Playlist: The Very Best of Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton

Liner Note Author: Billy Altman.
Dolly Parton was obviously a unique and gifted performer and songwriter with a couple of low-charting singles on Monument Records behind her when country star Porter Wagoner took her under his wing in 1967 and brought her to national TV as his new singing partner on his syndicated show. The pair recorded several duets together over the next seven years or so, and scored hits with several of them, including "Just Someone I Used to Know," "Daddy Was an Old Time Preacher Man," and "If Teardrops Were Pennies." Parton's solo career (which Wagoner had a big stake in -- he was her co-producer and owned half of her song publishing company) finally took off in 1974 when her self-penned "Jolene" hit number one, and the pair quit touring together, although she continued appearing on Wagoner's television show through 1976. This set collects the pair's essential singles, including the three listed above, as well as a previously unreleased duet, "Tangled Vines," which was recorded in 1969. ~ Steve Leggett