November 8, 2024      —–     Chart #271

Hello Music Friends,

Hey folks, welcome to another edition of Chart of the Week. I know that not all of you are country music fans, but when I look back a great songs and performers of the past 60 years it’s hard to ignore some of the greats. Who knew back in 1973 when this song was released what a lifetime musical powerhouse Dolly Parton would be! “Jolene” is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Dolly Parton. It was produced by Bob Ferguson and recorded at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee on May 22, 1973, then released on October 15, 1973, by RCA Victor as the first single and title track from her album of the same name.

According to Parton, the song was inspired by a red-headed bank clerk who flirted with her husband, Carl Dean, at his local bank branch around the time they were newly married. In an interview, she also revealed that Jolene’s name and appearance are based on that of a young fan who came on stage for her autograph.

The guitar parts on the recording were performed by Chip Young and Wayne Moss. Young played the primary thumb-picked part with Moss playing the complementary steel-string part that enters on the second refrain. Young got the fingerpicking pattern from a similar pattern played by Joe South.

During an interview on The Bobby Bones Show in 2018, Dolly Parton revealed that she wrote “Jolene” on the same day that she wrote “I Will Always Love You”. Parton said in a later interview “I don’t really know if they were written in the same night“.

The song tells of the narrator confronting Jolene, a stunningly beautiful woman, who she worries will steal away her lover/husband. Throughout the song, the narrator implores Jolene “please don’t take him just because you can.” The song is unclear about whether or not Jolene intends to steal the narrator’s lover, an ambiguity that has been addressed in several answer songs. Onstage in 1988, Parton told the audience that “Jolene” was a true story and the reason she did not like to sing it too often.

Keep Rockin’,

Stan Bradshaw