So he wasn’t completely unattached from her music career… at least right after they got married in the 60’s.
Dolly Partons husband of almost 60 years, Carl Thomas Dean, sadly passed away on Monday in Nashville at the age of 82. The sad news about Carl’s passing was released via Dolly’s social media with the following statement:
“Carl Dean, husband of Dolly Parton, passed away March 3rd in Nashville at the age of 82. He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending. He was survived by his siblings Sandra and Donnie.
‘Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.’ The family has asked for privacy during this difficult time.”
The famous story goes that they met outside of the Wishy Washy laundromat in Nashville in 1964, the same day that Dolly moved to Music City. They dated for two years, and decided they wanted to get married. And actually, at the time of their wedding, Dolly’s newfound record label didn’t want her to get married at all. They thought it might tarnish her image, and as we all know, Dolly did what she wanted anyways… so she and Carl Dean secretly ran off to Ringgold, Georgia, along with Parton’s mom Avie Lee as a witness, and headed for the local courthouse.
Carl intentionally stayed out of the spotlight, and largely stayed out of Dolly’s professional life for many years. There are several decades-old photos of the two of them floating around online, but not much is known about him other than the scant details Dolly has shared over the years, like that he owned an asphalt paving business.
While he hated the “industry” and fame aspect of her career, Carl actually did participate in it… back in 1969, which was just three years after they got married in 1966, so maybe they were still in some sort of honeymoon phase? Not sure how she managed to pull this off, but Carl appeared on the cover of Dolly’s 1969 My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy album, which is named for a song she wrote solo on her fourth solo studio album.
Produced by Bob Ferguson, it peaked at #6 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, and it was her highest-charting album of the 60’s. The song “My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy” was released as a single, and while it wasn’t a massive success on the charts, Dolly said in her 2020 book Songteller that she didn’t care, because she was never one to shy away from writing about tough topics.
The song talks about a young woman who has grown up in the mountains and leaves her small town with big dreams, only to end up in New Orleans working as a prostitute. She still longs for her mountain boy back home, and it was certainly a daring song choice for the 60’s:
“I wrote a lot of songs that people wouldn’t play on the radio, but I didn’t care. It bothered me at the time, but I never thought, ‘I shouldn’t have done that.’ Whatever I write is just what comes out of me, and I refuse to be judged.”
I’ve always found it so interesting that Carl appears on the cover as the “blue ridge mountain boy,” with Dolly dreaming of him dressed as the woman in the song. Considering how much he hated the spotlight, I’d love to hear the story behind how that happened… I don’t think most people even know it’s him, but it is. Carl Dean on the cover, which is pretty cool and it’s one of my favorites of her album covers too for so many reasons.
It’s so sad that their beautiful, decades-long marriage is over, and I can only imagine how heartbroken Dolly must be, and our thoughts and prayers are with her and their entire family.
If you’ve never heard “My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy” before, now is the perfect time, because it’s an underrated gem and truly one of her best:
“My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy”
