March 31: Four 'Blue Smoke' Bonus Tracks Announced, Order Vinyl Version You may recall it being reported here several weeks ago that Dolly producer Kent Wells had revealed on Facebook that he was mixing bonus tracks for the U.S. release of her Blue Smoke CD, coming out May 13. Now the tracks that are being added to the album are known: "Get Up, Get On, Get Out," "Olive Branch," "Angels In The Midst" and her previously-announced re-recording of "Early Morning Breeze," which she had originally recorded on 1971's Coat Of Many Colors and 1974's Jolene. Thanks, Solomon! There's no word yet whether the bonus tracks will appear on all releases of the CD or just those in certain stores. In related news, it was also first reported here on Friday night that the album was also being released that day in 180-gram collectors' vinyl, and Amazon over the weekend added a pre-order page for the vinyl edition. Reserve your copy here for $36.51!
Dollywood Audio Files Uploaded To Site Your official Dollymania.net coverage of Dollywood's opening weekend continues tonight with the uploading of all of the audio files of Dolly's appearances, including from the Boy Scout dinner honoring Ted Miller, the FireChaser Express ride opening and her "surprise appearances" at the park's shows. Access them in that section of the site here.
Overseas Chart Updates Dolly's Blue Smoke improves this week on the Australian country albums chart, gaining three to No. 4 in its eighth week, while The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 rises five to No. 8 country in its 323rd week in the Australian top 40 and loses 13 to No. 38 in its 40th week on the catalog albums chart there. In the U.K., Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 1, released in 2011, inches up one to No. 5 on the British country compilations chart in its 28th week back on the tally with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony, her Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) gains six to No. 6 in its 29th week on the same chart and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (also from 2011 and featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) dips nine to No. 20.
March 29: Vinyl Releases Of 'Trio,' 'Blue Smoke' Coming May 13 is turning out to be a red letter day for Dolly releases, in addition to the previously-announced U.S. version of her Blue Smoke album and the German import of the massive 160-song, six-CD complete Porter & Dolly RCA recordings boxed set Just Between You And Me: Complete Recordings 1967-76, Dollymania.net has learned that it will also be the release date for three additional Dolly products: the U.S. release of the Mary Sarah duets collection Bridges, which as was previously reported here will feature a new collaboration with Dolly on "Jolene," as well as a 180 gram collector-grade vinyl edition of Blue Smoke from Sony Masterworks/Dolly Records and a re-issue of her 1987 Trio project with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris also on 180 gram collector-grade vinyl from Warner Brothers Records. While Amazon doesn't yet have a pre-order for Bridges, they do have a pre-order page for an overseas import version scheduled for release April 15 here, and while the vinyl Blue Smoke likewise is not yet available for pre-order from Amazon, but the vinyl re-issue of Trio is available here.
Billboard: Melbourne Concerts Grossed $1.9 Million Another set of Dolly concerts made this week's Billboard Box Score top show grosses, with her two nights at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, coming in at No. 7 this week with combined ticket sales totaling $1.9 million. One of the two shows sold out and the other sold 91 percent of its tickets, giving the two nights a 96 percent sales rate for the 16,000 tickets that were made available. In other chart news, the Dolly compilation A Life In Music: Ultimate Collection re-enters the Irish top 100 pop albums chart this week at No. 83.
More Dolly Photos, Stories From Last Week Another gallery of photos from Dolly's appearances last week has been uploaded to Dollymania.nethere, this time focusing on the Boy Scouts dinner honoring Dolly Parton Productions President Ted Miller. Still to come are another video report as well as the audio files from the weekend! In addition, some other coverage from the weekend's interviews and appearances include stories from The Bristol Herald Courier on the new Dollywood ride addition here and an interview with Dolly (that starts off talking about a "Good Golly Miss Dolly" tour of her home area that is available for fans to take) here, a tease for an upcoming interview in Woman's Dayhere, talk with FOX News Radio regarding her upcoming album here and an overview of the new season kick-off from Behind The Thrillshere.
Dolly Talks About Living On A Bus Dolly's RV/tour bus lifestyle is profiled this week in American Adventure, an insert in this weekend's edition of USA Today sold in New York, South Florida, the Carolinas, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver and San Francisco. A digital version of the article is available online here.
March 27: New Dollywood Images Posted Your Dollymania.net coverage of Dolly's visit to Dollywood over the weekend continues with several new photo galleries of Dolly in her firefighter outfit from the opening of the park's new FireChaser Express roller coaster. Check them out here! And, yes, there's still more to come! The park on Wednesday issued a press release on this year's Festival of Nations, quoting Dolly as saying here: "I've been truly blessed to discover so many amazing and beautiful cultures during my travels. I'm glad I can share those experiences with the folks who visit Dollywood during my Festival of Nations. Families can enjoy the best the world has to offer right here in my Smoky Mountain home."
Dolly Among Those Suing Small Town Bar Dolly has gotten into the controversy of suing bars for not paying songwriter royalties on music they play. Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), one of the companies that licenses performance rights for songs on behalf of songwriters, has in recent years sued several establishments that play music without buying an annual license from them for the right to do so. A BMI representative recently visited Stix & Stones Bar and Grill in Sugar Creek, Mo., which did not have such a license, and documented a guest DJ playing four BMI songs: "We Will Rock You," "Teach Me How To Dougie," "Callin' Baton Rouge" and "I Will Always Love You," which brought Dolly's Velvet Apple Music publishing company into the situation as one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit when BMI decided to sue on behalf of its clients. Read more from The Kansas City Business Journalhere.
March 26: Latest Dollywood Galleries Posted Dollymania.net's coverage of the season opening of Dollywood with Dolly last weekend continues tonight with additional photo galleries. Check them out here! Still more to come! The park on Tuesday issued a press release on this year's new ride addition, quoting Dolly saying here: "My new FireChaser Express has folks goin' in all different directions, and that's going to be a lot of fun but it teaches an important lesson, too. FireChaser Express celebrates our heroes—firefighters—and it reminds the rest of us that we can all be heroes if we'll just step up and help others, whether it's in a small way or a big way." And an interview with WOWK in Charleston, W.V., was posted here.
March 25: More Coverage Of Dollywood Opening Your official Dollymania.net coverage of Dolly's weekend appearances at Dollywood to open for the 2014 season continues tonight with several photo galleries. Check them out here! Much more to come! Other coverage is available from The Tennesseanhere and Henderson, Ky., TV station WEHT here.
Dolly Announcement For Red Tent Conference Covered The Tennessean noted the addition of Dolly to sister Stella Parton's Red Tent Conference in Music City next month with a brief here.
Dolly's Library Eyeing Ebooks Dolly's Imagination Library may soon include ebooks, following a study that found both print books and ebooks benefitted children. Read more from The Silver City Sun News in New Mexico here.
British Chart Updates Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 1, released in 2011, dips four to No. 6 on the British country compilations chart in its 27th week back on the tally with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony, her Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) loses seven to No. 12 in its 28th week on the same chart and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (also from 2011 and featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) rises three to No. 11.
March 23: 'Blue Smoke'/'Home' Vinyl Single Coming In April Sony Masterworks and Dolly Records will on April 19 issue a limited edition blue vinyl 7-inch single for "Blue Smoke" and "Home" using the cover art at left (click on it for a larger view) to commemorate 2014's National Record Store Day, which celebrates locally-owned music stores around the country. The release will be a RSD exclusive. Check out their website here to use a search function to find record stores in your area that are participating. However, participation does not mean the store plans to stock all exclusive releases available that day, so you will need to contact individual stores directly to ask whether they will be stocking the Dolly single for the April 19 event. Thanks, Bryan!
Australian Chart Updates Dolly's Blue Smoke continues to slide down the Australian country albums chart, slipping another four to No. 7 in its seventh week and off the top 50 pop albums list, down from No. 41 in its sixth week. The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 drops five to No. 13 country in its 322nd week in the Australian top 40 and loses 11 to No. 25 catalog albums in its 39th week. Finally, The Essential Dolly Parton falls out of the top 40 country albums Down Under, down from No. 33 in its 69th week.
Pre-Order New Boxed Set Amazon.com on Saturday added a pre-order page to reserve your copy of the May 13 Bear Family Records release for the massive six-CD, 160-song boxed set Just Between You And Me: Complete Recordings 1967-76 featuring all of Porter Wagoner and Dolly's duet recordings for RCA Records. The price is $211, which isn't bad because that comes to an average of $1.32 per song, which is about what a standard new release CD costs consumers. Get it here!
March 22: Dolly Opens New Dollywood Roller Coaster Dolly was on hand at Dollywood's annual season passholder preview day Friday to officially open this year's ride addition, the new FireChaser Express roller coaster. Called the nation's first dual-launch family coaster that travels both forward and backward, the ride features a low 39-inch height requirement and takes visitors on a 2,427-foot journey into Crazy Charley's gas station/fireworks stand and then backwards back to the station. Given its firefighter theme, Dolly introduced the coaster by performing the Jerry Lee Lewis classic "Great Balls of Fire," followed by a group of local real-life firefighters performing a bucket brigade to fill a water bucket that launched the inaugural ride onto the tracks. She then popped in following a performance of Festival of Nations headliners "Mother Africa" to say hello to the crowd before making her way through the park on her usual afternoon motorized tour. She started the day with a satellite remote appearance on NBC's Today show, where she announced she will perform in the program's annual summer outdoor concert series the day her new Blue Smoke album in released in the U.S., May 13, and when asked whether she would be guest starring in 9 To 5 co-stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin's new Netflix comedy series, she said she didn't know about it but would be up to joining them in whatever they're doing.
'Love Is Like A Butterfly' Re-Issued Following on its path of digitally re-issuing albums from its vault, Sony's Legacy Recordings imprint has made available for download from online retailers Dolly's 1974 album Love Is Like A Butterfly, which is available from Amazon.com here. A No. 7-charting album, it produced the No. 1 country single title track, which also made it to No. 105 pop and No. 38 adult contemporary, just her second chart single on the adult contemporary tally. It contains the title track, "If I Cross Your Mind," "My Eyes Can Only See You," "Take Me Back," "Blackie, Kentucky," "Gettin' Happy," "You're The One That Taught Me How To Swing," "Highway Heading South," "Once Upon A Memory" and "Sacred Memories." The re-mastered release follows the label's issuance of download versions of The Bargain Store in December, Heartbreak Express in July and My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy in October. Releases are based on fan votes via the label's website here. Candidates for subsequent release include 1975's Dolly and 1972's Touch Your Woman, both of which are in the top 20 vote-getters on the list along with the four titles that have already been re-issued.
Dolly Falls Off Irish Charts The Dolly compilation A Life In Music: Ultimate Collection this week falls off the Irish top 100 pop albums chart after one week at No. 86.
March 21: Dolly, Governor, Boy Scouts Honor Ted Miller
The Sequoyah District of the Great Smoky Mountain Council Boy Scouts of America on Thursday night in Pigeon Forge honored Dolly Parton Productions President Ted Miller with its Good Scout Award, and Dolly and Gov. Bill Haslam were on hand to recognize their friend. The award singles out individuals who exemplify the spirit of the Scout Oath and Law by helping others and doing their best at all times, recognizing their personal and public contributions to enhance the community and the world. It is the highest Scout honor for citizenship in local communities.
The night was truly a Dollywood affair. Following the National Anthem by the park's Kingdom Heirs and "Fly Eagle Fly" by former Dollywood performer James Rogers (complete with the eagle Challenger flying over the audience thanks to the American Eagle Foundation, which is housed at the park), a call for investment in Boy Scouts was made by Dollywood General Manager Craig Ross, who is the county's program chair in the 2013 Friends of Scouting fundraising campaign. Then, Miller was praised via a videotaped collection of congratulations from people including the state tourism commissioner, local mayors, local city managers, and other area leaders before in-person remarks from Jack Herschend of Herschend Family Entertainment (Dolly's partners in Dollywood), Gov. Haslam and Dolly herself.
Herschend told a story of one time Miller's judgment fell short, as when they opened the park for the first time in 1986 and at the last minute Miller suggested Herschend as the company's president give a speech. He didn't want to, but Miller persisted, so he gave in, and without as much as a dozen words out of his mouth, a huge guy in the crowd shouted: "Bring on Dolly!" After his punch line, Herschend's wife shouted from the audience, "Bring on the governor!"
Gov. Haslam celebrated Miller's business acumen and his service helping helm the state's tourism industry.
Dolly noted: "I really feel like God has placed angels in my life over the years, and I definitely know that Ted Miller is one of them."
She spoke of how special he is and how blessed her life is with him in it, adding that his wife is also a dear friend and very special person in her life.
She closed by reading the lyrics to her song "The Man," changing them from being about her father to being about her friend, and then sang a chorus of "The Wind Beneath My Wings" for him.
In accepting the award, Miller was moved to tears several times as he remembered those who influenced his life, most notably his late father, his father-in-law and Jack Herschend. He also thanked his longtime friends for supporting him and encouraged everyone to remember, as he noted was explained in a recent Kenny and Dolly duet, "You can't make old friends."
Perth Concert Makes Chart This Week At $1.2 Million Gross A second Dolly concert from the Australian leg of her Blue Smoke World Tour made the Billboard Box Score of top tours when the March 29 list was released on Thursday. Her Feb. 27 engagement in Perth at the Perth Arena came in at No. 19 for the week with a gross of more than $1.2 million and 86 percent of the 12,642 available seats sold.
Dolly Added To Sister's Women's Conference Dolly has been added to her sister Stella Parton's women's leadership conference in Nashville next month, it was announced on Thursday. She will join Stella to both perform in a Friday night concert for the April 18-20 event at the Doubletree Hotel downtown in Music City as well as give a speech during the lecture portion of Stella's inaugural Red Tent Conference, which aims to support and celebrate strong women. Tickets, available here, are $399 per person for the weekend. In a press release, the conference was described as: "created to support and inspire women to live authentic lives through the work they do. As an event that aims to encourage women to understand their power and to shape the future, organizers hope to provide tools, knowledge and a network for expanding the scope of women's contributions."
'Night Of 1,000 Dollys' Returns May 3 Knoxville gay nightclub Club XYZ has announced plans for its Fifth Annual "Night of 1,000 Dollys" party. This unofficial event, which is not sanctioned or endorsed by Dolly, was inspired by the legendary annual "Night of 1,000 Stevies" party in New York where Stevie Nicks fans gather to celebrate their favorite singer. Showtime is 11:30 p.m. Saturday, May 3, the weekend of this year's Dolly Homecoming Parade in Pigeon Forge (which, as was first reported here back in December, is a week earlier than usual this year, happening on Friday, May 2, the weekend prior to Mother's Day instead of Mother's Day weekend). Organizers say two professional Dolly impersonators will be performing in addition to cast members from the club's own regular drag show. Prizes – including tickets to Dolly's May 28 Knoxville concert and season passes to Dollywood – will be awarded to winners of the Best Dolly Contest, which any attendee may enter. The event's poster is shown below. Click on it for a larger view.
March 20: 'Today' Show, Live Streaming, Friday Dollywood Parade Confirmed Things are gearing up for Dolly's weekend appearances at Dollywood to open the season. It was revealed Wednesday that she'll be on NBC's Today show Friday morning. In addition, Friday's 10 a.m. Eastern ceremony to launch the new FireChaser Express roller coaster will be available for online viewing via LiveStream here for those unable to make it in person. Also, Dollymania.net has confirmed that in addition to Saturday's 4:30 p.m. parade through the park (from Showstreet Theatre to Heartsong Theatre) there is also a 4:15 p.m. park tour on Friday (from Heartsong to the bus parking lot past Showstreet). Both parades are weather-permitting, as each year. Finally, a note about opening weekend made Knoxville's WATE TV station here. Look for your complete Dollymania.net coverage of the weekend over the next several days.
'9 To 5' Co-Stars Get New Comedy Series The Internet was a buzz Wednesday with news that Netflix had signed Dolly's 9 To 5 co-stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin for a new series by Friends creator Marta Kauffman called Grace and Frankie in which they play nemeses who are thrown together when their husbands come out of the closet and reveal their love for each other. The news led several observers, such as Logo's New Now Nexthere, to wonder if Dolly will make guest appearances so that it is a full reunion from the film.
March 19: 'Blue Smoke' Lyric Video, Digital Single Released
As Dollymania.net was the first to report a week ago, Dolly's single for "Blue Smoke" was released digitally on Tuesday. What had not been known in advance was that a lyric video would also come out on the same day, issued via Dolly's official Vevo channel and first posted to Rolling Stonehere. Once the exclusive period for Rolling Stone expires at 3 a.m. Wednesday, you may also watch it in the media player above or by clicking here. The single is available on its own from various online retailers including iTunes and Amazon here. For those fans who did not purchase imports of the full album when it was released in Australia last month, the physical CD has been available for pre-order for several weeks from Amazon here, and digital copies became available for pre-order from iTunes this week, including immediate download of the title track single and download of the track "Home" on April 22. Get the iTunes version here.
Dolly Signs On For YouTube Royalty Collections Dolly has signed up with a start-up company to collect royalties from YouTube on videos that use the songs she has written. In addition to Dolly's Velvet Apple Music, Audiam also signed in recent months Imagem (the world's largest independent music publisher, with acts including Justin Timberlake and Rogers & Hammerstein) and Jimmy Buffett's publishing catalog Coral Reefer, among others. Read more about the company from a new article in Billboardhere.
March 18: Previously Unreleased Dolly Track Discovered Available Several Facebook fans on Monday began sharing the discovery of a previously unreleased Dolly track that was missed when it first came out a few months back. "Twin Mounds of Clay" was released back in June by Resnik Music Group as a digital download worldwide (available from Amazon here) and the label posted the audio to YouTube here last month. The song was written by Howard Tom Lips Jr. when he was a contract songwriter for Owepar, the publishing company Dolly founded with her uncle Bill Owens and which she co-owned with Porter Wagoner at that time. Although records of her studio time that are available did not show the solo recording of the song, which this version is, a duet version with Wagoner was the final song they recorded together in the studio during their original partnership period, laying it down in April 1976. The duet version will appear on the Bear Family Records six-CD, 160-song set Just Between You And Me: Complete Recordings 1967-76 that will be released in May.
Dolly: 'Big' Announcement Coming Soon Dolly on Monday teased that she'll have a huge announcement breaking in the near future, telling fans via her social media such as Facebook: "Well, hey there everyone! I have big news coming real soon... and I'm not just blowing 'Blue Smoke' up your caboose... :)" She is currently on break from her Blue Smoke World Tour to promote the album of the same name that has already been released in Australia and hits U.S. stores on May 13. The notice gave no indication what the "big news" could be, although many fans speculated that it could be additional U.S. dates on the tour, as she performed only four American dates prior to the Aussie/New Zealand leg of the tour and is scheduled for just seven more in May in advance of the tour's European leg in June and July.
Get Ready To See Dolly At Dollywood Friday, Saturday The 2013 season opening of Dollywood is drawing near, as Dolly is expected to be on park Friday to officially open the new FireChaser Express roller coaster on season passholder preview day when the park is closed to the general public, and she is expected to return on Saturday for "surprise" appearances throughout the park on its first day open to the general public this season. As usual, the only appearance that has been publicly announced is her Parade of Nations, which on Saturday is scheduled to take place at 4:30 p.m. and run from Showstreet Theatre to Heartsong Theatre.
Miley Adds 'Butterfly' To Concert In Houston Dolly goddaughter Miley Cyrus has been singing her classic "Jolene" in concert on all stops of her current tour, but this week in Houston she added another Dolly cover: "Love Is Like A Butterfly," telling the audience it is a much darker song than most think. Read a review from Culture Maphere. Thanks, Timothy!
March 17: Dolly Slips On Aussie, New Zealand Charts After five weeks as the No. 1 country album Down Under, Dolly's Blue Smoke this week loses its pole position, slipping to No. 3 country and No. 41 pop in its sixth week. The Very Best Of Dolly Parton: Australian Tour Edition falls off the 40-position New Zealand pop albums list, down from No. 40 in its 11th week, while Down Under The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 loses four to No. 8 country in its 321st week in the Australian top 40 and falls out of the top 50 pop albums tally, down from No. 40 in its fifth week on the pop list, while it slides eight to No. 14 for a 38th week on the catalog albums list. Also on the Australian country albums chart, Dolly's The Hits falls out of the top 40, down from No. 23 in its fourth week, while The Essential Dolly Parton dips six to No. 33 in its 69th week on the top 40. And in the U.K., Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 1, released in 2011, regains one to No. 2 on the British country compilations chart in its 26th week back on the tally with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony, her Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) decreases one to No. 5 in its 27th week on the same chart and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (also from 2011 and featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) falls three to No. 14.
March 15: Nelson's CD Falls Off U.S. Charts Willie Nelson's To All The Girls, featuring a Dolly duet, this week falls off the 50-position country albums chart, down from No. 45 in its 20th chart week, it was revealed in the March 22 Billboard numbers released Thursday. Overseas, Friday's Irish pop albums tally sees the 3-CD compilation The Real Dolly Parton fall off the top 100, down from No. 71 in its 21st week, while A Life In Music: Ultimate Collection debuts at No. 86.
FOX Actress Lauds 'Coat Of Many Colors' Actress Stephanie Beatriz, who plays Det. Dias on FOX's Brooklyn Nine-Nine, has a guest column in The Wall Street Journalhere observing the impact Dolly's "Coat Of Many Colors" has had on her life.
Norton Talks Of Dolly In Upcoming Book BBC host Graham Norton will soon release an autobiography that will include stories of his encounters with various celebrities, including Dolly, with whom he taped a Christmas special in 2001. Promotional material claims: "From Dolly Parton and dogs to wine and Ireland, Graham tells his life and loves with characteristic humour and outrageous candour." Read more from The Belfast Telegraphhere.
March 12: U.S. Single Coming, Swiss Concert Added, Online Store Debuts Several developments regarding Dolly's Blue Smoke album and tour came to light on Tuesday. First, it was revealed that the title track will be released as a digital single in the U.S. next Tuesday via online retailers. Get it from Amazon.com here. Second, it was announced that she has added a new concert to the Blue Smoke World Tour's European leg: July 14 at the Moon and Stars Festival in Locarno, Switzerland. Currently, it is the tour's only Swiss stop. Finally, tour merchandise was added to an online store on her recently-launched new music website here.
March 11: Richmond Fund-Raiser Sells Out All Seats Dolly's May 27 fund-raiser concert for St. Mark Catholic Church at the EKU Arts Center in Richmond, Ky., has sold out and a waiting list for cancellations has been established, organizers say. Don't forget to also enter their contest to win a trip to London to meet Dolly and see her in concert on the European leg of the tour here!
March 10: Dolly Falls On Aussie, New Zealand Tallies Although she earns at fifth week at No. 1 on the Australian country albums chart this week, Dolly's Blue Smoke drops out of the pop top 10 Down Under and falls off the New Zealand pop albums list. In Australia, the set loses nine to No. 19 pop, while in New Zealand it drops out of the top 40 pop, down from No. 29. It had spent one week at No. 1 pop in New Zealand and peaked at No. 7 pop in Australia. The Very Best Of Dolly Parton: Australian Tour Edition holds steady at No. 40 in its 11th week on the New Zealand pop albums tally, while Down Under The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 drops two to No. 4 country in its 320th week on the top 40 and 13 to No. 40 in its fifth week on the pop chart, while it inches down one to No. 6 for a 37th week on the catalog albums list and off the digital albums sales tally, down from No. 41. Also on the Australian country albums chart, Dolly's The Hits drops 14 to No. 23 in its fourth week, while The Essential Dolly Parton descends nine to No. 27 in its 68th week on the top 40. In Ireland, the 3-CD compilation The Real Dolly Parton loses three to No. 71 in its 21st week on the Irish pop albums chart. And in the U.K., Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 1, released in 2011, rebounds one to No. 3 on the British country compilations chart in its 25th week back on the tally with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony, her Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) gains two to No. 4 in its 26th week on the same chart and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (also from 2011 and featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) increases four to No. 11.
Magazine Notes Dolly On Tour Chart Billboard over the weekend posted a story about Dolly ranking No. 2 on the week's tour chart, which was originally reported here Thursday evening. Check out the story here. In related news, shots from her concert in Perth, Australia, are available from Perth Nowhere.
'IWALY' U.K.'s No. 2 Best-Selling Female Song In recognition of International Women's Day on Saturday, the British charts counted down the top 40 best-selling singles by female artists, and Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You," a song written by Dolly, came in at No. 2 with 1.58 million units sold in the U.K. since release. No. 1 was Cher's "Believe" at 1.79 million and No. 3 was Brittney Spears' " Baby One More Time" with 1.53 million. Read the full list here.
'Slow Ass Jolene' Makes NBC Show Thanks to several people who sent in their notes that last week NBC's show The Blacklist used the slowed down version of Dolly's "Jolene" (known as the "slow ass Jolene") to illustrate a scene with a temptress named, you guessed it, Jolene. Watch it on the network's website here.
March 7: Brisbane Show Grossed $1.7 Million, Tulsa On Sale March 20 The first show from Dolly's Blue Smoke World Tour to land on Billboard's "Box Score" concert ticket sales chart appeared Thursday at No. 2 on the weekly countdown. Her two-night engagement in Brisbane, Australia, last month saw about 77 percent of the 18,060 available tickets sold for a gross of $1.77 million. In other tour news, Tulsa World reported here on Thursday that tickets for her May 22-23 engagement at that city's Hard Rock Hotel & Casino will go on sale for $95 each and up starting March 20 via hardrockcasinotulsa.com, by phone at 918-384-ROCK or at the box office. Although the dates have been on the tour itinerary for months, no news had been released until this week regarding ticket sales.
Nelson Slides On The Chart Elsewhere on the March 15 Billboard charts, Willie Nelson's To All The Girls, with its Dolly duet, slips five to No. 45 in its 20th week on the country albums list.
See Dolly In Los Angeles Photo Exhibit Dolly is among the artists whose images make up the new exhibit "Country: Portraits of an American Sound" at the Anneberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, it was announced this week. The exhibit runs May 31-Sept. 28 and is curated by representatives from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History and the Country Music Hall of Fame. Open free to the public, it will use historical and contemporary photographs to explore how images shape the public identity of country music performers and the genre itself. In addition to images from several celebrated photographers, the exhibit features a half-hour documentary, country albums, film posters, archival artifacts from the Hall of Fame and more.
March 5: Producer: Bonus Tracks For U.S. 'Blue Smoke' CD Kent Wells, Dolly's producer, on Tuesday let news slip that the U.S. release of her Blue Smoke CD on May 13 will contain additional tracks. He posted to his personal Facebook page that he had returned from her Australian tour and was in the studio mixing bonus tracks for the American version of the album (it was released just over a month ago in Australia).
Fan Talks To Paper About Meet-And-Greet One Australian fan who got to meet Dolly backstage during the Down Under leg of her Blue Smoke World Tour told her story to The Northwest Star this week. Read it here.
March 2: Aussie, Kiwi, Irish, British Chart Updates With the Down Under leg of her tour over, Dolly's Blue Smoke starts its descent. The album falls three to No. 10 in its fourth week on the Australian pop albums chart, remaining at No. 1 country and falling off the digital albums chart, down from No. 39, while in New Zealand it slides a dozen digits to No. 29 pop. The Very Best Of Dolly Parton: Australian Tour Edition falls a dozen places to No. 40 in its 10th week on the New Zealand pop albums tally, while Down Under The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 stays at No. 2 country in its 319th week on the top 40 and rises 11 to No. 27 in its fourth week on the pop chart, while it loses one to No. 5 for a 36th week on the catalog albums list and five to No. 41 on the digital albums sales tally. Also on the Australian country albums chart, Dolly's The Hits remains steady at No. 9 in its third week, while The Essential Dolly Parton adds eight to No. 18 in its 67th week on the top 40. In Ireland, the 3-CD compilation The Real Dolly Parton dips 19 places to No. 68 in its 20th week on the Irish pop albums chart. And in the U.K., Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 1, released in 2011, loses two to No. 4 on the British country compilations chart in its 24th week back on the tally with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony, her Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) slips one to No. 6 in its 25th week on the same chart and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (also from 2011 and featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) gains five to No. 15.
One More Item From Down Under Check out a great review of Dolly's final concert in the Australian leg of her Blue Smoke World Tour from The West Australianhere. In related tour news, the tour's next leg, a handful of select U.S. dates, kicks off in just over 11 weeks, and it includes a fundraising show in Richmond, Ky., which organizers at St. Mark Roman Catholic Church tell me is likely within just a couple of days from selling out. Get your tickets here, and don't forget to enter their contest to win a trip to London to meet Dolly and see her in concert on the European leg of the tour here!
