Dolly Parton – I Will Always Love You

“I Will Always Love You” – Single by Dolly Parton from the album Jolene
B-side “Lonely Comin’ Down”
Released March 11, 1974
Recorded June 12, 1973
Studio RCA Studio B, Nashville
Label RCA Victor
Songwriter Dolly Parton
Producer Bob Ferguson
Charted No.1 in US Hot Country Songs (Billboard); No.4 in Canada Country Tracks

Dolly Parton wrote the song in 1973 for her one-time partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, from whom she was separating professionally after a seven-year partnership.[citation needed] She recorded it in RCA Studio B in Nashville on June 12, 1973.

Several times (long before Whitney Houston recorded the song), Dolly Parton suggested to singer Patti LaBelle that she record “I Will Always Love You” because she felt LaBelle could have sung it so well. However, LaBelle admitted she kept putting off the opportunity to do so and later deeply regretted it after she heard Whitney Houston’s rendition.

The song won Parton Female Vocalist of the Year at the 1975 CMA Awards.

Not only does the song land at #1 on the country chart in 1974, it does it again when it’s re-released in 1982, making Parton the first artist to reach #1 twice with the same song. Meanwhile, an 11-year-old choir girl in New Jersey named Whitney Houston is just beginning to sing solos in church. Little does anyone know, her powerhouse rendition as sung to Kevin Costner in The Bodyguard (1992) will become the defining version to many. It holds the #1 spot on the Hot 100 for 14 weeks and carries the distinction of being the best-selling single ever from a female artist.

Several other artists have recorded the ballad, including Linda Ronstadt with a pre-Whitney R&B version, but not Elvis Presley. The King’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, tried to get Parton to sign over half her publishing rights before Elvis would record the cover, but she wouldn’t be snookered into a raw deal. All in all, it’s a lucrative bit of songwriting for Parton that leaves no room for sour grapes. Parton even presented Houston with the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female at the 1994 ceremony, where “I Will Always Love You” also won Record of the Year.

Musicians
Dolly Parton – vocals, guitar
Jimmy Colvard – guitar
Chip Young – guitar
Stu Basore – pedal steel guitar
Bobby Dyson – bass
Larrie Londin – drums
Buck Trent – banjo
Bobby Thompson – banjo
Mack Magaha – fiddle
Johnny Gimble – fiddle
Hargus “Pig” Robbins – piano
Dolores Edgin – background vocals
Hershel Winginton – background vocals
Joe Babcock – background vocals
June Page – background vocals