Dolly Parton – Busy Signal
Dolly Parton and her hair…
Listen/Download – Dolly Parton – Busy Signal
Greetings all.
I hope you’re all having a good week, and that you’ve taken the time to check out Tony C’s F16C Soul Club mix, on account of it’s a banger.
I think it’s safe to assume that many of you are already scraping your jaws off of the floor, having read the name of today’s artist, Dolly Parton.
Allow me to ‘splain…
[cliché] The 60s were a turbulent time [/cliché].
The above statement is true on many levels, and aside from the politics and social upheaval, musically things were going nuts. Take a look at a random Top 40 chart from any week between 1964 and 1968 and you are in for some real surprises.
The pop music scene of the mid 60s was incredibly diverse (maybe more diverse than at any other time) and within that diversity, where Frank Sinatra and Ed Ames bumped up against the Turtles and the Buffalo Springfield, there formed a vast, diffuse crucible of sorts where all of those crazy threads were – on occasion – woven together in very unusual ways.
Part of this weaving was deliberate, wherein some enterprising soul, perhaps used to doing things one way, decided to take a shot at another part of the market.
It was just such a shot that made today’s selection.
I can’t recall exactly where I first heard Dolly Parton’s ‘Busy Signal’, but I do remember being knocked flat on my ass when I did.
I doubt there are many among you who don’t already know who Miss Parton is, but I also doubt there are more than a few of you who had any idea that her discography harbored anything this interesting (outside of a country music context, natch…).
The world of ‘blue-eyed soul’ (which is kind of a bullshit term, since if a record is soulful there really ought not be a need to make note of the race of the performer, and yes I know I’ve used it here but when I get some extra time I’ll cook up something more appropriate, and yes your suggestions are welcome…) is generally the province of performers who were mainly, or at least peripherally performers of music in a soul, funk or R&B style. When you listen to folks like Billy Harner, Mitch Ryder, Steve Colt etc, what you hear is an artist devoted to recreating the sound of black music.
When you take a look at the long and distinguished discography of Dolly Parton, you generally see something else, that being a country singer.
I have no idea how she came to record ‘Busy Signal’, but the other name on the label, composer and producer Ray Stevens give us a clue or two.
Stevens, who had his first pop hit in 1962 with ’Ahab the Arab’ (his forte was novelty records) and his last in 1975 with ’Misty’ was, in addition to his own recording career, a busy songwriter, producer and session musician on the Nashville scene of the 1960s. He recorded with Brenda Lee, Brook Benton, the Blue Things, BJ Thomas and countless others in his many capacities.
The records he worked on, as well as his own recordings indicate that he was able to tap into a wide variety of styles, from rock’n’roll, to country, to pop.
‘Busy Signal’ is a perfect example of the fact that he was also conversant in soul.
The record opens – not surprisingly – the sound of a busy signal, created with human voices. Dolly drops in with the initial statement of the lyric, followed by a wonderful shift marked with the sound of a snare drum and a chorus of backing singers. While her voice is readily recognizable, the style she uses here travels in that grey area where girl group sounds cross over into soul, which of course could lead into another discussion of country music as “soul” music of another kind, and all the various and sundry intersections of the two, usually racially segregated styles in the actually segregated south. There’s certainly a book or two that could be written about the way white and black artists were exchanging (actively and passively) musical ideas and the countless amazing records that came out of that bubbling stew pot.
‘Busy Signal’ was released late in 1965, and as far as I can tell met with little success (though the flip side is fairly traditional, mid-60s Nashville country). Whether Steven’s was deliberately attempting a soul record, or just happened to toss the right ingredients into the pot at random, the world may never know.
Naturally, as if often the case with unusual, soulful records bouncing around the periphery of soul itself, ‘Busy Signal’ enjoys a certain level of popularity with the Northern Soul crowd over in the UK. It’s a record that can get fairly expensive, and one I chased for a long time (and was outbid on more than once). I can’t help but sense an element of kismet in the fact that when I did finally get myself a copy I grabbed it for less than three flimsy US dollars (my hands shaking pretty much from the time I won it to the moment my trusty mail carrier brought it to the house). It only got here this week, but I felt I had to move it right to the front of the queue. I hope you dig it as much as I do.
Peace
Larry
Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press
PS Head over to Iron Leg for some mid 60s pop
Themocracy
Dolly Parton – goes Northern. What a find. On a similar theme. Glen Campbell’s Oh What A Woman is worth a spin if you haven’t yet.
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yeah, that’s a great tune; nice find. very similar in sound and approach to dolly’s “don’t drop out,” included on the fairly recent fab girl group box from rhino. one of the writers of that one is “buzz” cason who, if memory serves, had a hand in “everlasting love,” the perennial chart climber, and has been in and around the nashville music scene for many years.
both very nice tunes–have to wonder how history might’ve been different if either one of these “northern soul-ish” songs would have become a big hit . . . would there be a dollywood?
love your site. song for song and post for post, as good as anything on Ye Olde Interwebs!
dc
DC
That’s a very interesting point, i.e. how might Dolly’s career (or anyone’s for that matter) have been different if one of their ‘oddball’ records had taken hold in he charts, especially considering how capricious the business was back then. That early in her career, no matter that her heart would have been in country, she’d probably have been pressured to move wherever the money was.
And thanks for the kind words about the blog.
Larry
What’s a busy signal?
Are you serious?
sorry Larry, a rare stinker,
it’s her minnie mouse voice.
nuthin’ personal dude!
Sorry you feel that way Ray. I genuinely LOVE this 45.
This one has needed a few plays to get me beyond the familiar voice in unfamiliar territory.
At first I didn’t much like this, so Ray, give it a few more plays and it might start to get through.
Nope just kidding Larry 🙂 However as I was listening I realized that some of my younger friends might hear that “beep beep” of the horns in the intro and really not get it.
@James – I wasn’t sure. There have to be some folks out there too young to remember a regular old busy signal!
Fantastic song! Thanks for sharing this Larry. Nice one.