On This Day in 1966, Dolly Parton Recorded Her First Hit Single—a Song That Summed up Her Public Persona

On this day (September 23) in 1966, Dolly Parton recorded “Dumb Blonde” at the Fred Foster Sound Studio in Nashville, Tennessee. She later released it as the second single from her debut album Hello, I’m Dolly. The song later became her first single to reach the country chart. Moreover, it peaked at No. 24 and became her first hit. Interestingly, it was the first country single she released during her time with Monument Records.

Parton recorded a handful of singles before she moved to Nashville the day after she graduated from high school. All of them were country songs. Then, when she arrived in Music City, Fred Foster gave her a deal with his publishing company, Combine Music. There, she wrote country songs. Foster also owned Monument Records and signed Parton as a recording artist and became her producer. Despite her passion for and history with country music, Foster didn’t believe she was right for the genre. Instead, he wanted her to be the next Brenda Lee. As a result, he convinced her to record a handful of bubblegum pop songs.

Breaking Into Country Music

Her first five singles for Monument–“What Do You Think About Lovin’,” “Happy, Happy Birthday Baby,” “Busy Signal,” “Don’t Drop Out,” and “The Little Things”–were pop cuts. None of them charted. Then, in 1966, Bill Phillips had a hit with the Parton-penned “Put It Off Until Tomorrow.” She also sang harmony on the track. This finally convinced Foster to let Parton cut a country song. Unsurprisingly, her first two country singles–“Dumb Blonde” and “Something Fishy”–were hits. They peaked at No. 24 and No. 17, respectively.

“Fred thought the song would be good for me because it was uptempo, for one thing, and it didn’t really take a lot of singing,” Parton recalled. “He figured it would make people forget about whether my voice was any good or not and just listen to the song.”

Dolly Parton Spoke the Truth With Her First Hit

“Dumb Blonde” was one of two songs on Dolly Parton’s debut album that she didn’t write. However, the lyrics fit her so well that she could have written it. The way she looked and dressed, combined with her thick Appalachian accent, made many think that she was just an airhead hillbilly from the sticks.

This image of the ditzy blonde bumpkin was so pervasive that Barbara Walters famously brought it up in an interview with Parton in 1977. “Dolly, where I come from, would I have called you a hillbilly?” she asked. By that time, she had already released “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You.”

“Dumb Blonde” was an early answer to that empty criticism. The lines: Just because I’m blonde / Don’t think I’m dumb / ‘Cause this dumb blonde ain’t nobody’s fool fit her like a glove.

Before she died, Parton had written several books, created one of the most-visited theme parks in the United States, starred in classic films, and built a massive business empire. Had she not been so generous with her time and money, she would have died a billionaire. Instead, she chose to put large sums of cash into causes she supported.

“I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb. I also know I’m not blonde,” she once said, mirroring the humor, confidence, and sass that she poured into the Curly Putman-penned track that became her first charting single.

Featured Image by Richard McCaffrey/ Michael Ochs Archive/ Getty Images

The post On This Day in 1966, Dolly Parton Recorded Her First Hit Single—a Song That Summed up Her Public Persona appeared first on American Songwriter.