Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton were thick as thieves. Though, so were Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner. That being so, there was one time where Porter believed Parton betrayed him for the sake of her female peer, Emmylou Harris, and it surrounds Harris\u2019 harrowing tune, \u201cTo Daddy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo Daddy\u201d was released by Harris in 1978, but Parton originally wrote the song in 1975 and gifted it to Harris. This seemingly innocent act of selflessness did not go over well with Parton\u2019s partner, as Wagoner was absolutely furious with Parton for doing so. In fact, Parton recalled the fight and stated that it was one of the largest they ever had.<\/p>\n
Dolly Parton\u2019s reason for giving the track to Harris was personal and selfless at the same time. In short, she simply wanted to bolster her credibility as a songwriter, and she knew if Harris had success with the song, she too would have success. With all that in mind, Parton recalled the instance in which she gave the track to Harris against Wagoner\u2019s wishes in her 2020 memoir,\u00a0Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics<\/em>.<\/p>\n Parton recalled in the book, \u201cPorter always wanted everyone in town to hear everything we\u2019d done. So he called Emmylou and said, \u2018Come on over to the studio. We\u2019ll play you some songs, some of Dolly\u2019s stuff.\u2019 So she came over to listen to what we\u2019d done.\u201d After they played \u201cTo Daddy,\u201d Harris asked Parton if she would give her the song. Parton agreed, though, Wagoner did not in the slightest.<\/p>\n After Parton went against Wagoner\u2019s wishes, she remembered him saying, \u201cWhat the Hell do you think you\u2019re doing? You can\u2019t give her that song.\u201d Parton\u2019s response, \u201cYes I can, because it\u2019s my song, and because I\u2019m trying to build myself up as a songwriter.\u201d<\/p>\n In retrospect, Parton attested to the difficulty of the situation by writing, \u201cYes I can, because it\u2019s my song, and because I\u2019m trying to build myself up as a songwriter.\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t know, I probably could have had a No. 1 hit with it. But Emmylou was getting to be so big at that time. Plus, I believed in her and loved her work so much. So that\u2019s when I realized how serious I am as a songwriter. I let her have it, in spite of everything else,\u201d concluded Parton.<\/p>\n In the end, Dolly Parton achieved her mission and so did Harris. Furthermore, this act didn\u2019t damage the career of Parton or Wagoner whatsoever, as they individually went on to produce massive hits far after the fact.<\/p>\n