Linda Ronstadt Shared What Dolly Parton Was Better at Than Anyone She’d Ever Known
Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt worked together to critical acclaim on the Trio album, but they thought highly of each other before the collaboration. Nearly ten years before the release of Trio, Ronstadt discussed her hope for a future collaboration with Parton and Emmylou Harris. She explained that Parton endlessly impressed her and said she’d learned a lot from the other artist.
Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris collaborated on the ‘Trio’ album
Parton, Ronstadt, and Harris began considering a collaboration in the 1970s, but their busy schedules pushed the album back to 1987.
“The women ruled the sessions,” producer George Massenberg said, per the book Smart Blonde: Dolly Parton by Stephen Miller. “It was the girls’ record. These are three women who have taken great control of their lives and their careers and will not accept the old ideas about their place in music and in the world.”
The album received a nomination for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards and won for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
Linda Ronstadt praised Dolly Parton in an interview
In 1978, Ronstadt discussed the difficulties of working with Parton and Harris.
“We’re going to make [an album], it’s just going to take a long time,” she told Rolling Stone. “It’s not easy for three different managers and three different record companies to come to an agreement. Say we made a record and Dolly’s record company thought that it was something that she shouldn’t have out just then. Say she had an album out then and it would be competing with her own album. It’s also difficult trying to find a style to record us in when we have three completely different styles.”
She explained that they were dedicated to the collaboration due, in part, to Parton’s drive.
“I remember Dolly just making these decisions,” she said. “She said: “We’re just going to have to try.” And Emmy’s got kids — Dolly was such an inspiration to her because she’s so well organized. I remember Emmy saying, ‘Well, I’m just going to do it for Dolly, because it shows me that I’ll just have to get things organized, I’ll simply have to do it.'”
She explained that she took a lot of inspiration from Parton.
“I’m kind of a survivor, and I don’t think that I could have gotten this far if I hadn’t been,” she said. “Being a survivor doesn’t mean that you have to be made out of steel and it doesn’t mean that you have to be ruthless. It means that you have to basically be on your own side and want to win. The person that’s the best at that of anyone that I’ve ever met is Dolly Parton. She’s just amazing at being ambitious without being ruthless and at being so sensitive to other people’s needs. She’s a great lesson to me.”
The two women didn’t get along as well while working on ‘Trio II’
The success of Trio led the women to make Trio II, but they struggled to find time to work together.
“It’s very difficult to get in touch with Dolly … she has more people around her,” Harris said.
Parton explained that Ronstadt’s timing frustrated her.
“Ronstadt loves to work in the studio and works so slow, it drives me nuts,” she said. “I wanted to say, ‘Wake up, b****, I got stuff to do.”
Despite the disagreements, Ronstadt enjoyed working with the group.
“I think we are good colleagues … our relationship has always been based on a common love for traditional music,” she said. “The sum is greater than the parts.”
