Cover Story: Jolene
· 55 min
Episode Cover Story: Jolene
Every great song gets covered. Sometimes beautifully, sometimes badly, and sometimes by people who clearly should have known better.
Cover Story, returning for its third series, hunts down the best, the worst, and the downright strange versions of classic songs, and asks the question: why does this version give us goosebumps while that one makes our skin crawl?
According to some Dolly Apocrypha, Dolly Parton wrote Jolene and I Will Always Love You on the same day: a lifetime's worth of goosebump production in a single day. And whilst I Will Always Love You is best known by its Whitney Houston cover, Jolene is Dolly's most covered song.
And the variety is stunning. Join Andy and his guests - Adelaide Cabaret Festival's Reuben Kaye and Gillian Cosgriff - to paint a picture of a beauty beyond compare.
Adelaide Cabaret Festival runs until 21 June
Jolene – Dolly Parton
Composed and performed by Dolly PartonReleased as a single, January 1974
Versions heard in this episode:
• Olivia Newton John - Come On Over, 1976 • Beyonce - COWBOY CARTER, 2024 • Dami Im - Jolene (Acoustic) single, 2018 • Nicola Zuraitis, Dan Pugach and his Big Band - single, 2025 • Strawberry Switchblade - Strawberry Switchblade, 1985 • Darcy Clay - Jesus I Was Evil (EP), 1997 • Miley Cyrus - Attention (Live), 2022
and
• Reuben Kaye and Gillian Cosgriff - live in The Music Show studio, 2026
Next time on Cover Story: Carole King's Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?
Technical production by Isabella Tropiano and Angela Grant
The show this week was made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country.
Links in the notes 1
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