July 31: UPDATE: Win, Buy More Dolly Concert Tickets Dolly's social media on Thursday night announced a contest to win free tickets to her Saturday night show in Nashville. Enter here! Also, additional tickets have been released for three of her four concerts next weekend at Dollywood. Although when your webmaster looked the system was not showing the exact location of any seats, get those here! Thanks, Jason!
'Southern Living' Magazine Celebrates Dolly With Video
Southern Living magazine on Thursday shared on its Facebook page a cute "Permanent Records" video on Dolly's life and career. Check it out here or in the media player above.
Dolly About To Rock Nashville It's the big Dolly weekend in Nashville, with her two sold-out benefit shows at Music City's Ryman Auditorium. The Tennessean celebrated the coincidence of Shania Twain also performing in town on Friday to recount the pair's first meeting here.
Asheville Gets Dolly-Themed Art Exhibit The Mountain Xpress reports on Dolly-themed print exhibition "Tease It To Jesus" at Asheville BookWorks through Aug. 29 in its Thursday edition here. The show features prints by 35 artists focusing on Dolly.
'America's Got Talent' Contestant Tries 'Jolene' "Jolene" as sung from the husband's point of view was a focal point Tuesday on America's Got Talent, where stay-at-home dad Benton Blount performed the song. Check out a clip here.
Knoxville Puppets Salute Dolly On Friday Those in Knoxville will want to check out Night Of A Few Dollys, a "PG-13" puppet show for adults based on Dolly's autobiography and being presented Friday at 8 p.m. at Ijams Nature Center by the Cattywampus Puppet Council, The Knoxville News-Sentinel reported here.
Survey: Dolly Among Top U.K. Acts For Gay Men A new survey of over 200,000 British adults on music preferences compared the likes of gay men to those of the general population to determine which artists have a disproportionate share of gay fans compared to all fans, and Dolly came in at No. 7 behind Lady Gaga and in front of Bette Midler. No. 1 was One Direction, followed by Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Kate Bush and the Pet Shop Boys. Following Gaga, Dolly and Bette were The Eurythmics and Sam Smith. See the story here.
July 29: Dolly Joins Jewel On Duet Dolly is back on Sugar Hill Records, at least for one song. Folk singer Jewel announced this week a new folk album, Picking Up The Pieces, will be released on the indie label Sept. 11 and include a duet with Dolly on the song "My Father's Daughter," which focuses on Jewel's immigrant opera singer grandmother and her father. Rolling Stone reported here that Jewel produced the album herself in Nashville.
Trio Boxed Set Absent From Amazon The Oct. 16 Trio boxed set and selections from CD being released by Rhino Records were removed Tuesday from Amazon.com. No reason was given for the removal, so hopefully this doesn't mean any delay in its long-anticipated release.
DreamMore Resort Opening Coverage Continues Coverage of Dollywood's DreamMore Resort opening on Monday continued Tuesday from The Knoxville News-Sentinelhere and FOX News here.
Paper: Dolly Loves Dolly Drag Queens An excerpt from Dolly's The Times interview made several other publications on Tuesday focusing on her appreciation for Dolly drag queens. Check it out from IOLhere.
July 28: Dolly's DreamMore Resort Opens To The Public After years of planning and two years of construction, Dollywood's DreamMore Resort opened to the public on Monday with its 300 rooms, pools, spa, family activity center and farmhouse restaurant. In a press release, Dolly commented: "Seeing DreamMore Resort open really is a dream come true for me. It brings me back to when my whole family would get together on the front porch catching up and swapping stories. I want families to spend the day experiencing the fun of our parks, then come to this beautiful resort to spend time together making even more family memories!" Kevin Osborn, the resort's general manager, added: "Everyone at The Dollywood Company has greatly anticipated our opening day since this project was announced in August 2013. Countless people have put so much heart and effort in to this beautiful resort; to see it standing and ready to welcome visitors fills us all with an amazing feeling of accomplishment. We're ready to help our guests make family memories they'll share for a lifetime." Privileges for guests include free transportation to the park and water park, free TimeSaver pass for each guest, early Saturday entrance to the park and more. The entrance is marked by a giant fountain inspired by Dolly's Dream More book, each elevator stop features an inspirational "Dollyism," and there's even a wall of Dolly album artwork (although it's just for decoration, not meant to be comprehensive, so about 15 of the albums in her official cannon are missing). CNBC's coverage here includes quotes from an interview with Dolly that the network plans to air "soon" as an episode of CNBC Meets, and it also quoted Dolly Parton Productions President Ted Miller as revealing that the park's biggest single attraction ever will be announced on Aug. 7, the day before Dolly's concerts at the park. Other coverage comes from ABC News and Good Morning Americahere and Knoxville stations WATE here, WBIR here and Local 8 here. Submitted photo.
Monroe Covers 'My Tennessee Mountain Home' Ashley Monroe covers Dolly's "My Tennessee Mountain Home" in AT&T U-Verse's Country Deep "Women In Country" video series this week, Rolling Stone noted here. See the East Tennessee girl give her take on the Dolly classic in the media player below.
July 27: 'Tennessean' Giving Away Tickets For Ryman Concert If you don't have tickets to Dolly's sold-out July 31 Ryman Auditorium show in Nashville, The Tennessean is giving away two seats on Wednesday. Enter here.
Newspaper Says Dollywood Needs More Dolly Tennessee's Columbia Daily Herald over the weekend reviewed Dollywood and noted Monday's upcoming opening of its DreamMore Resort, although the writer noted the park needs more Dolly: "She should be the automated voice that introduces every show," he said. "Her music, and hers alone, should play on the train ride to nowhere. I want to hear 'Coat of Many Colors' or "Hard Candy Christmas," not Garth Brooks or Blake Shelton." Read more here.
Papier-Mâché Dolly Puppet Hits Knoxville Check out a huge Dolly puppet from Cattywampus Puppets in Knoxville in a piece on the troupe from The Knoxville News-Sentinelhere.
Canada Gets Newfoundland Dolly Music Night People in Newfoundland, Canada, will want to head out to Garrick Theatre in Bonavista Saturday night, as its Saturday Night Music Series will feature "The Music Of Dolly Parton" followed by a free after-party at The Annex. A note about the shows appeared in The Packethere.
July 25: DreamMore Readies For Monday Opening Dollywood's DreamMore Resort opens on Monday, earning it a spot on The New York Times' travel section for Monday. Read it here.
British Country Chart Updates Dolly's Blue Smoke is once more atop the U.K. country compilation albums chart, garnering a 59th consecutive week at No. 1, while Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) gains five to No. 8 and Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) slips three to No. 14 and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) falls out of the top 20, down from No. 17.
Dolly Profile For 'The Times' London's The Times on Friday offered a subscribers-only article featuring quotes from Dolly on what she's learned in life. Read it, and see the very odd photo they used for the piece, here.
July 24: More Pure & Simple Concert Contest Winners Congratulations to the random winners of the additional four tickets given to the site by reader Kevin Larson: Billy Black, J.R. Godfrey, Sapphire Pride and Tiffany Thornton. Your tickets have been e-mailed to you. You are responsible for your own travel to Pigeon Forge and admission to Dollywood. The tickets are for the 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8 show. Thanks, Kevin!
Magazine Lists Dolly's Top Hidden Gems Rolling Stone on Thursday offered a great column of "20 insanely great Dolly Parton songs only hardcore fans know." Although I think "Two Doors Down" is pretty commonly known even among casual fans, the rest of the songs are ones that would likely be familiar only to serious fans and in your webmaster's opinion are, in fact, among her best. Chosen at No. 1 is the Trio version of her Porter & Dolly-penned duet "The Pain Of Loving You," which Patty Loveless once said features "one of the most heartfelt lyrics" ever written. Check out YouTube videos of the songs here. The list is:
20. I'll Oilwells Love You
19. Before The Next Teardrop Falls
18. Two Doors Down
17. Peace Train (Junior's Arena Anthem remix)
16. Gypsy, Joe, & Me
15. Cologne
14. Drinkenstein
13. What Will Baby Be
12. The Bridge
11. The Love You Gave
10. Games People Play
9. Early Morning Breeze (Coat Of Many Colors version)
8. Little Sparrow
7. My Blue Tears (Trio version)
6. Me And Little Andy
5. Shine On
4. The Grass Is Blue
3. PMS Blues
2. Down From Dover
1. The Pain Of Loving You (Trio version)
Vegas Concert From 2004 Highlighted Vegas Seven recalls the best concerts in the Strip's history this week and includes among them Dolly's 2004 performance at Caesars Palace's Colosseum, noting she proved herself "a goddess." Read the review here.
AP Video Archives Feature Dolly Footage The Associated Press this week began making 1 million minutes of archival footage from 1895 through 2015 available via YouTube, and thus far it includes three Dolly pieces of footage: the opening of her Imagination Library in the U.K. in 2007 here, her receipt of the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007 here and the preview of 9 To 5: The Musical in 2008 here.
Travel Story Highlights Dollywood Access Atlanta provided readers on Thursday with travel tips for visiting Tennessee, and the No. 1 destination they recommend is Dollywood. Check out the story here.
July 23: Pure & Simple Concert Contest Winner: Holly Apley Congratulations to Holly Apley, winner of the Dollymania.net contest to win a free ticket to Dolly's 3 p.m. concert on Saturday, Aug. 8, at Dollywood! The ticket will be e-mailed to you. You are responsible for your transportation and admission to the park. Thanks to everyone who sent in their stories. As a surprise, reader Kevin Larson ended up not being able to attend the concerts and donated four free seats in the back of the theater for Dolly's 7 p.m. Aug. 8 show, so on Thursday I'll randomly select four additional winners from the entries that were submitted! Thanks, Kevin!
'9 To 5' Makes 'Lip Synch Battle' Dolly finally made it onto Spike TV's Lip Synch Battle this week, as Today anchor Willie Geist takes on Bravo's Andy Cohen and chooses Dolly's "9 To 5" as one of his two numbers to lip synch on the program. Check out a clip in the media player below or by clicking here, and watch the episode Thursday night on Spike TV. Check out coverage from Todayhere and Entertainment Weeklyhere.
July 22: Trio Set With 20 Bonus Tracks Coming Oct. 16 Rhino Records has announced the Oct. 16 release date for the three-CD Trio boxed set of Dolly, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris that Dolly and Harris have been touting in recent interviews. The Complete Trio Collection: Limited Super Deluxe Release is available for pre-order from Amazon here and features the platinum-selling 1987 release Trio on the first disc, 1999 gold-selling Trio II on the second disc and 20 bonus tracks on a third disc: 11 previously unreleased tracks, four alternate takes, two alternate mixes, two previously released album tracks and one previously-released bonus track from another boxed set. In addition to the three-CD set, a one-CD version will be released on the same day titled My Dear Companion: Selections From The Trio Collection which features five songs from each of the original albums and plus one alternate take from each of the two recording sessions and one unreleased track from each of the two recording sessions for a total of four bonus tracks which appear on the three-CD set as well. (Although it is called "complete," the collection appears to be missing several Trio tracks: the "Light Of The Stable" Christmas single that featured the Trio plus Neil Young, the 1978 recording "Palms Of Victory" which made Harris' 2007 Songbird boxed set, "Evangeline" from Harris' 1981 album of the same name, "My Blue Tears" from Ronstadt's 1982 album Get Closer and multiple tracks from Harris' 1985 album The Ballad Of Sally Rose.) The track listing for the bonus CD in the set is as follows:
Wildflowers (Alternate Take 1986)
Waltz Across Texas Tonight (Unreleased 1994)
Lover s Return (Linda solo Unreleased 1994)
Softly and Tenderly (Unreleased 1994 but previously released on Harris' Songbird boxed set)
Pleasant As May (Unreleased 1986)
My Dear Companion (Alternate Take 1986)
My Blue Tears (Unreleased 1998)
Making Plans (Alternate Take 1986)
I've Had Enough (Alternate Mix 1986)
Grey Funnel Line (Unreleased 1986)
You Don t Knock (Unreleased 1986)
Where Will The Words Come From (Unreleased 1985)
Do I Ever Cross Your Mind (Dolly Lead Alternate Take 1994)
Calling My Children Home (Unreleased Acapella Version 1986)
White Snow (Unreleased 1986)
Farther Along (Alternate Mix 1986)
Dolly's Brad Paisley Duet Goes Platinum Almost exactly 10 years since its release, Dolly's duet with Brad Paisley on "When I Get Where I'm Going" last week received a platinum digital single award, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced on Tuesday. The honor, her first platinum digital single, represents 1 million downloads of a song (although 100 on-demand audio or video streams count as one download equivalent, so a song could technically sell one copy and have 100 million YouTube views and still qualify for the platinum certification; the official video for this duet has 14 million views on YouTube, which would count as 140,000 units toward the certification). Dolly's previous million-selling singles are "9 To 5" and "Here You Come Again," while "Islands In The Stream" sold more than 2 million.
Scotland Southern Festival Features Dolly Tribute Dolly fans in the area of Perth, Scotland, next week will want to head over for the three-day Southern Fried Festival that begins July 31 and features several Dolly connections. Aug. 1 is Dolly day with showings of The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas and Rhinestone at the Perth Playhouse Cinema, followed by a concert "Because We're Women: The Songs Of Dolly Parton" at the Perth Concert Hall. Check out a story from The Courierhere.
Last Chance To Enter Concert Contest Entries will still be accepted through Wednesday night for the contest to see Dolly at Dollywood in just over a week, and there will also be a little surprise :) Send your story of why you should win the ticket to dgordon@dollymania.net. Here are a couple of excerpts from more entries:
"Any opportunity I have to see Dolly its like going to a family reunion. I honestly feel like we're family. I love her and couldn't be more proud to call her family."
"Well, I never saw Dolly in concert until she began on tour in the 2000's, one of the best moments of my life was Dolly pointing down at me saying she sees a cowboy in the house and starts singing Why'd you come in here looking like that! I have had quite a few life changing experiences since then. My precious mother passed. A few months later, my faithful fur boy passed after 12 years. A year later my partner decided it was time to go our separate ways after ten years. All this is true, but, the reason I deserve to go see Dolly? Since my reinvention last September, I have lost 75 pounds, 14 inches off my waist, I work out regularly and look for new adventures all the time. I literally live a totally different life than I used too. What an exciting adventure to go see Dolly at the homeland, Dollywood!"
July 21: Dolly Falls Off Chart Down Under After being back on the tally for a few more weeks Down Under, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton falls back off the Australian top 40 country albums chart this week, it was announced Monday, down from No. 33 in its 353rd chart week, while her The Essential Dolly Parton also falls back off the top 40, down from No. 38 in its 83rd chart week.
Concert Contest Ends Wednesday Night You only have two more days to enter for a chance to win a free ticket to the first show of Dolly's Aug. 8-9 Pure & Simple concerts at Dollywood from Dollymania.net. E-mail your story to dgordon@dollymania.net of why you deserve the seat by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, and the winner will be announced shortly thereafter. Scroll down to the June 15 news update for full rules. Samplings from some of the additional stories received thus far are below:
"I would love to go to a Dolly concert because I love Dolly Parton! what more can I say."
"I would like to beg for the 1 ticket to see Dolly for my daughter. She is the biggest fan of Dolly's. She was already to get her tickets when we thought there was a major conflict on the date with another commitment. She was heartbroken. My granddaughter begged her to stay with her. So being a great Mommy she gave up on her getting tickets to see Dolly for her daughter. Then like a week later the dates got changed. As soon as we found out she tried and tried to get Dolly tickets but it had already been sold out. She again was heartbroken."
"I been a big Dolly fan for long time. I really do want to see Dolly's show."
July 18: Hear Clip Of Dolly's Don Henley Duet, Order CD
Don Henley on Thursday released additional details about his upcoming album with a Dolly duet, Cass County. The project, which features the two on the Louvin Brothers classic "When I Stop Dreaming," hits stores Sept. 25 and will come in a standard 12-song version and deluxe 16-track version (both of which contain the Dolly collaboration). The deluxe version will also be released on vinyl. In addition, a video trailer for the project was released, which features an excerpt from Dolly's contribution. Check it out on YouTube here or in the media player above.
Enter Concert Ticket Contest By Wednesday Night Don't forget if you want to enter for a chance to win a free ticket to the first show of Dolly's Aug. 8-9 Pure & Simple concerts at Dollywood from Dollymania.net, you have just five days to submit your story of why you deserve the seat. E-mail your story to dgordon@dollymania.net by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, and the winner will be announced shortly thereafter. Scroll down to the June 15 news update for full rules. Samplings from five of the stories received thus far are below:
"I feel that is when Dolly is at her best musically...pure & simple. Her voice being the center of attention. Also, I have been an avid Dolly fan/ collector since 1974 when I was just 5 years old."
"I did go to the doctor a lot as a child and deal with a lot. When I was 4 (I am now 43), I knew when the dolly show was on and asked mom to put it on. At five I got my first record. I have been a fan ever since. Her music gave me so much joy when I was little.i had to have shots every week, tons of blood work, doctors, and her music was my joy. I am, obviously still a fan of this girl who is my angel. I missed. Her last concert because she just never came here to fl and I couldn't afford to go where she was."
"My mother stood 4 ft 11 inches tall. She was my own personal Dolly. Always positive and always accepting, her passion for education primed me for what I thought would be an amazing high school experience. Alas, she passed away when I was 14 years old, the summer before my Freshman year. Already a Dolly fan, it was easy for me to escape into 'Eagle When She Flies' which was released the spring before my mother passed."
"My daughter's 5th birthday is on August 9 and she decided she wanted to go to an Elvis competition that weekend instead of coming to Tennessee. So I decided my love for my daughter was greater then my need to see Dolly. About a month after the tickets went on sale and sold out, the Elvis competition was changed to a different weekend which left me with no ticket to Dolly and heartbroken. My daughter's favorite place to go is Dollywood, so for her Birthday we will be spending the weekend in Tennessee with my parents. I will be praying by some chance possible in the universe I can at least get 1 ticket for myself. This way my parents can have alone birthday time to spoil their grandchild, and I can see the woman who has influenced my life in so many ways."
"I am 14 years old. It would mean the world to me to be able to get to go to the dolly concert. About 7 years ago my mother went to be with The Lord. Shortly after I heard dolly on the radio and loved her voice, and saw her on tv and instantly fell in love with her. From that point on I just always thought of her as my second mother. When I see dolly it's like I am seeing my mom again I get that shakey feeling, and it's like my moms right with me. It would be a true honor to get picked. Even if I don't get picked I won't to thank you for the opportunity to enter."
'Blue Smoke' Still No. 1 Overseas Dolly's Blue Smoke is once again No. 1 on the U.K. country compilation albums chart for a 58th consecutive week while Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) rises four to No. 13 and Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) gains seven to No. 11 and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) loses one to No. 17.
'Slow Ass Jolene' Getting CD Release Madison Gate Records has announced the Aug. 21 release of a soundtrack for The Blacklist: Music From The Television Series and that it will include the first commercial release of the "slow ass version" of Dolly's original 1974 recording of "Jolene," which appeared in an episode of the series last season after it went viral on YouTube. Reserve your copy here.
Louisville Dolly Art Show On Sunday Folks around Louisville, Ky., will want to head out to the Tim Faulkner Gallery over the weekend for a Dolly-themed art exhibit from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. See the Facebook event page for The Dolly Parton Art Show here.
July 15: Win A Dolly Concert Ticket From Dollymania.net! Want to see Dolly at her sold out Pure & Simple Concert at Dollywood in a few weeks? Tell me why and you just might get to go! Your webmaster has one extra ticket to the 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8, opening concert in the series and it could be yours. The seat is toward the back of DP's Celebrity Theatre, but since the show is sold out, any seat is a good seat :) The contest is simple: tell me why you deserve the ticket. Whoever has the best story – as judged by the sole opinion of your webmaster – received by the deadline will win the ticket. By entering, you are granting permission for your story to be published anonymously on the website and, if you win, for your name and city to be released. The best stories will be shared on the news page, although the authors will not be identified, and I won't reveal which of them is the winning entry. E-mail your story to dgordon@dollymania.net by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, and the winner will be announced shortly thereafter. Dollymania.net is not responsible for lost or misdirected entries or lost or misdirected prizes to the winner. The winner is responsible for his or her own transportation to and from Dollywood and all other expenses, including park admission. Value of the prize is $50. Odds of winning are dependent upon the number of entries received.
Emmy Says Trio Bonus Tracks Still Coming This Fall In an interview with Radio.com Emmylou Harris repeated that the complete Trio outtakes with Dolly and Linda Ronstadt are expected to come out in September. The only new information is she confirmed speculation that the release is coming from Rhino Records. Asked whether there would ever be a third installment from the Trio supergroup, Harris responded: "Linda can't sing anymore. It'd be hard to do a Trio record. We have a ton of outtakes, I didn't realize how many. And James Austin from Rhino is working diligently, and as an act of love, to make sure that eventually these outtakes will come out. And I think they're coming out in September. There's some stunningly beautiful stuff on there, that I don't even know why we didn't put on the records." Read the full interview here.
July 14: Young Actress Chosen For 'Coat Of Many Colors' NBC on Monday revealed the casting decision of Alyvia Lind as the young Dolly for the network's film adaptation of Dolly's song Coat Of Many Colors. The announcement was made on the network's Today show, which broadcast footage of Dolly herself meeting the young actress and delivering the news to her as a surprise. Check out footage from the reveal in the media player below or by clicking here. Although all news reports state that the broadcast date for the project has not been announced, you may recall it reported here that Dolly told the crowd at Dollywood's season opening in March in response to a question by your webmaster that "Coat" would be the first of her series of film projects for NBC and that it would air around Christmas 2015. The network's official description of the project is: "Based on the inspiring true story of living legend Dolly Parton's remarkable upbringing, this once-in-a-lifetime movie special takes us inside the tight-knit Parton family as they struggle to overcome devastating tragedy and discover the healing power of love, faith and a raggedy patchwork coat that helped make Dolly who she is today. Over the years, many have attempted to bring this story to life, and now, finally, fans across America can experience the heartwarming tale of a courageous nine-year-old girl from Tennessee and the loving family that taught her the power of inner strength."
Dolly has said in interviews that the tragedy referenced in the description is the death of her baby brother Larry. The press release from Dolly's publicist incorrectly states that the original coat is on display at Dolly's Chasing Rainbows Museum at Dollywood, as Dolly has said in multiple interviews that the coat on display is a modern replica created for the theme park by family members based on their memories of how it looked. Check out coverage from Todayhere, Deadlinehere, Varietyhere and USA Todayhere. Press photos of Dolly and Lind contributed. Click on them for larger views.
Dollywood Restaurant Makes 'USA Today' Top 10 USA Today continues its "10 Best" series, this week looking at the best restaurants at amusement parks worldwide, and Dollywood's Aunt Granny's buffet comes in at No. 5. Check out the full list here.
Hawn's Dolly Track From Album Remembered Rolling Stone on Monday dedicated its Flashback segment to actress Goldie Hawn's 1972 album Goldie and its cover of Dolly's "My Blue Tears," as arranged by Porter & Dolly themselves. Read more here.
July 13: British, Aussie Charts Updated Although the change in most labels' release dates to Fridays resulted in the British charts switching their publication date to Fridays, Dolly's Blue Smoke still stayed at No. 1 on the U.K. country compilation albums chart for a 57th consecutive week atop the chart while Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) slips two to No. 17 and Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) gaining two to No. 18 and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) inches up one to No. 16. Down Under, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton rises seven on the Australian top 40 country albums chart to No. 33 for a 353rd week while her The Essential Dolly Parton re-enters the top 40 at No. 38 for an 83rd chart week.
New British DVD With Kenny Coming Thanks to Chris for alerting me that Laser Media in the U.K. is releasing a new DVD on Aug. 7 titled Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers: Live In Concert, which touts live performances from 2013 and 2014. Based on the five Dolly songs included ("Jolene," "I Will Always Love You," "Islands In The Stream," "Coat Of Many Colors" and "Lay Your Hands On Me") and performance dates, it looks as if her tracks likely came from last year's Glastonbury Festival. Rogers' 13 songs may also be from the festival, since he played it in 2013. The final track of "Islands In The Stream" on the cover art is unclear whether it is a Rogers solo or a duet by the two singers from some other performance.
Actress Runs Into Dolly At Nail Salon Actress Stacey Dash was in Los Angeles last week having her nails done when who should walk in and ask to have a picture taken with her but none other than Dolly. Check out the shot here.
Columnist Uses Dolly Songs For Writing Device A sports site columnist over the weekend offered a piece on free agents that was inspired by and organized in Dolly breakup song titles. Check out the clever writing device here.
July 11: 'Jolene' Coming Out On Vinyl Next Month A 180-gram vinyl re-issue of Dolly's classic 1974 album Jolene hits stores next month, it was announced this week. Netherlands re-issuer Music On Vinyl has scheduled the release for Aug. 3 here. Amazon.com will be taking orders here when it becomes available (showing an Aug. 14 anticipated date of availability).
July 10: DreamMore Launches Paid Membership Club Dollywood's DreamMore Resort hotel has launched a Founders Club Premier membership program with several perks for the $129 annual fee including one free night per year and free upgrades. Check out all of the details here. Thanks, Marcos!
'Evening With' Falls Back Off DVD Chart After coming back for a few weeks, the Cracker Barrel exclusive CD/DVD set An Evening With Dolly . . . Live falls back off the top 40 music DVD sales, down from No. 27 in its 52nd week on the chart, Billboard's July 18 tallies released Thursday revealed.
Castro Theatre Showing Two Dolly Flicks Friday San Francisco area residents will want to head over to the famous Castro Theatre on Friday for a Dolly double-feature with 9 To 5 and The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, The Bay Area Reporter notes here.
Dolly's Library Welcome Video Released To Public Dolly's welcome video to the attendees at her Imagination Library literacy program conference has been posted to Vimeo. Watch it here.
Wearing Dolly Shirt Can Be Good For Your Love Life The Huffington Post looked at how to build your own personal style this week, giving an example of how wearing a Dolly t-shirt got a guy a date. Read more here.
Dolly Paper Dolls Available Online Thanks, Greg, to alerting me to an artist who sells a book of Dolly-themed paper dolls. Check them out here.
July 9: Site: Dolly To Advise On This Fall's 'The Voice' Gospel Herald reported Wednesday that Dolly is slated to appear on the new season of NBC's The Voice, serving as a team advisor to mentor the members of Team Blake for coach Blake Shelton. The other advisors, according to the story, are Robin Thicke for Team Adam Levine, Taylor Swift for Team Gwen Stefani and Beyonce for Team Pharrell Williams (with Cee-Lo Green as the knockout advisor for the finalists). The new season premieres Sept. 21. Read more here.
Dolly Homecoming Parade Set For May 6 The City of Pigeon Forge, Tenn., last week announced the date for next year's Dolly Parade. The 31st Annual Dolly Homecoming Parade will roll down the Parkway on May 6, 2016, it was revealed on their official website here. Organizers of the unofficial Dolly Fan Dinner have also announced that their annual event will also return that evening.
U.S., Overseas Chart Updates The Cracker Barrel exclusive CD/DVD set An Evening With Dolly . . . Live dipped five last week to No. 27 in its 52nd week on the top 40 music DVD sales, Billboard's July 11 charts released last Thursday showed. Across the pond, Dolly's Blue Smoke retained the No. 1 spot on the British country compilation albums chart for a 56th consecutive week atop the charts, it was announced Sunday. Also on the U.K. country compilations tally, Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) lost six to No. 15 and her Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) fell five to No. 20. Down Under, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton re-entered the Australian top 40 country albums chart at No. 40 for a 352nd week.
CNN Looks At Dolly's Career CNN last week released a little story on Dolly's "fast facts" profile. Check it out here.
Young Dolly Fan Profiled The Gaston Gazette offered a cute profile of local young singer Olivia-Claire Wall who idolizes Dolly and recently placed in Sevierville's Mountain Soul Vocal Competition of Dolly-penned songs. Check out the story here.
Andy Warhol Photo Book With Dolly Coming Publisher Taschen has announced a new photo book coming out Oct. 1 of Andy Warhol's Polaroid shots, including ones he took of Dolly. Appropriately titled Andy Warhol: Polaroids, the book is available for pre-order here.
I'm Baaa-aaack! Your webmaster is back! After nearly two weeks without Internet service (thanks a lot, AT&T; glad I'm now a Time Warner customer instead), the site can resume regular updates. Thanks for your understanding.
After years of planning and two years of construction, 
