Amid the politics, this Garage edition of the Court of Public Opinion paused for something gentler. Jeremy Cordeaux led a warm tribute to Dolly Parton, who has, as he put it, left the stage, the studio and the building, and did so as one of the very few performers about whom, he said, no one has ever had a bad word.
Larger Than Life, And Never Small
Jeremy reached for the phrase that captured her best. Dolly was larger than life, he said, and managed to be so without ever making anyone else feel small. Instantly recognisable, known to millions by her first name alone, she carried a self-deprecating sense of humour that disarmed everyone she met.
That combination, Jeremy suggested, is rarer than talent itself: a superstar who lifted the room rather than dominating it, and who wore her fame lightly enough to laugh at herself.
The Sheer Body Of Work
The numbers alone are staggering. Jeremy noted that Dolly recorded and released 956 individual song titles, a total of more than 1,100 once you count remixes and live recordings, with Emmys and Grammys galore along the way.
Behind the rhinestones and the humour was one of the most prolific songwriters in the history of popular music, a catalogue few artists could dream of matching. The image and the wit sometimes distracted from it, but the work, Jeremy stressed, was the foundation of everything.
The Elvis Story
Jeremy shared a detail that surprised even him: for all her fame, Dolly never actually met Elvis Presley. She spoke to him on the telephone, but the two icons, whose worlds seemed destined to cross, never did in person.
It is the kind of small, human fact that says something about a life lived at the top: that even at that altitude, some meetings simply never happen, and a phone call is all that history records.
Remembered With Affection
On Friday’s live stream, Jeremy recalled, the show had spent time reminiscing with people who knew her, Ralph Hadzic, who drove her all over Australia, and Alex Irving, who manages her Imagination Library book-distribution work here. Their affection, Jeremy said, matched everyone else’s.
His own farewell was simple and personal. Dolly Parton, I personally will miss you, he said, and knew Pete would too. For a figure who gave so much and belittled no one, it was, in Jeremy’s telling, the only fitting way to say goodbye: with gratitude, a smile, and the certainty that her songs will outlast us all.
Listen To The Full Episode
Catch the complete Garage edition of The Court of Public Opinion, recorded live around the dining room table.
Watch The Full Episode
The Court of Public Opinion streams live every Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. (ACST), right here at jeremycordeaux.com. Download the podcast anytime on your favourite podcast app, and join the conversation with your calls and comments.
