HOLLYWOOD- Hard to believe that the song, I Will always Love You, was written back in 1973. Yes, that’s right its 51 years old. Talk about inspiration Dolly Parton sat down and wrote two classics back to back. First came the song Jolene- one of her career-defining smash hits. The other one was “I Will Always Love You. ”The second track was released 50 years ago and remains of the the trademarks of Whitney Houston. The soundtrack of The Bodyguard back in 1992, that elevated the song to classic status.
Let’s take a look back how Dolly began her career, she moved from east Tennessee to Nashville, leaving school in 1964, Parton found her success as a singer-songwriter before catching the eye of singer Bill Phillips, who duetted on her song Put it Off Until Tomorrow. Then Porter Wagoner then invited Parton to be the singer on his TV show-eventually signing her to his label and giving her the big break she so craved. Parton’s first single on that label, a cover of Tom Paxton’s The Last Thing on My Mind, was a duet with Wagoner. When it made the country top 10 in 1968, it sparked an amazing musical partnership. However, by 1973, she wanted to make the stage and TV screens hers alone. With conflicted emotions, she finally told him, she had to go it alone. And so, began the brilliance of I Will Always Love You, she strutted to Wagoner’s office with her guitar and belted it out. While tears rolled down his face, he told her. “That’s the best song you’ve ever wrote. “You can go if I can produce the song.”
Fast forward a year, and Dolly’s two songs had skyrocketed, both becoming number one country singles in the US, and she was beginning to go mainstream into the pop audience. Then, guess who called her? Yes, Elvis Presley! He had heard the song I Will Always Love You and wanted to record a cover. Dolly was more than excited, she was amazed that Elvis wanted to record it. What a great feeling, it’s like Taylor Swift these days, recording your song. Very unlikely though, since she writes her own songs and performs them. That night, before the recording session, his manager, yes, Colonel Tom Parker, called Parton and told her Presley wouldn’t record the song unless she handed over half of the songwriting rights. Displaying her business savvy as well, Dolly forced herself to say no. Of course, she most likely had regrets, but stuck to her guns. As for Presley, Parton says she’s since made enough money from all iterations of the song combined to be able to afford to buy his famous Graceland property multiple times over.
So, in 1975, Lawrence Kasdan penned the screenplay for The Bodyguard, a romance that sees an ex-Secret Service agent fall for the pop star he’s been hired to protect. It took 17 years for the stars to align and for Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, a real-life megastar, to bring the story to the big screen in 1992- with I Will Always Love You in its soundtrack. Parton tried to perform it onscreen alongside of Burt Reynolds in 1982’s The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. The re-recorded film version topped the Billboard chart, a first at the time, but failed to make the main top 40. It was actually Kevin Costner who suggested Houston sing a country song. The late Whitney Houston, according to published reports thought Parton was “a hell of a writer and a hell of a singer.” The rest is history. With global sales topping 20 million, the song reportedly earned Parton more than $10 million in royalties from the Houston’s cover in the 1990s alone. Back in 2021, she invested some of the money in a black neighborhood in Nashville as a tribute to Houston, who died at the age of 48 in 2012.
Rose’s Scoop: Hope everyone enjoyed their St. Patrick’s Day!
Categories: Star Gazing
Tags: Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Kevin Costner, St. Patrick’s Day, The Bodyguard, Whitney Houston
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