That Time Dolly Parton Was Booked to Open for Neil Young on His ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ Tour

By Andy Greene

Andy Greene

At first glance, this ad for the September 1978 concert lineup in Cleveland, Ohio, seems like a weird joke or some sort of AI hallucination. There are indeed listings for very famous, very real tours like Black Sabbath/Van Halen, Thin Lizzy/AC/DC, Yes, and Frank Zappa. But there’s also a Sept. 22 announcement for Neil Young and Crazy Horse with special guest Dolly Parton at the Richfield Coliseum.

This double billing seemingly makes no sense, since Dolly was near the pinnacle of her fame in 1978, scoring crossover hits like “Two Doors Down” and “Baby I’m Burnin’,” and even appearing on the cover of Playboy. And this was Young’s legendary Rust Never Sleep tour with Crazy Horse, where he debuted aggressive new songs “Sedan Delivery” and “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black),” and played epic renditions of “Like a Hurricane” and “Tonight’s the Night.” 

As crazy as it sounds, this isn’t some dispatch from an alternative universe. Neil Young did originally book Dolly Parton as the opening act for four dates on his 1978 fall tour of arenas and amphitheaters. “We are not the least bit concerned about how she will go over with Young’s fans,” Jim Morey, Parton’s manager, told Billboard in their Sept. 23, 1978 issue. “Nobody knows Young’s fans better than he does, and he wouldn’t have put Dolly Parton on his show if he did not think that she would appeal to his audience.” 

The article notes that Parton, who died Aug. 25 at 80, was added to the tour after the shows had already sold out, meaning the crowd would be “made up almost entirely of Neil Young fans.” “Parton has no plans to change her music for the Young shows, beyond shortening her set somewhat,” notes the article. “[Morey] adds that beyond the Young dates there are no plans for Parton to do other dates with other rock artists.”

A key bit of context: Even though it went down in history as the Rust Never Sleep tour, Young didn’t actually release that album until 1979. The electric songs were recorded onstage during these shows. And when it was booked, Young’s new album was Comes a Time. It was the closest thing to a country record he’d recorded up to that point, with songs like “Lotta Love,” “Look Out for My Love,” and “Comes a Time” that would have been very palatable to a Dolly Parton audience.

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Still, many in the industry were stunned by the announcement that they’d actually share a bill. “She’s taking second billing to Young,” columnist Shirley Eder wrote in the Buffalo News on Sept. 17, 1978. “I couldn’t believe that when I heard it but it’s true. Why would platinum, country-pop, record album selling Dolly Parton play second banana in anybody’s act? We checked it out and learned that Ms. Parton wants Neil Young’s rock audience to become better acquainted with her. You know something, I believe that’s a smart move. Billing isn’t as important as a long-running career. And she could very well be getting more money than Young on the tour.”

But shortly before the tour was set to begin, word hit the press that Parton wouldn’t actually be involved. “Dolly loaded up her wigs and her high heeled sneakers,” reads an Oct. 5, 1978, article in the Salisbury Post, “and walked because she was getting second billing and not enough time to perform.”

That’s not exactly how it went down. In reality, Young came up with a totally different concept for the tour shortly before rehearsals began. It involved comically oversized microphones and speaker cabinets, roadies dressed up like Jawas from Star Wars, and an extended set divided between electric and acoustic songs. Comes a Time wasn’t even on record store shelves yet, but his mind was already onto the next album and newer songs. Nothing about this tour was going to feel even remotely “country,” and he wouldn’t even play most of the Comes a Time material.

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“The Neil Young-Dolly Parton tour mentioned in this space recently has now become a Neil Young tour,” reads a Sept. 23, 1978 article in Cashbox. “Young, apparently, decided he doesn’t want an opening act and would rather play longer, half acoustic and half electric with Crazy Horse. Dolly, in the meantime, is preparing a tour of Europe.”

If Dolly had hard feelings about how this all went down, she never said a word about it publicly, and she even covered “After the Gold Rush” with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt in 1999.  It’s very possible she figured out losing the tour was for the best, especially judging by Susan Whitall’s review of the Detroit show in Creem.

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