The White Stripes covering Dolly Parton's "Jolene"

Our Dolly Parton weekend concludes with her biggest hit of the 1970's, her song "Jolene" from 1974. It is an emotional, powerful song and it is easy to see why it was so popular. This was her first #1 song and it solidified Dolly as a country star, launching her into much more mainstream and crossover success in the future.



Dolly Parton - Jolene

Very early on in their careers, the White Stripes took to covering the song in their live shows. Their version is phenomenal and it was the highlight of both their 2002 Glastonbuy Festival set, as well as their 2001 session for John Peel's BBC radio show, as you will see and hear below.



The White Stripes - Jolene (2001 John Peel Sessions)

For a link to the full John Peel Sessions, check out a previous post on this blog here.

The song was also an important part of The White Stripes' 2005 concert film Under Blackpool Lights.. Here's the video and audio of that performance.



The White Stripes - Jolene (from Under Blackpool Lights)

We're going to give Dolly a rest for a while, but there will be more on Jack White's other musical endeavors sometime soon. Thanks for checking this out.

Buy the White Stripes' DVD Under Blackpool Lights from amazon.com

Trio (Dolly, Emmylou, and Linda) covering Neil Young's "After the Goldrush"

Neil Young's third solo album, After the Goldrush was released in 1970. It featured more sparse and introspective songs than the heavier rock with Crazy Horse at the center of his second album, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere. At the heart of this album was the title song, a brilliant, timeless classic that remains as powerful and relevant as ever. Here's live video from the concert film Rust Never Sleeps and the studio track (with a 17 year old Nils Lofgren on piano).



Neil Young - After the Golrush (1970)

Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt reunited for their second album together Trio II in 1998. Their first album together, Trio, in 1987was one of the greatest records from that time, where all three women supported each other on classic country songs. When they finally recorded a follow up, they broadened their horizons with some inspired song choices. Nowhere was this more evident than in their cover of "After the Goldrush." Dolly sings the lyrics, while their angelic voices blend together to sing the choruses. The results were amazing.

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Trio (Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt) - After the Goldrush

Hopefully, these ladies will sing together again and there will be a Trio III someday.

Buy the album Trio II at amazon.com

Dolly Parton Covering Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven"

Yes, this actually happened and amazingly, somehow, someway, it was awesome. Go figure. Everybody and their mother knows all about Zep's "Stairway to Heaven" so what's the sense of writing about it. Here are two live versions of the song. The somewhat lackluster performance from their MSG concert film The Song Remains the Same, followed by the tremendous version from their most recent live album, How the West Was Won.



Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven (from How the West Was Won)

Not many artists have ever dared to cover "Stairway to Heaven." Dolly Parton had just the right mix of ignorance and brilliance to pull off a very different, yet fascinating take on the song. Working with some top notch bluegrass musicians, Dolly pulled off the unimaginable and the results were surprisingly good. It was good enough for Robert Plant and Jimmy Page to approve of it, even letting Dolly add some of her own lyrics of her own at the end of it, as explained in this Entertainment Weekly article here. Here's Dolly describing why she covered the song on her 2002 album Halos & Horns.



Here's a live performance of the song, followed by an mp3 of the studio track:



Dolly Parton - Stairway to Heaven

Look for a post on The White Stripes covering one of Dolly's best songs very soon.

Download Dolly Parton's Halos & Horns from amazon.com