Richie Sambora featured on the opening title track of Parton’s new ‘Rockstar’ album. He recently came forward to defend, now a rock star, country singer Dolly Parton against skepticism from some rock music fans. Sambora’s defense to this skepticism comes in response to the rock’n’roll purists who can’t embrace a rock album by Dolly Parton, better known for her contributions to the country music genre. Speaking about the issue to Classic Rock, he drew attention to the early history of rock music, in which Dolly Parton may have made some contributions. He said:
“Music is coming from a long time ago and we’re all just pushing it on. So hop on. I learnt how to play guitar by listening to records, reading the backs of records: let’s find out where Zeppelin got their shit from, let’s find out where The Beatles came from. They came from Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters and Good Golly Miss Molly and Little Richard. And where did they come from? That’s the way people should look at it. Dolly may have been the beginning of that movement, whatever you want to call it. If you’re not a fan of Dolly, you don’t understand music very much.”
Dolly Parton Believes Rock Is An Attitude
Dolly Parton believes Rock’n Roll demands a certain level of commitment and respect. And since the day she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and announced that she was going to release a rock album to earn it, she has been showing that respect. In an interview with Classic Rock in November, she spoke about her experiences singing rock’n’roll songs and underlined the necessity of staying true to the essence of the genre. She said:
“I’m a stylist, I sing a certain way. But I also knew that I had to buckle down to it, because it’s different from doing regular country songs, where you can just lay back and do it any way you please. There’s more aggression in rock’n’roll, which I found energising. And you’ve got to treat it with respect, because it is its own thing.”
Parton also emphasized that rock is not only a genre of music but also an approach, and once again emphasized her respect for the genre:
“I do think rock is an attitude. In fact, I found that out for myself when I started singing those rock’n’roll songs. Standing there and remembering all the originals, I thought: ‘Oh my god, I’ve got to make sure that I’m true to this.’”
You can listen to Dolly Parton’s rock music attempt ‘Rockstar’ album below.
