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

Emilio Castillo from Tower of Power

Emilio Castillo from Tower of PowerSongwriter Interviews

Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

Tanita Tikaram

Tanita TikaramSongwriter Interviews

When she released her first album in 1988, Tanita became a UK singing sensation at age 19. She talks about her darkly sensual voice and quirky songwriting style.

Harold Brown of War

Harold Brown of WarSongwriter Interviews

A founding member of the band War, Harold gives a first-person account of one of the most important periods in music history.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger

Kelly Keagy of Night RangerSongwriter Interviews

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.