Dolly Parton Was Moral to the Point of ‘Obsession,’ Said Her Guitarist
Dolly Parton’s former guitarist, Don Roth, traveled with the singer for weeks at a time as she toured. He grew familiar with her work ethic, sense of humor, and flirtatious nature. He also got to know her husband, Carl Dean. Roth said that while he was well aware of the rumors about Parton’s infidelity, he thought her sense of right and wrong was so strong that she never would have cheated on him.
Dolly Parton’s guitarist said she was obsessed with her morals
For much of her career, Parton was the subject of affair rumors. People wondered if she was romantically involved with many of her professional connections, like band members or co-stars. Parton flirted with these rumors, believing the media attention would give a boost to her various projects. While she rarely confirmed or denied having affairs, Roth felt confident that she never had.
“[S]he’s totally loyal to Carl Dean,” he said in the book Dolly by Alanna Nash. “Maybe not totally loyal in the sense that a Southern Baptist would say you should be loyal, but totally loyal in her own mind.”
Roth believed Parton’s personal moral code was rigid enough that she would never cheat on her husband.
“But I would say Dolly’s an extremely moral person,” he said. “Extremely honest, to the point of it almost being an obsession.”
Dolly Parton’s guitarist believed many of the rumors about her were born of resentment
Many of the rumors Roth heard about Parton involved her bandleader, Gregg Perry. Parton herself spoke about the “affair of the heart” she had with Perry. Roth didn’t think their relationship was ever physical, though. He believed many of the rumors originated from people in Nashville who felt betrayed by Parton’s decision to court a broader audience.
“About Dolly and Gregg, they did spend lots of time together,” Roth said. “Gregg was my roommate and I didn’t see a lot of him on the road. But Gregg’s a pretty platonic guy. He’s as vanilla a person as you could ever want to meet in your life. But you have to understand a lot of rumors that were started about Dolly were fertilized and conceived in Nashville. If you went out to L.A., you wouldn’t hear any rumors about Gregg and Dolly, as much time as they spend together there. See, Nashville in general still feels cheated, betrayed and divorced from Dolly.”
Roth said people in Nashville found whatever reason they could to dislike Parton.
“Bobby Dyson, a bass player, studio musician, says, ‘Boy, Dolly used to be able to sing.’ I said, ‘Oh, really? What happened?’” Roth said. “He said, ‘Well, you know, she doesn’t use us anymore.’ Now that was great logic. When he was playing on her records, she was great. When she records in L.A., she can’t sing. If anything, she sings better.”
She said her upbringing instilled her morals in her
Parton’s sense of morality was fortified in her youth. She said she developed a personal philosophy in the time she spent in church as a child. It has guided her all through her adult years.
“I take the gifts that God has given me, and expecting me to do something with, and I just try to find the good and the light in every person rather than judging them by what they might be doing or how they might be acting,” she told Forbes, adding, “I know that we’re all pieces of that wonderful thing out there, whatever one may want to call it. I just try to find that in everybody and I just go about my work trying to stay in my place and not trying to meddle too much in other people’s business and just stay strong in my faith and in my work ethic.”
