“Jolene” (13) is a song written and performed by American country music artist Dolly Parton. It was produced by Bob Ferguson and recorded at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee in May 1973. It was released in October 1973, by RCA Victor, as the first single and title track from her album of the same name. The song was released as a single later in the UK, and became Parton’s first top ten hit song in the country, reaching number seven in the UK in 1976. The song also re-entered the chart when Parton performed at the Glastonbury Festival in 2014. The song was ranked No. 217 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” in 2004 and, according to Parton, is her most-covered song.
In 1976 Olivia Newton-John’s recorded a version and released it as the second and final single from her seventh studio album of the same name in selected countries. In Japan the song peaked at number 11 on the Oricon Singles Chart. The single was released in Australia in early 1978, peaking at number 29.
“Jolene was released as a live single by American garage rock band the White Stripes in November 2004. The single reached No. 16 in the UK and also reached No. 12 in Norway and No. 28 in Flanders. The White Stripes previously released a studio version of “Jolene”, as the B-side to their 2000 single of “Hello Operator”, from the album De Stijl. In Australia, the song was ranked No. 10 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 of 2004. Another live performance of the song is featured on the 2010 live album Under Great White Northern Lights. The White Stripes’ version was voted one of the greatest live covers by readers of Rolling Stone magazine.
In September 2016, the American a cappella group Pentatonix released a cover of the song with Dolly Parton herself as feature artist. The cover won the Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.
Mindy Smith covered “Jolene” in 2003, both for her debut album One Moment More and the Dolly Parton tribute album Just Because I’m A Woman. Parton described this cover as her favourite version of the song.
Miley Cyrus does a fairly straight version of Jolene in her backyard sessions but I have chosen to feature today her performance with Jimmy Fallon in the New York subway whilst in disguise.
