‘Barbie’ with business savvy

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Dolly Parton knows a good investment when she sees one, and these days, she sees one in the mirror.

Miss Parton, whose business portfolio includes a theme park and an entertainment production company, says she’s spending a lot of her own money trying to get back on country radio with her new CD, “Backwoods Barbie.”

“I’m looking at it like an investment,” she said recently. “I thought, ‘I’ve made enough money. I can afford to invest a little in myself.’ ”

For the first time, she self-released the disc on her own label, Dolly Records, and hired a seven-member promotion team.

The dozen tracks, nine of which she wrote, are her most accessible in 15 years after a trio of bluegrass albums, a collection of patriotic songs and a covers record.

“I purposely tailor-made this to try to get some hits,” Miss Parton explains. “I would have done this all along, but I couldn’t get anything going and had to resort to other music I loved.”

The album reached No. 2 on Billboard in its second week, her best showing in 17 years.

However, the first single, “Better Get to Livin’,” a country-pop song she describes as sonically similar to Keith Urban’s work, sputtered at No. 48.

“The problem with that song is that it had big neutral scores,” says John Hart, a Nashville-based market researcher who tested it in 20 cities. “It never turned up any real appeal to any of the age groups.”

The second single, “Jesus & Gravity,” a gospel-flavored tune in the vein of recent faith-based chart-toppers “Jesus, Take the Wheel” by Carrie Underwood and “Believe” by Brooks & Dunn, is just arriving on radio.

“With the right song, Dolly can absolutely have a hit record,” Mr. Hart says. “There is an awareness of her and a fondness for her.”

Indeed, at 62, Miss Parton remains an icon. During a recent interview at her office, she wore a purple dress and clear high-heeled shoes with her trademark wig and deep cleavage. She joked and laughed and told stories, and you got the feeling she would have a played a song or two if a guitar had been handy.

“I never did it for the money. I always believed that if I did it as good as I hoped, I would make plenty of money. But I’d still do it if I didn’t make any money at it,” she says.

She began in the late 1960s as Porter Wagoner’s duet partner and built a long and successful recording career that she parlayed into movie roles, business ventures and philanthropic programs.

Her Dollywood theme park in her native East Tennessee ranks among the top tourist attractions in the state. Her children’s literacy program, Imagination Library, is in 46 states, Canada and the United Kingdom. Her entertainment company, Sandollar Productions, has produced hit TV shows including “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” as well as the “Father of the Bride” films.

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