Dolly Parton Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Debut Album

Fifty years ago today, Dolly Parton released her groundbreaking debut album project, Hello, I’m Dolly. The Monument Records album, which was produced by Fred Foster, reached No. 11 on the country albums chart and contained Parton’s hits “Dumb Blonde” (written by Curly Putman) and “Something Fishy” (written by Parton). Both singles reached the Top 20 on the country singles charts.

The album caught the attention of Porter Wagoner and ultimately inspired him to invite Parton to become a member of his band and appear on his popular weekly TV show. It contained Parton’s versions of three songs she penned that had already been hits for other artists: “Put it Off Until Tomorrow” (Bill Phillips), “Fuel to the Flame” (Skeeter Davis), and “I’m In No Condition” which charted by Hank Williams Jr.

“I can’t believe it’s been 50 years since I did my first album,” Parton recalls. “What a wonderful 50 years it has been. Thanks to my Uncle Bill Owens and Fred Foster for believing in me early on. And thanks to all the fans out there…I hope to have at least another 50 years!”

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Lorie Hollabaugh

Hollabaugh, a staff writer at MusicRow magazine, has over 20 years of music business experience and has written for publications including American Profile, CMA Close Up, Nashville Arts And Entertainment, The Boot and Country Weekly. She has a Broadcast Journalism and Speech Communication degree from Texas Christian University, (go Horned Frogs), and welcomes your feedback or story ideas at lhollabaugh@musicrow.com.

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