I grew up with a strange mix of music -- including country music. Although I don't usually listen to country & western music any more, I realise that my exposure to country music has influenced my taste in music. I often enjoy acoustic sounds and music with a folk feel to them. I have all Sheryl Crow's albums; I have some albums of the Dixie Chicks, and even a collection of Alison Krauss & Union Station, and also enjoy The Avett Brothers. Admittedly, none of these are typically country (more Blue Grass and Folk Rock), but without my early exposure to country music I would never have discovered these.
I've recently started to miss the sound of Dolly Parton. I can't really say why. It's not that I particularly enjoy her style of country that much, but I suppose it reminds me of some childhood memories -- a time in which I was happy and without a care in the world.
It was a time during which my exposure to country music was at a grand scale. My mother hosted regularly Country Shows. These shows would attract thousands of people, with great country artists singing and a unique South African version of a country event. There would be curry & rice with chutney and coconut shreds (a traditional South African dish) and an animated rodeo bull that people would be thrown off to the cheering delight of the spectators. People would dress up in jeans with big buckled belts, and "Indian frills" along the seams. And there would be Dolly Partons: curvaceous women with big hair and colourful personalities.
Watch this extract of a delightful BBC interview with Dolly Parton.
In reminiscence of the “good old days” – I cannot believe I’m old enough to be talking of the “good old days” – I decided to get hold of some Dolly Parton music. Who can forget such Dolly classics as "Jolene"?
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