half of the album is kind of inspirational and the other half is just songs of life and love.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about the halo side of you, the angelic part, OK? Let's talk about the imagination library program.

PARTON: Well, that's really, I have a lot of angels working in that area. The imagination library is a program that we have here through the Dollywood Foundation where we give every child from the time they're born in Severe County (ph), the way that it started, that's the county here where I was born and raised, a child a book a month until they start school. And that way they can learn to read with their parents. And this thing has turned out to be so great that now it's just all over the country we have programs starting.

So we're very excited about that. And we have a lot of wonderful programs here for the children in school, scholarship funds, and we help a lot with, hopefully, we know what the, with everything around the county, with the health and the well being of the children, as well as the people around here.

So we're not just a theme park that does good business, which we're glad, you know, that we do. But we actually are a place that really can do a lot of good for the whole area and I'm very proud that we can do that.

PHILLIPS: Well, you should be. Through your programs and your music, you touch a lot of people, Dolly Parton. Thank you so much for being with us.

PARTON: Well, thank you. Well, come on down to Dollywood. This is our opening day today so...

PHILLIPS: Will you send me a pass?

PARTON: Yes, I'll get you in free. You come on. I'm doing three concerts today.

PHILLIPS: Oh, I don't want to miss that.

PARTON: Yes.

PHILLIPS: All right, I'll blow out of here.

PARTON: I have a new group together called The Blueniques (ph) and I'm going to be on tour some this year. This is the first time I've been on tour in 10 years. So that's something else I'm going to be out promoting my new CD.

PHILLIPS: Can you give us a little sample? Can you sing a little line or two?

PARTON: Of what?

PHILLIPS: Oh, I don't know.

PARTON: Of anything?

PHILLIPS: Give us a little tease.

PARTON: Oh, let's see, what would I sing? Well, I did the hello go, are you out there? Can you hear me? Are you listening anymore? And good-bye you, we've got work to do. Anyway, so that -- anyway, thanks for having us on.

PHILLIPS: Dolly, thanks so much. You take care.

PARTON: Thanks. PHILLIPS: All right.

PARTON: All right, bye.

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