Dolly Parton would tell the story about the day she had to deliver bad news to her mentor, country singer Porter Wagoner, and the incredible way she would respond to his reaction.
I thought about Wagoner frequently last week with the news about Parton’s parting. I remembered that night in 2006, only a few weeks into the Hurricane Katrina recovery period, when I received a call from a friend who worked for the Nashville Tourism office. She had been hearing all the horrible news about the condition of New Orleans and suggested we come to Nashville to enjoy a weekend there. It did not take convincing.
Much about New Orleans was still not working. The utilities had not fully returned; streets were cluttered with debris; many businesses were still closed. Nashville is a good town plus, by contrast, everything was working. By the next weekend we were on our way. Our invitation included going to the Grand Ole Opry. I checked the performance schedule for the lineup, just in case there was someone with Louisiana connections. Turns out there was. Jimmy C.Newman was a “Cajun Cowboy” sort of character. With songs like “Alligator Man” in his repertoire he delivered with a country style mixed with Cajun lyrics and an occasional shout of “Ahyeeeee,” which sounded like some sort of swamp yell.
Having a friend in another city’s tourist industry is always a good thing. She arranged for us to go backstage where we were escorted to Newman’s cavernous dressing room area. It was filled with band members, family and friends. Sipping coffee in the back was Jimmy C.Newman himself. He had had a good career, but he was much better known in Nashville (where the jobs were for a country singer) than in Louisiana. He was thrilled though to have a visitor from his home state. We talked about home; stumbled over Cajun French; told stories about Louisiana governors and commented on how Louisiana coffee was much better than anything found in Tennessee.
Suddenly there was a call from the front door. It was time to go to the stage. All of his entourage assembled, and then Newman turned and gestured for us to follow. Me, backstage at the Opry?! We followed down the halls past other waiting singers and into the stage area. Newman and the band lined the front of the stage. I had the good sense to know my place and stood back.
I did notice this solitary person, dressed in one of the decorative flamboyant cowboy-style suits once popular with country singers, standing by himself in a darkened corner – picking on his guitar and going over his notes. It was Porter Wagoner, whose show I recalled seeing on my parents’ TV each Saturday. There were several country shows back then and each of the males had in his cast a female singer. I remembered the night when Wagoner introduced his latest discovery. Her name was Dolly Parton.
She had everything. She was cute, corny and country. And, wow, she could sing. We didn’t realize it then but she had written most of her songs.
Eventually, Parton became a big star. So much so that she was offered her own recording and performance contracts. She was no longer just the girl singer standing alongside the star; she became the star.
That is when she had to deliver the bad news. She met with Wagoner and asked to be released from her contract. Wagoner was not pleased. He had put her not only on stage but also on the map. He was hurt. There would be threats of lawsuits.
Parton was crushed by the emotion. In interviews later in her career she recalled that she responded the best way she knew how. She wrote a song.
One day, in 1973, she visited Wagoner, carrying her guitar and performed a song dedicated to her mentor. It was called, “I Will Always Love You.”
If I should stay
Well I will only be in your way
And so I will go, and yet I know
I will think of you each step of the way
And I will always love you
I will always love you
We do not know how Wagoner responded to the song at the moment, though for any guy to have Dolly Parton come into his office and sing a love song written for him has to be an emotional high.
We do know how the world responded to the song, it became a global hit – especially in 1992 when a movie called “The Bodyguard” was made and it featured a version of the song recorded by Whiney Houston.
Now we are all blessed by two great versions of the song to choose from. (Ask Alexa to play both.) Parton’s is more heartfelt and simpler, with her characteristic country voice and a guitar; Houston’s version is a gorgeous rendition made more soulful by a funky sax solo. And the vibrations from the full forces of her voice are reportedly heard in heaven.
Parton was an outspoken supporter of the Houston version. (A $10 million compensation payment probably also sweetened her attitude.) Speaking of the power behind the Houston version – Parton would say, “I didn’t believe my little song would sound like that… It is my song, but it is her record. I did not sound like that when I wrote it. She made me rich.”
That night at the Opry as we left the stage, Porter Wagoner was still standing alone in a corner backstage working on his notes.
He and Parton would eventually make up and he did get some compensation from her. That was probably not very important anymore. What mattered is what few people at the Opry that night realized. That the man in the corner was the inspiration for one of the greatest country love songs ever, and that it would be made famous by two great female performers from two different music genres.
Wagoner, Houston and now Parton have all left the stage. Thankfully the song will survive as long as there are emotions to be mended.
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To contact Errol, email elabordenola@gmail.com!
BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS: Errol’s Laborde’s new book, “When Rex Met Zulu: And Other Chronicles of the New Orleans Experience,” (Pelican Publishing Company, 2024) is now available at local bookstores and websites.
Laborde’s other recent publications: “New Orleans: The First 300 Years” and “Mardi Gras: Chronicles of the New Orleans Carnival” (Pelican Publishing Company, 2017 and 2013), are available at the same locations.
