‘What a lady’: East Texans reflect on crossing paths with Dolly Parton

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - Dolly Parton’s impact reaches worldwide, which absolutely includes East Texas.

“I guess when you’re born dirt poor you’re not afraid to try anything. You’re not afraid of failure, so she gave it her all,” music producer Robin Hood Brians said.

“She thought, ‘if something great is going to happen to me, I’ve got to do it myself.’ It became obvious, pretty soon, that Dolly was gonna be a star,” Brians said.

Before Dolly Parton became the Grammy-winning, record-breaking artist we came to know... she was just Dolly.

Young and determined to become someone -- but always herself.

“Dolly was real. There was no facade,” Brians said.

Music producer Robin Hood Brians has spent decades in the industry, and met Dolly a number of times.

“You could approach her the way you would a neighbor next door. She didn’t get that star syndrome and she so easily could have,” Brians said.

Writing over 3,000 songs in her lifetime and recording around 450, Robin says it’s music like Dolly’s that changed the country music narrative.

“Dolly was to country music what ZZ Top was to the Blues. ZZ Top played the Blues but they don’t sing the Blues. Dolly Parton’s songs were happy songs, and country music had a reputation for making you cry,” Brians said.

He said this was a result from her attitude towards life.

“She saw everything as an opportunity,” Brians said.

Which led her to the Mayfair Building in Tyler, Texas.

“As she performed right here on this stage nearly 54 years ago with Porter Wagoner,” Erin Gardner, manager of Tyler Tourism Facilities, said.

“You can fit about 500 people here in this building and I’m sure they were probably at capacity,” Gardner said.

One of those people being former Smith county sheriff, J.B. Smith, Dolly’s security for the night.

“When Dolly was singing, you could just feel the energy coming off that audience. But the energy that came off of Dolly was entirely different from any of those other entertainers,” Smith said.

He said the real highlight of the night came after the show.

“She looked at my name tag and said, ‘Smitty, I wanna go out on the back porch and get some air.’ So we did,” Smith said.

For the next hour, the two chatted like old friends.

“Talking about poverty that we both grew up in, talking about shucking corn, picking peas, chopping cotton. We just had a lot in common and she was so kind,” Smith said.

He said the same Dolly on stage was the same one on the porch steps.

“She absolutely lit up that back porch, with her personality, with her dignity, with her humor. Wow. What a lady,” Smith said.

“I can’t say this about everyone, but the world is a better place because she lived here,” Brians said.

And while both men agree Dolly’s personality was as authentic as her love for performing, they also said the biggest thing she’ll be remembered for is her philanthropic actions that continue to give back to so many.