Dolly Parton has achieved a rare feat: recording a song with the voice of the late Ronnie Van Zant. The song is "Free Bird", the classic rock anthem that Van Zant co-wrote and sang on Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1973 debut album.
Parton's version of "Free Bird" is featured on her new album, Rockstar, which showcases her rock side and includes collaborations with many legendary artists. She tells Classic Rock magazine how the song came about.
“When I was getting ready to do Rockstar, [my producer] Kent Wells was busy producing an album for Lynyrd Skynyrd. They knew Kent worked with me, so they asked if I would sing on a new version of 'Free Bird', and it turned out really good.
“Later on I said to Kent: ‘What about putting 'Free Bird' on my rock album too, if we get permission from them to do it?’ So that’s what we did. Then Ronnie Van Zant’s widow Judy said that she’d let us use his voice on the track. She wouldn’t allow Lynyrd Skynyrd to do it, but she said: ‘I’ll do it for Dolly!’ So we got to use Ronnie on there. We had already recorded it, but his phrasing was so simple that they just dropped his vocal in."
Parton's version of "Free Bird" also features the late guitarist Gary Rossington, who died this past March, and the former drummer Artimus Pyle, who had a strained relationship with the band for years.
“Some of them hadn’t gotten together for a while," Parton says, "but one of their daughters said: ‘You gotta do it!’ So they actually mended some fences there, and I felt very blessed to be part of all that...
“We were so heartbroken when [Gary died] because we’d done that track with [him] not long before [he passed].
“Right now, some of my crew are trying their best to see if we can actually get some footage of Gary and Ronnie Van Zant and try to incorporate that into a possible video. I’d love to make that work. Wouldn’t that be something?”
Rockstar, which also features contributions from Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sting, Chris Stapleton, Pink, Richie Sambora, John Fogerty, Steven Tyler, Steve Perry, Stevie Nicks and others, will finally be out this Friday, November 17th.
[Source: Classic Hits Today]