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Dolly Parton
In 1973 Dolly Parton knew it was time for her to move on from “The Porter Wagoner Show.” Wagoner felt differently.
“How am I gonna make him understand how much I appreciate everything, but that I have to go?” the country legend asked herself. “So I went home and I thought, ‘Well, what do you do best? You write songs.’ So I sat down and I wrote this song.”
That song, of course, was the enduring ballad “I Will Always Love You,” which hit the top of the charts several times over the years with versions by Parton and Whitney Houston.
In a conversation with Bart Herbison of Nashville Songwriters Association International, Parton recalled writing the song, sharing a few special moments with Wagoner before his death in 2007 and her reaction when she first heard Houston’s version.
Why did you write “I Will Always Love You?”
I think most everybody, my fans, know the reason that I wrote it. I worked with a show called “The Porter Wagoner Show.” It was the No. 1 syndicated show in country music back in the ’60s and ’70s, and I started working with Porter in 1967.
I was with Porter for seven years, and I learned so many things from Porter. We had one of those relationships where we were just so passionate about what we did; it was like fire and ice. We kind of butted heads all the time, but we loved each other.
There was a great passion there. And I wanted to leave the show. I had told Porter that I would stay with the show for five years. I wanted to go out on my own.
Well, five years passed, and I was still in the show. We were having big hit duets. It was his show, and I understood all that, but I still wanted to go. So we were going around and around with that. So, finally, I thought, “How am I gonna make him understand how much I appreciate everything, but that I have to go?
He won’t listen to me. He’s not listening to reason when I want to go!” So I went home and I thought, “Well, what do you do best? You write songs.” So I sat down and I wrote this song.
I took it back to the office the next day. I said, “Porter, sit down. I’ve written something I think you need to hear.” I started singing “I Will Always Love You,” and he started crying.
When I finished, he said, “Well, hell! If you feel that strong about it, just go on — providing I get to produce that record because that’s the best song you ever wrote.”
In 2007, Miss Parton, it was a special time for you to come back together with Porter. There were two times, that year, and then a little bit later on as Porter was really in his last days, that this song was performed with and for Porter. Tell us about those (times).
We got to be very close again. We had our big separation when we first left (each other), and there were a few years that went by, but I always loved Porter, and he always loved me. Of course time mellows you out, and we got to be really good friends again. We got to perform the song together on a special show at the Grand Ole Opry, and that was a real special time for me. I really loved that, and so did he.
The Tennessean