1970 | Peak: #1
Parton’s first chart-topping single tells the story of Joshua, a hillbilly loner that our protagonist manages to fall in love with.
It’s all a bit ridiculous. She sells it with a great storytelling performance, complete with a closing yodel that borders on skat.
But it’s all a bit ridiculous.
Written by Dolly Parton
Grade: B-
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLlyrkIWZos
It’s all a bit ridiculous.
That’s a one sentence review of country radio.
I like this song, mostly because of Dolly’s storytelling style. If sung by a lesser vocalist, it would have fallen flat, but I probably would have given this a B or even B+.
It may be ridiculous, but I don’t think there’s any big mystery as to why it was also ridiculously successful. Dolly simply had a gift for real-life storytelling, however corny or maudlin it may be to some, that is so painfully absent from country radio now.