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Dolly Parton and Edgar Struble during the Country Music Awards. Submitted photo.
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
Dolly Parton, the country music icon known as much for her kindness and generosity as her songs, died Tuesday, Aug. 25, in Nashville following a brief battle with cancer, according to her representatives. She was 80.
Scottville native Edgar Struble knew Parton through his 15 years as Kenny Rogers’ music director. When Rogers and Parton began touring together after the success of their 1983 duet “Islands in the Stream,” Struble accompanied both performers as a conductor, arranger, instrumentalist and vocalist.
The experience allowed Struble to see Parton perform before thousands of people and spend time with her during quiet, unguarded gatherings after their shows. He said the person audiences saw on stage was the same person he knew away from the spotlight.
“She was the same exact person in those moments that she was on stage,” Struble said Thursday during an interview with Mason County Press. “It was such a joy to be around her — always a joy to be around her.”
Struble, a 1969 Mason County Central High School graduate, worked as Rogers’ music director from 1976 to 1991, encompassing the years Rogers and Parton toured together throughout the United States and overseas.
Struble believes he first met Parton shortly after joining Rogers’ band in 1976. Rogers and Parton were both appearing at an outdoor concert, although Struble no longer recalls its location.
“She was already known by then, but she wasn’t an icon like she is now.”
A later meeting remained much clearer.
Rogers was performing a matinee at the Palomino Club in North Hollywood, California, during the late 1970s or early 1980s. The Palomino was one of the best-known country music clubs in Los Angeles, attracting established entertainers and performers who were beginning to find national success.
Parton was in the audience.
“After the concert, we were still on stage,” Struble said. “Dolly got up out of her chair, marched right up to the stage, grabbed me by the cheek and said, ‘You’re so cute.’ I about fell over.
Struble performing on stage with Parton. Submitted photo.
“That was just a precious memory of her. That’s how she was. She had no filter.”
The professional relationship between Rogers and Parton changed dramatically following the 1983 release of “Islands in the Stream.” Written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, the duet reached No. 1 on Billboard’s pop, country and adult contemporary charts.
Parton and Rogers subsequently toured together around the world from 1984 to 1990. They also recorded “Real Love,” which reached No. 1 on the country chart in 1985, and released the 1984 holiday album “Once Upon a Christmas.”
Struble said Rogers’ band frequently provided much of Parton’s musical accompaniment during their joint shows.
“At one point in time, we kind of became her band because she’d come out and do her set,” Struble said. “She’d bring some of her players, but not necessarily her whole band, and we’d fill in.
“Then Kenny would do his set, and he’d call her up and they’d do the duets. We did that many, many, many nights.”
The tours took the performers across the United States and overseas, including Australia and New Zealand. The format gave Struble an opportunity to know Parton as both an entertainer and a person.
Following some performances, Parton would rent a hotel room and invite the musicians to gather, talk and relax.
“Those were truly unguarded moments for her,” Struble said. “To a fault, she was always Dolly. I’m sure she had her moments, but I never saw them. In any of those situations, and there were quite a few of them where we were alone with her, she was never crabby. She never insulted anybody.
“She was just the best — an amazing, effervescent personality who lifted up people wherever she went.”
Struble said Parton’s public image was not a character she turned on when she walked onto a stage or appeared before a television camera. Her warmth and humor were genuine, he said.
“She was arguably a national treasure,” he said. “There was only one like her.”
Struble also identified with Parton’s affection for her hometown and her commitment to helping the area where she grew up. Parton was born Jan. 19, 1946, in Sevier County, Tennessee, and was one of 12 children. She would often describe her family as “dirt poor.”
“She never forgot her roots, absolutely,” Struble said. “I don’t want to compare myself to Dolly Parton. Her success eclipses mine exponentially, but I understand what it’s like to be fond of your hometown, proud of your hometown and to want to do what you can to enhance it.
“She never left Sevierville, Tennessee. She always talked about it. She always made sure, as much as she could, that there was money that flowed to that area, and people around there were quite grateful for that.”
Parton invested heavily in East Tennessee through Dollywood, the Dollywood Foundation, education programs, scholarships and employment. In 1995, she established Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which has distributed more than 300 million free books to children around the world.
Struble can relate. A well-known producer in the music industry, he now splits his time between his homes in Ludington and California.
Parton’s career began long before her partnership with Rogers. She performed on radio and television as a child, appeared at the Grand Ole Opry at age 13 and joined “The Porter Wagoner Show” in 1967. She left Wagoner’s program in 1974, writing “I Will Always Love You” as her farewell to him.
Her recordings included “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” “Joshua,” “Here You Come Again,” “9 to 5” and “I Will Always Love You.” She also starred in movies including “9 to 5,” “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and “Steel Magnolias.”
Parton sold more than 100 million albums, earned 11 Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
Struble’s last opportunity to work with Parton came during the 2016 Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas. Struble was music director for the awards program when Parton appeared with Katy Perry to perform “Coat of Many Colors,” “Jolene” and “9 to 5.”
Struble suggested that he accompany Parton on piano so her entire band would not need to travel to the production.
“I said, ‘Hey, why don’t I just play piano for Dolly? You don’t have to bring everybody out,’” he recalled. “They said, ‘Well, yeah, you know the songs.’ So, I got to be the piano player, and that was just such a joy.”
Struble had not seen Parton in several years. He said she immediately greeted him by name and asked about his wife and children.
“She always had a genuine interest in who you were and what you’d been up to,” he said. “She always made time for people like that. It was so rewarding.”
When the awards program ended, Parton began moving quickly toward the backstage exit. Struble happened to be standing near her path.
“As she was making a beeline for the door, she stopped and turned to me and said, ‘Thank you, Edgar,’ in the most cheerful voice imaginable, and then continued out the door,” he said.
“She didn’t have to do that. She always made people around her feel good about themselves. You know someone has an immense amount of self-confidence if they can do that. They don’t need to put anybody down to make themselves look better.”
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