Will classic rock stations play Dolly Parton?

[vchimpanzee]

An ABC News special included music from her new album and it would definitely fit.

 

[landtuna]

Dolly can sing just about anything but doubt she'd ever be considered a rocker.

 

[The Media Observer]

Probably not. However, I contend that someone like Emmylou Harris would be a better fit for "classic rock" radio. Unfortunately, she's not played on there either. Which is a shame.

 

[CTListener]

Probably not. However, I contend that someone like Emmylou Harris would be a better fit for "classic rock" radio. Unfortunately, she's not played on there either. Which is a shame.

Did AOR stations ever play Harris in the '70s or early '80s? Maybe some adventurous free-form stations that were late to convert to the more advertiser-friendly and focused AOR approach, but certainly not the Lee Abrams "Superstars" stations or their clones. She wasn't a country/rock crossover artist. She didn't even cross over to pop, as Parton did.

 

[Phil Harmonic]

...but it's a nice little side promotion... perhaps a morning show bit...

 

[davideduardo]

An ABC News special included music from her new album and it would definitely fit.

The word "classic" in Classic Rock certainly means that they play no currents by anyone.

 

[The Media Observer]

The word "classic" in Classic Rock certainly means that they play no currents by anyone.

True. 😐

 

[semoochie]

The period of time when Dolly Parton had hits is quickly approaching too old to play and Classic Hits never picked up on her, not surprisingly. It seems doubtful that Classic Rock will at this late date!

 

[CTListener]

"Rockstar" turned out to be an underwhelming album. The reviews were lukewarm at best, and whatever discussion it generated after release was nowhere near the pre-release hype. Hopefully, Dolly will do a back-to-basics country album as a fitting wrap-up to her career while she is still in good enough voice to do so. I don't expect most country stations to play anything from it, but I really don't care if they do or don't.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

All the props to her for doing it her way as Sinatra sang. Whatever she wants to do next, she’s certainly earned it.

 

[TheBigA]

Did AOR stations ever play Harris in the '70s or early '80s?

Hard to say because the early rock or AOR stations weren't charted by Billboard, and that's the easiest archive to check.

In 1975, Emmylou had her first charted hit, but it was on the Billboard country chart.

 

[Huff]

Hard to say because the early rock or AOR stations weren't charted by Billboard, and that's the easiest archive to check.

In 1975, Emmylou had her first charted hit, but it was on the Billboard country chart.

Billboard did have a section titled "FM Action" that listed some of the albums generating reaction among progressive rockers. I did not find any Emmylou Harris in those reports, but she could have easily fit among this sample from 1972:

 

[TheBigA]

Billboard did have a section titled "FM Action" that listed some of the albums generating reaction among progressive rockers.

I assume the list at the top names the reporters. A lot of very major omissions from that list, given the well known prog-rockers at the time in San Francisco, Chicago, NY, and LA.

 

[Huff]

I assume the list at the top names the reporters. A lot of very major omissions from that list, given the well known prog-rockers at the time in San Francisco, Chicago, NY, and LA.

It wasn't supposed to be an exhaustive list of all progressives - just a sampling of those stations willing and/or able to share their feedback.

 

[Cold Coffee]

Let It Be is one of those old Beatle songs that I thought was worn out. However, Dolly along with Paul and Ringo brought it back to life.

 

[CTListener]

Hard to say because the early rock or AOR stations weren't charted by Billboard, and that's the easiest archive to check.

In 1975, Emmylou had her first charted hit, but it was on the Billboard country chart.

That would have been "If I Could Only Win Your Love," the song that sparked my interest in country music when I heard it on WCAS, an eclectic folk-rock-blues-what-have-you daytimer in Cambridge, Mass. Something about it made me seek out country stations both in Boston (WCOP) and in Syracuse (WSEN), where I was going to school. A very special song in my life story as a country fan.

 

[tbolt909]

Hard to say because the early rock or AOR stations weren't charted by Billboard, and that's the easiest archive to check.

In 1975, Emmylou had her first charted hit, but it was on the Billboard country chart.

Many AAA stations played songs from the 2006 Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris ALL THE ROAD RUNNING album. I doubt that any Classic Rock stations did...