(written by Billy Vera)
Dolly Parton (#1, 1979)
Dolly Parton’s peak years occurred with the help of two teams of associates. First, Sandy Gallin took over management of her career, highly recommended by her friend Mac Davis (also a client).
Second, Dolly teamed up with The Entertainment Company, a unique
production firm owned by Charles Koppelman with Gary Klein as its sole
producer. Both men were involved in finding material, Koppelman with a
view toward the overall picture (promotions, album packaging, budgets,
and so on) and Klein handling the details of the recording process.
Klein’s credentials were already quite impressive even before he went
to work with Dolly. His production credits included Glen Campbell’s
“Southern Nights,” Johnny Cash’s “The Lady Came From Baltimore,” Mac
Davis’ “Stop And Smell The Roses” and Barbra Streisand’s “My Heart
Belongs To Me.”
A Long Island resident, Gary had to split his
time between home and Sound Labs in Hollywood. His schedule got crazy.
It became unmanageable as he would fly back home on Friday night, head
back to L. A. Sunday night and record Monday morning. It was a very
tiring situation for Klein, but he kept that schedule during his
career’s busiest years.
Klein was the sole producer on Parton’s
“Here You Come Again” album, but when she followed it with
“Heartbreaker,” Dolly took on a co-production role. Plus, to stay true
to herself and not veer too far away from who she was, she wrote the
lion’s share of songs on the album. Being more involved on the
production end also helped.
The Entertainment Company published
“I Really Got The Feeling,” the first hit written by Billy Vera, who
gained prominence in 1987 with his #1 pop record, “At This Moment.”
Entering the Billboard country singles chart over Thanksgiving weekend
in 1978, “I Really Got The Feeling” worked its way to the summit,
reaching it on January 20, 1979, becoming Dolly’s tenth of her 24 number
one hits.
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