Jolene

[Jerry Overstreet]

Who did that nice guitar work on Dolly's Jolene? I think I should know this but....?

I found some stuff online that lists these players on the LP and another one that mentions Onie Wheeler. And someone else mentioned Grady Martin. Anybody know for sure? I figure you know the riff I'm talking about.

I think it's one of the sexiest guitar things ever.

Jimmy Colvard – guitar
Dave Kirby – guitar
Bobby Thompson – guitar
Chip Young – guitar

[Thomas Stone]

I assume you're talking about the fingerpicking part.

It was the late Chip Young.

https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/ar ... dies-at-76

[Jerry Overstreet]

Thanks Thomas. I guess it's finger picking. It's the opening, rolling riff and the hook all through the song.

I'm constantly amazed at the stuff these session players come up with on the spot like this.

I admit I wasn't familiar with the name, but read the link you posted and of course know many of the tunes listed there.

I knew of many of the pickers listed there too. I was friends with Tuck Raisor of the Thumbpickers club and did a few things with him as well as attended several of his events.

Appreciate the response.

[Andy Volk]

Chip's part really grooves. Thanks for posting. I'd heard the song dozens of times but never heard the original version til now.

[Tucker Jackson]

There's a podcast series called "Dolly Parton's America," and one episode is all about the song 'Jolene'. Dolly talks about how she wrote that iconic riff -- she's a better guitar player than a lot of people realize. And yes, she can play that harmoized lick and sing at the same time, which is no easy task.

At the session, the player (Chip Young) wasn't quite getting it so Dolly had to take the guitar and show him how to play it. He then played it great, and probably smoother than Dolly, which is why they had a hired-gun do that part. But she wrote it originally. Oh, and she wrote 'I Will Always Love You' the same day as 'Jolene.'

You know... just another day's work. All hail Dolly!

[Andrew Frost]

There's a half speed version going around the interwebs these days.
There's a good one of 9to5 as well from a while back.

Not a new idea to play a 45 at 33 1/3, but there's something really interesting about Dolly's timbre in that kind of range and tempo...

https://youtu.be/CMrfM711vXI

[Al Udeen]

That was Jimmy Colvard on the classical guitar part on Jolene along with Chip Young on the gut string. ( it’s been said Wayne Moss played the B part but I believe that’s incorrect) I can Point you to some previous recordings where Jimmy played A similar part preceding the Jolene recording. Jimmy played Many sessions on a flat top guitar.

[Donny Hinson]

Great song, and great guitar work.
Sharp ears will also hear some pedal steel, played by my ol' buddy Stu Basore. Stu helped me, early on, and it's hard to believe he's been gone over 6 years now. I do believe he was the nicest pro steelplayer I ever met.

[Andre Dardeau]

If you listen to the great country music podcast cocaine and rhinestones the theme song is the intro to Jolene slowed down quite a bit. You can hear how perfectly it’s played. It’s slowed down enough that any slop would stick out like a sore thumb but the timing is absolutely gold.

[Fred Treece]

I'm constantly amazed at the stuff these session players come up with on the spot like this.

Me too. You have to be put on the spot to some degree to really appreciate it. No undo, no redo, no take it home and study. Ten minutes of trial and error then hit record and you’re outta there. I once heard a concert violinist react to being called a genius, and he said with complete humility that he may be a virtuoso, but genius is in the creation of the music, not the playing.

[Jerry Overstreet]

I had opportunity to play a little six string over last weekend to help support a fundraiser event for kids. One of the tunes was Jolene. I did my best to add some of those licks, unfortunately the other guys didn't really know the chord progression, so I was relegated to just playing the changes to try to lead everybody through it....not that I could've done a whole lot with the finger pickin' part anyway. I was able to get us kicked off though.

It's a really simple progression like Am, C, G, Am, but sometimes players feel like there's more to it.

[Al Udeen]

I believe it was Colvard

[Jerry Overstreet]

https://youtu.be/Ixrje2rXLMA?si=ZdgV_W0T5DMXP
Thanks for bringing this back up Al. I thought I had posted a video link back when we had this earlier discussion but I don't see it now.

Actually, the original changes: C#m, E, B, C#m, B, C#m so they probably used a re-tuning or a capo for that.
The young lady at our event used Am...so.

Anyway, worth another listen. This guitar work is almost as sexy as Dolly herself.

[Bob Shilling]

A Zac Childs, YouTube post on this topic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39UGjHxqZl4

He plays back the isolated guitar parts. It's beautiful to hear them intertwining.

Zac had initially thought it was Jimmy Colvard, but he talked to Wayne Moss who said that he and Chip Young had played the guitar parts. Wayne told Zac that Jimmy was not a finger picker, but rather that he played with a flat pick.

[Al Udeen]

I think Wayne Moss is incorrect and I can give you things to listen to that colvard played prior to Jolene that mirrors that part. Jimmy played a ton of acoustic guitar in the studio as well.
Jimmy is listed on the track( tape) from the recording as well. Jimmy played many things he didn’t get credit for so this is not new.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Thanks for your input Al.

[J. S. Smith]

Here is Chip Young doing the intro to Jolene at the 5:00 minute mark. He describes the tempo like a pig a trotting across a field.

https://youtu.be/-xebsEaTeFg?si=0bAAKvxm2fpSmr0v