Jolene
Jess had a post the other day about being a dorky 8-year old, and taping songs off of the radio. Back in the day, we would take our cassette player, plop it in front of the radio, and tape our favorite songs, cursing the DJ if he talked over the intro or outro (that’s a real term, ’cause I live with radio talk, so I know!). That reminded me of how my friend Jennifer and I would spend our Sunday mornings…first, I would walk to her house, which was maybe a mile or two from my house…then, I would make pancakes for us (I was 5 years older than she was, so I was allowed to use the stove), and we would watch Shirley Temple movies on channel 44. After Shirley Temple was over, we would listen to her mom’s records. Our favorite to listen to was Come on Over, by Olivia Newton John. We loved the song Jolene so much, we decided to tape it on cassette. Smart, huh? Boy, what good sound we got from that sucker! Played it, enjoyed it, and eventually, kinda forgot about it. Fast forward about 10 years, and I heard an awesome version of Jolene, all 80’s and techno, by Strawberry Switchblade. LOVED it. Had to go find it on vinal. Then, just a few years ago, found it covered by Mindy Smith (with Dolly Parton, the original writer/singer of Jolene.) So I went all Wiki, and found out that it’s been covered by MANY people, including the White Stripes. Whatever. Not so into them, so I didn’t include that version. For your listening pleasure, then, I now give you 4 versions of Jolene, in order of when I heard them.
1st. Olivia…Look at how wholesome she looks on that horse! She looks like she drinks a LOT of milk, and certainly eats her veggies. This is before she got all trampy for Grease or Physical. And they didn’t have Crest White-strips back then, either! (I can’t put in the video, but I can put in a picture of her looking all fresh faced. 🙂 )
YouTube won’t let me imbed this one, so here’s the link. The sound sucks, but it’s the studio version, which is the one I loved. The rest are live versions, and she’s all 80’s and gone physical in them, so they’re dead to me.
2nd, Strawberry Switchblade. Not nearly so Breck Girl. Does this say 1987 or what? LOVED this version.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oxzoDWY1PM[/youtube]
3rd, here’s Mindy Smith’s version…actually, a damn fine cover, when you listen to it.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcDBgXbGskc[/youtube]
4th, if you can stand it (not because it’s bad, but it’s the same damn song over and over and over again…), here’s the original, Dolly Parton, the master.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqEX1nrA8Wo[/youtube]
OK, if you got through that without feeling like Jolene needs to be kicked to the curb and these ladies need to have a shot of self-confidence, tell me, which version did you like best?
15 Comments
kookiejar
Man, Strawberry Switchblade tossed me into an 80’s flashback! I think I sported that hairdo.
I’d only heard the Dolly-version before (and I love, LOVE that song), but I think the Mindy Smith version is amazing. Her voice has just the right amount of melancholy. Thank you for bringing that video to my attention. I’m going to watch it again.
Also, is Dolly Parton from outer space? Why does she get more beautiful as she gets older?
V-Grrrl
J,
I got that Olivia Newton John album as a Christmas gift in eighth or ninth grade. I remember her version of Jolene well. It really struck a chord in my insecure adolescent heart. I understood all about girls that you could not possibly compete with.
And I used to tape songs off the radio too, using the same sophisticated audio techniques you did. : ) I lived in a mountainous area of Virginia and once in a while could catch WABC radio from NYC. My favorite. I remember catching lots of Bob Seger, Steve Miller Band, and ELO on tape.
Maida
Nobody sings it like Dolly!!!
joan
I have Mindy Smith’s cd with Dolly joining in on Jolene.
Maya's Granny
I’m so glad you did this at Jennifer’s house and not so much at ours.
amuirin
I’d say the Mindy Smith, as I like the lighter style, and the video is visually compelling.
She does need to dump the dude and get herself a cabana boy, though.
hellomelissa
oh, man, when i was little i SO BADLY wanted to BE dolly parton when i grew up. my mom was seriously worried about my taste in clothes for awhile there.
i beg you jolene, PLEASE don’t take my man!
Starshine
Dolly Parton is a great singer, isn’t she?
Karen
Thanks for that J! My niece was named after that song… which I had never heard until just a couple of years ago. All I thought before was “Dolly Parton … wha?!”.
It’s a great song, especially the Mindy Smith version (but I think my niece will love that retro 80’s video!)
Cherry
Dolly all the way!
Gina
I have to say I was not really familiar with the song. My country influences are seriously lacking.
That being said, Dolly did it best, with Mindy coming in a close second.
ML
I’m going to go with Dolly.
We used to do the same thing – record songs off the radio. Yeah, and the sound totally sucked, but no matter 🙂
Py Korry
Strawberry Switchblade doing a semi-goth video of a Dolly Parton song? Brilliant! You put the Stawberry Switchblade version of Jolene on the first round of mix tapes we made for each other back in the day, so I’m partial to that version. 🙂
Black Belt Mama
Oh, those mix tapes. I once recorded the top 9 at 9 on my local radio station. If you were the 102nd caller during the countdown you could win New Kids on the Block tickets. I was listening to my taped show and was like “OMG-I can win tickets” so I called and the dj answered and I was like “OMG-AM I THE 102ND CALLER?” and he was like “What?” and then I realized that it was 4 in the afternoon, not 9 at night and I was listening to a taped show and was a complete idiot. Thank God for CD’s.
John Mutford
I’ve been a long time fan of Dolly and The White Stripes, so needless to say, I love their version as well. I love the fact that he didn’t change the gender references even though it’s being sung by a man.
A few years back Jack White produced an excellent album for Loretta Lynn. I’ve been hoping he’d approach Dolly too. That’d be too much to handle.