There are a few quotes I found hurriedly handwritten amongst my many piles that I cannot attribute the authorship to: “You know that you are in love when the hardest thing to do is say good-bye” and “A true lover always feels in debt to the one he loves.” These are two of my “partners” in this decision process, an assessment route I take that, in this type of forum, that also coincides with a Yiddish statement I have held onto for years, “Dear God: You do such wonderful things for complete strangers; why not for me?”
I am sure my assessment of rightful vocal ownership will have many in agreement with me; in fact, visually the word awesome, even though of its freely use today for description, would not even come close to conveying the impact I feel each time I watch her and her “bodyguard” in final action. However, I cannot take a total bias or disenfranchise the original song´s author because if it was not for Dolly Parton; I could not be taking this stance for my chosen.
Knowing why the song was written and mainly whom it is directed to, no doubt in my mind on why Dolly Parton´s, “I Will Always Love You” has factually left its mark on the country charts with massive public appeal acceptance, to the point of topping the charts not once, but a total of three each time it made another Parton debut.
On the other hand, my two-cents worth has nothing to do with the numbers or whether or not a preference for country or pop, including all the other classifications, including instrumental, such as Kenny G. It also has nothing to do with voice because I found I could not, just couldn´t, choose by this factor alone. Both were viewed in film and solo performance, and even the different places as well as the other leading men, Kevin or Burt, chosen to play Porter, could not add more strength in my final decision.
For me this is a case of originality and what I would voice as a Turner Classic movie, being “It is a Wonderful Life” or even the wheel. They cannot be reinvented, however “modernized” to appeal to another generation, another class location, or even in this case another person´s choice of musical preference of delivery.
Notably Whitney Houston´s rendition of “I Will Always Love You” did reinvent Dolly Parton´s ‘wheel’ and I strongly believe it did create its own original. I find it so compelling with a strength that gives me the feeling I could move mountains, but a classic never loses its first place spot in historical research. Why? Well, another of my “co-partners” said it all when it deals with the matters of the heart. “Love that we cannot have is the one that lasts the longest, hurts the deepest and feels the strongest.” I remain confident, if it was possible today, Mr. Wagoner would support me in my decision, and I am completely with the assurance that Dolly´s ‘stranger’ – http://youtu.be/8QaI-M9sxW4Â – is in agreement.
Review by Ben Rayman