You Ain't Dolly (And You Ain't Porter)

Album: Like a Rose (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Ashley Monroe and Blake Shelton trade lines on this old-school sounding tongue-in-cheek cut. Monroe told Billboard magazine that it was Dolly Parton who gave her producer, Vince Gill, the idea for the track, when he was on stage with her. "She was singing the Patty Loveless part on one of their songs, and she said 'I know, I'm not Patty... But you ain't Porter!,'" Monroe said. "He kind of locked that into his memory. He called me a couple of days later with the idea. So, we wrote it, then re-wrote it, and tried to come up with the idea of who to do it with. It was obvious that it had to be Blake. He and I are buddies, and have been for a long time. He's like a brother, but we joke around like that a lot constantly. It was perfect, just like it should have been."
  • We hear Blake Shelton claiming to be "the guy they wrote about in 50 Shades of Grey." Monroe told The Boot that she read the EL James novel on "an airplane. In one sitting from L.A. to Nashville." She added that Vince Gill "came up with that line, the little knucklehead!"
  • The song almost didn't make it onto Like a Rose's tracklisting, due to Shelton's filming schedule for The Voice. Eventually, Monroe pushed back the album's release date in order to include the playful cut. "She was having to get her album done and I had agreed to do the duet and was excited to be a part of it," Shelton told reporters. "I love Ashley, she's family to me. I hadn't ever even heard the song and I said, 'Hell yeah, I'll do it,' because I knew she wouldn't have any bombs on this record, she's just too good of a writer. But it turned into, 'When can you sing it?' 'I don't know, I'm in L.A., crap, this sucks.'"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce PavittSong Writing

The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.

Kiss

KissFact or Fiction

Kiss is the subject of many outlandish rumors - some of which happen to be true. See if you can spot the fakes.

Subversive Songs Used To Sell

Subversive Songs Used To SellSong Writing

Songs about drugs, revolution and greed that have been used in commercials for sneakers, jeans, fast food, cruises and cars.

Millie Jackson

Millie JacksonSongwriter Interviews

Outrageously gifted and just plain outrageous, Millie is an R&B and Rap innovator.

Chris Frantz of Talking Heads

Chris Frantz of Talking HeadsSongwriter Interviews

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz on where the term "new wave" originated, the story of "Naive Melody," and why they never recorded another cover song after "Take Me To The River."

Jimmy Jam

Jimmy JamSongwriter Interviews

The powerhouse producer behind Janet Jackson's hits talks about his Boyz II Men ballads and regrouping The Time.