It’s 50 years since the first recording was made of Dolly Parton’s major hit I will always love you – the hit later taken to chart-topping fame through Whitney Houston’s rendition in the film The Bodyguard.
And Dr Marie Thompson, who wrote an Open University six-week short course based on the work of the country music icon and singer-songwriter, says those who think it’s about a romantic breakup are mistaken.
The story goes the singer wrote it for country singer Porter Wagoner, who had his own television show and recruited her as his “girl singer”, eventually signing her to his own label.
They had great success but I will always love you was written by her to signal the break-up of their professional relationship. This was her farewell song to him.
Marie said: “The song was produced by Bob Ferguson and it was recorded at RCA’s Studio B, which is a studio that was associated with the type of country music production called the Nashville Sound.
“The Nashville Sound involved replacing some of the rougher elements of country music such as nasal styles of singing and instruments, like fiddle, with smoother elements from 50s pop, so it has a more refined sound and we can hear some of these elements in I will always love you.”
She continues: “Although the song has quite a tender sentiment I think that is not necessarily an accurate portrayal of her relationship with Wagoner.
“At the end of the 1970s he actually filed a lawsuit for $3m around breach of contract and I think she ended up settling for $1m but, that said, they remained friends in later life so the tempestuousness of their relationship didn’t stop their friendship.”
For many, it’s the Whitney Houston version from the film The Bodyguard that they know the song from. Marie says it could have been What becomes of the broken hearted by Jimmy Ruffin, which the film’s music producer David Foster had in his sights.
But another film, Fried Green Tomatoes, had just been released, which made use of that song so it was ditched.
It was Kevin Costner, who starred in the film alongside Whitney, who suggested I will always love you and the rest is musical history.
Visit the BBC’s Soul Music podcast to hear an interview with Dr Marie Thompson who contributed to a programme about the Parton favourite.
