Dolly Parton's success as a performer and pop culture phenomenon has overshadowed her achievements as a songwriter. But she sees herself as a songwriter first, and with good reason. Parton's compositions like "I Will Always Love You" and "Jolene" have become American standards with an impact far beyond country music.

Lydia R. Hamessley's expert analysis and Parton's characteristically straightforward input inform this comprehensive look at the process, influences, and themes that have shaped the superstar's songwriting artistry. Hamessley reveals how Parton's loving, hardscrabble childhood in the Smoky Mountains provided the musical language, rhythms, and memories of old-time music that resonate in so many of her songs. Hamessley further provides an understanding of how Parton combines her cultural and musical heritage with an artisan's sense of craft and design to compose eloquent, painfully honest, and gripping songs about women's lives, poverty, heartbreak, inspiration, and love.

Filled with insights on hit songs and less familiar gems, Unlikely Angel covers the full arc of Dolly Parton's career and offers an unprecedented look at the creative force behind the image.

|Foreword by Steve Buckingham
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction: Hello, I'm Dolly
1. "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)"—Dolly's Musical Life
2. "Coat of Many Colors"—Dolly's Songwriting Workshop
3. "My Tennessee Mountain Home"—Dolly's Appalachian Musical Heritage
4. "These Old Bones"—Dolly's Mountain Identity and Voice
5. "I Will Always Love You"—Songs about Love
6. "Just Because I'm a Woman"—Songs about Women's Lives
7. "Me and Little Andy"—Songs of Tragedy
8. "Light of a Clear Blue Morning"—Songs of Inspiration
9. "There'll Always Be Music"—Final Thoughts
Appendix A: Song List
Appendix B: Timeline
Appendix C: On Modes
Appendix D: "Wayfaring Stranger" and Dolly's Compositional Voice: A Case Study
Notes
Further Reading
Index|"Lydia Hamessley's book Unlikely Angel: The Songs of Dolly Parton offers a welcome addition to the scholarly discussion of Parton's oeuvre." —Journal of American Folklore
"Dolly Parton herself has said numerous times that she wants to be taken seriously for her music, and this book, well written by a musical expert with academic credentials provides convincing proof that she deserves to be. . . . Not one of those puff pieces." —Visual Parables
"Hamessley focuses on Dolly Parton's songwriting, paying specific attention to the music. . . . Unlikely Angel is a unique look at a globally iconic figure. . . . An in-depth discussion of songwriting and thematic analysis." —Journal of Appalachian Studies
|Lydia R. Hamessley is a professor of music at Hamilton College. She writes on old-time and bluegrass music, with an emphasis on women and Southern Appalachia. She has also written about the banjo in nineteenth-century America; Appalachian murder ballads; and Peggy Seeger. She appeared in the BBC2 documentary Dolly Parton: Here I Am which aired in the U.S. as Biography: Dolly