There's no overstating the impact Dolly Parton's Jolene has had not only on the history of country music and Parton's career trajectory but also on the globalization and crossover of country into the pop realm. Reflecting on her enduring hit, which was recently reinvented by Beyoncé on Cowboy Carter, Parton recalls how it all started with one “little guitar lick.”
“The thing I remember most was all the musicians when I came up with the little guitar lick, the Jolene lick, saying: ‘Damn, that’s so good. That’s the coolest little lick,’” Parton tells The Guardian in a new interview.
