Two icons.
Dolly Parton and Paul McCartney are probably the two most recognizable living musicians on this planet, and they go way back, all the way back to the 70s, when they first met in Nashville when he met Dolly for the first time.
In an interview with Far Out, he recalled meeting her back in the mid-70s, as she was just starting to see some huge commercial success with songs like “I Will Always Love You” and “Jolene.” And around that time, McCartney was in the thick of working with his band Wings (which he was part of from 1971 to 1981).
They had a tour stop in Nashville, and he remembers meeting her at the Third Annual Grand Masters Fiddling Contest, believe it or not. He explained that it was actually Porter Wagoner’s band playing at the event, and Dolly was there singing with him. She formally left his show in 1974, so this had to have been right before that, and McCartney remembers how young Dolly was, saying she was “very vivacious and full of bubbly joy,” just like the Dolly we all still know and love today:
“While we were there, the band of Porter Wagoner played, and the girl vocalist he had with him was this girl called Dolly Parton. She was very young and very sort of innocent, very sweet. She was very vivacious and full of bubbly joy, like she still is.”
From that point on, they built a friendship, and of course they both loved and respected each others musical artistry, and just five years after meeting, Dolly recorded an incredible bluegrass rendition The Beatles classic song “Help!,” which was included on her Dolly Parton recorded her 1979 album Great Balls of Fire.
Decades later, in 2023, Dolly, recruited the surviving Beatles members to be part of her Rockstar album on a rendition of “Let It Be,” and of course, he was happy to do it:
“She’s one of the greats. She has a great voice, and that was a plus, but she’s a really great writer. If Dolly’s asking me to do it, how can I say no?”
Exactly…
Ringo Starr was also featured on the song, and it ‘s really incredible that it took all of them that long to work together from the time they met. Of course, they’ve all been busy with their respective, iconic music careers, and it’s always better late than never, in my humble opinion…
It actually was one of the rare collaborations that Starr and McCartney have teamed up outside of one of their own projects. In 2020, they worked on Ringo’s tune “Here’s to the Nights” from his Zoom In EP together, and the year prior, Starr was a surprise guest on the final show of McCartney’s Freshen Up tour.
This version of “Let It Be” has McCartney playing piano, Starr on drums, Peter Frampton on guitar and Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood on percussion, making it an all-star single and really incredible group of talented, legendary musicians all featured on one song… something only Mrs. Dolly could pull off, I’m quite certain.
Check it out:
“Let It Be”
Here’s her rendition of “Help!”, which is simply stunning:
