I Will Always Leave You

Porter Wagoner led the most successful country music television show of its time, and in 1967 he needed a new “girl singer.” He turned to a 21 year old songwriter named Dolly Parton, who’d just recorded her first hit “Dumb Blonde.” So began a nearly decade-long partnership that, behind the scenes, was as contentious as it was commercially successful. This episode tells the story of the “Porter years,” the period during which Dolly arguably discovers her power - both as a performer and songwriter - and then makes the difficult (and radical for its time) decision to strike out on her own. Through interviews with Dolly, country music star Marty Stuart, Wagonmaster Buck Trent, and Porter’s daughter Deborah Wagoner, we explore how Dolly handled what’s sometimes called the great “hillbilly divorce” with such characteristic grace.

You can listen to I Will Always Leave You online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

I Will Always Leave You is an episode from Dolly Parton's America by WNYC Studios & OSM Audio.

This episode is 00:53:37 long.

This episode was published on Oct 22, 2019.

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