It takes an extremely strong song to top the charts three separate times in three separate decades, but "I Will Always Love You" is just such a song.
Written and recorded (twice) by Dolly Parton and then re-recorded in show-stopping fashion by Whitney Houston, the ballad has morphed from a fond farewell to a former mentor, to a theatrical goodbye to a lover, to a soaring ode to the very notions of love and loss. We follow that journey from the beginning, with all the vocal tricks, dramatic line-readings, and epic key changes that were added along the way.
Band/Artist: Dolly Parton & Whitney Houston
Albums: Jolene (1974), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), and The Bodyguard soundtrack (1992)
Composed by: Dolly Parton
Listen/Buy (Jolene): Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify
Listen/Buy (TBLWIT): Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify
Listen/Buy (The Bodyguard): Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify
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ALSO DISCUSSED/FEATURED:
- The sensational new WNYC podcast Dolly Parton's America
- "The Last Thing On My Mind" by Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner
- "Applejack" by Dolly Parton from New Harvest...First Gathering, 1977
- "Let It Go" from Frozen performed by Idina Menzel
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OUTRO SOLOIST: Dan Nervo
Mr. Dan Nervo has the tiller for this episode's outro solo. Dan plays guitar all around the San Francisco Bay Area in bands like Neon Velvet, and also teaches private guitar lessons. Hit him up if you want to get really good at guitar: https://www.facebook.com/DanNervoGuitarLessons/
ONE 'GRAM AT A TIME
If you're interested in occasional music and Portland-related photos and videos, follow Kirk on Instagram @kirk_hamilton. https://www.instagram.com/kirk_hamilton/
NEWSLETTER/MAILING LIST
Sign up for Kirk's mailing list to start getting monthly-ish newsletters with music recommendations, links, news, and extra thoughts on new Strong Songs episodes: https://kirkhamilton.substack.com/subscribe
STRONG MERCH!
Visit the Strong Songs merch store for some very cool t-shirts, mugs, totes, and more: store.strongsongspodcast.com
STRONG PLAYLISTS
You can find playlists containing every Strong Song as well as all of Kirk's weekly music picks from his other podcast, Kotaku Splitscreen, on both Spotify and Apple Music.
SUPPORT STRONG SONGS ON PATREON!
The biggest of thank-yous to all of Strong Songs's Patreon patrons. If you want to support Kirk making the show, do so here: https://Patreon.com/StrongSongs
NOVEMBER 2019 WHOLE-NOTE PATRONS (Thank you!!)
andrew walters CALEB ROTACH Chad Barnard Dan Apczynski Dave Florey Glenn Jared Norris Mark Schechter Merlin Mann Ryan Torvik
NOVEMBER 2019 HALF-NOTE PATRONS
Alex Singer Alexander Polson Amanda Furlotti Andre Bremer Andrew Baker Andrew Lee Arjun Sharma Bill Thornton Brett Douville Brian Amoebas Brooke Wilford Chas Lednicky Chris Brown Cyrus N. White David Stroud Earl Lozada Eero Wahlstedt Elliot Jay O'Neill Emily Williams FlSHBONES Forrest Chang Jaehoon Jeong James Johnson Jasmine Fellows Jeffrey Olson Jennifer Bush John and Sharon Stenglein Jon O'Keefe joujou Juan Carlos Montemayor Elosua Jules Bailey Justin Liew Justin McElroy Kate Albury Kevin Morrell Kevin Pennyfeather Kingy Matt Gaskell Max Schechter Melanie Stivers Michael Blackwell Miriam Juskowicz Molly Mueller Nate from Kalamazoo Nicholas Schechter Richard Toller samuel gardner Shane DeLeon Shaun Wiese SP Tanner Morton Tim Tom Clewer Tom Lauer
