Dolly Parton: Shine On With Reese (Full Episode) | Celebs Up Close

Dolly Parton: Shine On With Reese (Full Episode) | Celebs Up Close

if i was to describe myself if no one had ever seen me i would say outrageous goddy friendly uh warm and likable but really weird looking [Music] you know how like kids feel about mickey mouse and minnie mouse like they go to disneyland and they think “oh my gosh there’s minnie mouse.” and it’s the most extraordinary person they could meet in their life that’s how i as a grown-up woman feel about dolly parton hey get in here oh my goodness out of the snow oh my goodness oh my god come on who knew this was going to be a snow day how exciting let me fix your hair okay thank you catch you head on got to take care of my hair yeah you look good i’m making breakfast come on in here oh my gosh i’m so excited with a career spanning six decades this 47 time grammy nominee and country music hall of famer is one of the most honored female artists of our time she’s one of the kindest warmest and smartest women i know it doesn’t get better than that know there ain’t no doubt i was born for this i had this idea to do a show about women that i really just love admire i love what they’re doing in their own industry in their discipline um their journey to become a strong woman within that industry and of course one of the first people i thought it was dolly because um no one you know in in country music has gone through more different iterations of um of being a businesswoman and success isn’t limited and i think sometimes people think okay well there’s only a certain amount of success and if she gets it i won’t but i just don’t think that’s true no i think it’s very helpful in fact i i know that was true outside the business in my own life it was like that with my sisters and i and my aunts and my grandmas and my mom you know we just had this whole world of women that kind of stuck together the women in the church like when we were going through things we were stronger together and i think that has carried on with me through the years in my career i always think back on that strength of women i remember being little i i remember this is so vivid we’re still little okay well short i was in kindergarten skipping rope and i always was kind of a loner and i was always singing to myself and i had big dreams and my my pe teacher said to me reesei what do you want to be when you grow up and i said i’m going to be dolly parton and i meant it i was not i didn’t even blink and she said “you’re going to be dolly parton.” i said “mhm i’m going to be famous like miss dolly parton and she’s from tennessee and if she can do it then i can do it.” well you certainly did it with or without me for sure i’ve been in this business for 60 years i started singing when i was 10 so it’s just really been a journey you know being brought up poor and country i barely got through high school never went to college but i had my dreams early on i knew what i wanted to do i grew up way up in we call it up in the holler in the great smoky mountains of east tennessee we were really just poor country people we had a house full of kids there’s 12 of us and all we are in order willine david denver dolly bobby stella cassie randy larry floyd freda and rachel and in my early days we didn’t even have running water unless we’d run and get it we worked our own fields grew our own food canned our own food and raised our own hogs it was hard and my daddy was strict daddy didn’t want me getting out in the world yeah he didn’t even want me to go to school you know he really but that wasn’t in a bad way he just was afraid something bad was going to happen to his girls but mom knew that i had a strength she knew i knew what i wanted and who i was so she’d fight for me a lot when i’d want to go places daddy didn’t want me to go to sing like to nashville with my uncle bill where we’d sleep in the car and that was our our room my bedroom was the back seat and his was the front seat and then i i’d wash my hair in the filling station bathrooms and put makeup on in the side mirror of the car and that was just how you did it wow so you learned to do all your hair and makeup and all that stuff by yourself oh yeah how did you learn to do all that when they didn’t have youtube and tutorials and all that well you don’t need to learn a lot to know how to learn how to tease hair and early on i wanted to my hair bleached and i remember one time when i first bleached my hair i was reading on the bottle and it said uh uh be careful said do not get in eyes to do so may cause blindness so anyway i was we put the bleach on and so we was at the well my sister was rinsing it out and she was pouring water over my head and and it was getting in my eyes and i remember just i said oh get this in my eyes to do something about cause blind just you know and i was trying to get it out i was just i may look pretty but i won’t be able to see it cuz i’ll be blind and so i was like i didn’t want to be blind i wanted to be blonde oh my gosh did record companies ever try to get you to change your look or yes i was 18 when i came here and so wait hold on you were 18 when you came when i got when i moved here for good i graduated from high school on a friday night came here on a saturday morning wow and i started working with fred foster who owned monument records and combine music i was young and i was country and so they were trying to classy me up a little they thought well maybe they could make me into a teenage star so they got a hair stylist and makeup artist and clothes lord i felt so uncomfortable and i wasn’t even pretty i did not like the way i looked and my hair was flat and my i wanted my i wanted more makeup i hate when my hair is flat don’t i oh i hate i just can’t stand it i just hated that that look and i did a few records teeny bop kind of songs and they didn’t do anything and i thought “oh i don’t want to be this i don’t want to be this i don’t want to be this you got to let me sing country.” well i think it’s wonderful to have ambition you got to get out and work too i mean a lot of women can kind of hide behind a lot of stuff and just use the excuse that i didn’t make it because i was a girl well you can make it if you’ll get out and be willing to sacrifice and work for it ain’t no man going to stop you if you’ve got the talent you might have to work a little harder in your area but it can be done and i am a prime example i was 20 years old when i started with the porter wake show porter had the number one country syndicated television show at that time i mean i was making no money he said “well i can pay you $60,000 a year.” and i thought that was more money than i had ever heard of but the unfortunate thing is it never changed even after i got to be a star on the show cuz i was writing songs and so the more popular i got the more popular the show got we got and we but then your salary didn’t change a lot but my i kept saying you know don’t you think i need a raise was it hard to get the courage to say that oh yeah it was hard boss at the time cried a lot and he was very strong willed but i pretended like i was talking to one of my uncles or one of my brothers and saying “you’re not pushing me around right i’m a songwriter and i ain’t a girl singer forever.” i was out to be a solo artist and i still want to have my own band i want to have my own show i want to have my own life i don’t want to just be the girl singer in somebody else’s group and that’s when i wrote i will always love you so i went back the next morning and i i said “sit down i have something i want to play for you if i should stay well i would only be in your way so i’ll go so i sang i will always love you and porter was crying he said “that’s the best song you ever wrote.” okay you can go but i have to produce the song and so it was a couple years later but it was all right because that’s how you you learn to maneuver i am first and foremost a songwriter i’ve been writing since i was seven serious songs loving my family and writing about those days keeps me sane in an insane world and anytime i get homesick or lonesome when i’m out on tour or in other countries i can just get my guitar and sing about home and just takes me back there my daddy always said “now try to keep as much as your own stuff as you can.” so as soon as i could i started my own publishing company years later elvis was recording here and i knew the people that were producing him so they called me two or three weeks before and said “elvis is recording you want to come down and meet him because he’s going to record i’ll always love you.” and i thought “oh my god.” and i told everybody you know i was so excited and i was going to go to the session and meet elvis and all that and then just like a a day before i got a call and he was saying “now you know we don’t record anything with elvis unless he has publishing.” and i said “now hold on.” i said “well i can’t do that.” i said “cuz i’ve already had a number one song on it and it’s my most important copyright right?” and he said “well then we can’t record it.” and i cried all night i was so upset about it but i thought you know i can’t do it i can’t even do it for ellis priscilla told me later he was very disappointed and she told me how much he loved the song when they divorced that when they were leaving the courthouse she told me that he was singing that song in her ear it’s a good thing that you maintain the rights to i will always love you because then what happened when the bodyguard movie came out kevin cosner sent word you know can can you send us that song because they were looking for the perfect love song so i sent it out totally forgot all about it and then i was driving home and all of a sudden i hear this sound on the radio it was like how she started that ac cappella like if i should stay i thought my heart was going to bust i had to pull over unless i should wreck it was the most overwhelming feeling i’ve ever had and that was whitney houston singing that was whitney she took it to so many levels to think that my little song my little heartfelt heartbreaking song could be that big i felt like that i had arrived as a as a writer but you look at it and and over time like that’s of course that was such a savvy thing to do but i do think i’m sure you’ve had through your career many times where people said i just think maybe i’ll try and she’s not as smart as she thinks she is or and i that’s always been such an inspiration to me because i always thought no matter where you come from it’s inside of you yeah well i got that strength from my dad my dad was a hard worker my dad was not educated at all my daddy couldn’t even read and write but he was so smart you’ve got to not just trust everybody you can trust them to a degree but you got to keep that thing like inside you that says that don’t feel right to me i’m not that’s not how that should be but i wanted to talk to you a little bit about you know i’ve been i came here it’s like six seven years ago to this house and i said “d i think i’m going to start a company for making movies for women and television shows for women because there’s not enough parts.” and i remember sitting there and you saying “i think it’s a good idea and if you ever need my help,” you were so sweet and i was like “yes i need your help and support.” i love working with the men you know the movies i’ve done but my most success have been like with still magnolia with all those great women and then of course let’s not forget 9 to5 yes which is such an anthem for female empowerment and that we’re stronger together nineto5 is such a classic movie but women now are dealing with so much of harassment in the workplace and do you think things have changed since 9 to5 well not changed enough i don’t think but i really think it threw a light on it back then at times and i think a lot of things were greatly improved because of that but people don’t realize there are many good men and you know what i’m talking about you’ve worked with a lot of wonderful wonderful men but there are some that just won’t give you a break there are just some that think because they are men that they can take advantage or because they are the boss i do believe too it’s a moment for women to stand up but honestly we need balance in the world we do we got to have good men we got to have good men doing that and there are so many more good men than bad it’s just that the bad ones need to be pointed out we got to learn to stand up a little more as women so any way that we can help is good you’re very genuine in everything that you do and i think that comes from you know your background and um you know my favorite song is code of many colors oh yeah it just as a little girl i would listen to it and i thought no matter where you’re from your life matters your story is important i think a lot of people think out there like “how am i ever going to get ahead?” but i look at you and i think about your story and what your mother made this coat out of little pieces of of fabric that little song is more than a song it’s about an attitude a philosophy it’s about you know it’s it’s about the bullying you know that we made it into a children’s story about how accepting people as they are and for their differences and not to make fun and not to laugh and that you’re only poor if you choose to be meaning you can be rich in spirit you can be rich in thought you can be rich in talent and you can be rich in all those wonderful things so that little song means a great deal to me and it’s meant a lot to a lot of people when i wore that little coat to school kids would just say “that ain’t nothing but rags that ain’t nothing but scraps and you know that’s just ragged old coat and it’s even faded and that’s not even new cloth.” it broke my heart that they were actually making fun of me but maybe if god had his hand in that because now i’m able to be in a position where i can help other people and certainly my family my clothes that my mama made only from rags that i wore so proudly although we had no money i was rich as i could be in my code of many colors mama made for me made just for me my nails are a little long for this but it’s so magical i’m going to hold it you want me to hold yes okay pick it no i don’t know if i i can do the auto harp i can’t do it oh you learned to play the auto did you know june carter yes i knew her very well johnny and johnny yeah when i do my life story you may have to i better get after it though just get a bigger boob job we can work on that part but when i was a kid myself i used to when i was a teenager yeah i used to steal the shoulder pads out of my grandma’s winter coat and i would use them to put in my bra to push my boobs up before they had those push-up bras so we do what we got to do one of my favorite songs that i’ve written is called backwards barbie it was kind of about the way i looked it’s like i’m just a backwards barbie too much makeup too much hair but don’t be fooled by thinking that the goods are not all there don’t let these false eyelashes lead you to believe that i’m as phony as i look cuz i run true and deep don’t judge a book by the cover cuz i’m a real good book i started a program called the imagination library uh 22 years ago i guess i started because of my dad who couldn’t read and write and he just felt crippled about that we weren’t allowed to to have books in the house because we had so many kids we weren’t allowed to bring books home from school uh because the kids would chew on them pee on them and get food on them whatever and daddy said “i can’t afford to pay for no books so don’t bring no books home for no homework or none of that stuff.” what’s good about this little program they get the book that comes in the mail with their own little name on it so they go to the mailbox every month they wait for that book so we we love the fact that it’s we just can’t get enough books in the hands of enough children i love that that’s such good work in the world i grew up poor and just a simple country girl oh yeah this is where they are what which one do you want to wear oh my god well here hold this okay i have to hold this you better put your okay let me put your tea down hold on hold on just feel this wow isn’t that beautiful but oh my gosh even this one um what was that oh my gosh dolly that’s okay that happens all the time don’t tear up my clothes give me don’t come in my house and tear up my stuff i’m sorry your original costumes no it’s just these are things always imagine dolly parton’s closet opens and sequins come flying out of it well that did actually that happens all the time sometimes when i’m on stage i’m always popping beads and stuff and and they go sweep them up and they put them they give them back to us we want to sew them on and they call them dolly droppings like a rabbit what’s your fashion inspiration fashion what makes you feel beautiful well just god and glitter and color or not color just whatever and i like my clothes fit me good i buy them two i buy them a size too small and then i have them taken in okay is that right you that was a joke okay [Music] come into my little church my little chapel this is where i have to come when i get overwhelmed with everything else or if i just want to pray amazing grace how sweet the sound i don’t know if you remember this but you told me a story a long time ago about a man that came to your church he pulled you out and he said “this child’s special or these children or something?” oh that was a that was a woman a woman okay that was yeah and she uh she prayed all the time yeah and she was kind of like a a psychic and i was little and she put her hands on me and she was praying and she said “this child is anointed and she was like shaking like the pentecost.” she said “this child is anointed.” of course after church and mom said “that just means god had his hand on you and that you might do great things.” wow so i was what a beautiful story it sounds like you’ve always had that guiding light inside of you oh i’m no angel heaven knows i mean you know what i ain’t done i probably will do but i don’t mean to but i try to be better all the time but i do have faith and it really helps me and sometimes i do get weary from life and family i go a little crazy from all the lunacy it’s not that i’m not grateful but all in all it gets a little much some days you know that’s when i have to stop and i pray for love and guidance and you know and help along the way i love what you said in your concert this last concert that i saw you in where you talk about dream more learn more oh dream more care more do more be more i wrote a song 22 years ago called try and it’s it’s really about just you try to be the first one up the mountain you know it’s like just try to make the most of every moment and if you fail just get up and try again wow i want to just tell you dolly i’m going to get emotional but i just you’ve inspired me so much well thank you you continue to inspire me i’ve always wanted to be more like you well don’t be like me be like you but i’ll be me but you you do inspire me and i think you inspire so many people out there with your positivity and your your the warmth and the kindness just comes off of you cuz it’s real and um well i try well well thank you it’s like i’ve chased after rainbows i’ve captured one or two yeah and i’ve reached for the stars and i’ve even held a few i’ve walked that lonesome valley you know i topped the mountain soared the skies i’ve laughed and i’ve cried but i’ve always tried well i love you too i love you thank you for sharing thank you it touches me to to no end that i’m an inspiration it makes you feel like you’ve you’ve done something right cuz you don’t really know in your life how you’re going to be seen or remembered and i look back and then i still see that my music seems to be important and that young women especially which i love that that they can look to me to say dolly had the strength to do it or she got through it that’s really humbling and it’s makes me feel proud and i just thank god for it i see

Reese Witherspoon takes a trip to Nashville to meet the one and only Dolly Parton! Dolly chats candidly about her upbringing, life in the music industry, and even gives a tour of her legendary closet!

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🎥 Speaking in 2018 on Shine On With Reese

Reese meets trailblazers from a variety of fields across the series, including music legend Dolly Parton, visionary filmmaker Ava DuVernay, First Captain Simone Askew and multi-talented popstar Pink.

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