This is Dolly Parton performing I Will Always Love You on ‘The Porter Wagoner Show’ in 1971. She wrote the song after splitting from the self-same Porter.
This song has particular resonance at the moment after the recent death of Whitney Houston. She obviously made the song famous, or at least more famous than it already was.
It’s testament to Houston’s abilities as a singer that her cover became THE version of I Will Always Love You, and I suspect we’ll be hearing a lot of the song over the next few weeks.
Personally I prefer Parton’s original. That’s no slight on Houston, but Parton delivers it without any effort. And as she wrote the song she’s the only one who can express the true passion behind the lyrics.
