Did You Know That Carl Dean Actually Appeared On One Of Dolly Parton’s Album Covers?

The elusive Carl Dean was actually on one of Dolly Parton’s album covers, believe it or not.

Dolly’s husband famously stayed completely out of her career, and out of the spotlight, until he passed away earlier this year in March at the age of 82. She’s spoken openly about how much he hated show business, and from pretty early on in her marriage, he told her he didn’t want anything to do with it.

While in some ways, it might seem strange that fans rarely, if ever, saw Dean in public, I have to imagine that’s part of what kept Dolly so grounded and their marriage so strong. There were never prying eyes on them in the public, because no one really even knew what he looked like. Seeing at they were married for nearly 59 years, and together for 60 years, I’d say it was a very successful strategy.

That type of strong, lasting relationship is something most can only dream of, especially for someone as famous as Dolly, and their story is just beautiful.

The famous legend goes that they met outside of the Wishy Washy laundromat in Nashville in 1964, the same day that Dolly moved to Music City, as fate would have it. They dated for two years, and decided they wanted to get married. And actually, at the time of their wedding, Dolly’s newfound record label didn’t want her to get married at all. They thought it might tarnish her image, and as we all know, Dolly did what she wanted anyways… so she and Carl Dean secretly ran off to Ringgold, Georgia, along with Parton’s mom Avie Lee as a witness, and headed for the local courthouse.

There are several decades-old photos of the two of them floating around online, but not much is known about him other than the scant details Dolly has shared over the years, like that he owned an asphalt paving business.

And while he hated the “industry” and fame aspect of her career, Carl actually did participate in it… back in 1969, which was just three years after they got married in 1966, so maybe they were still in some sort of honeymoon phase? Not sure how she managed to pull this off, but Carl appeared on the cover of Dolly’s 1969 My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy album, which is named for a song she wrote solo on her fourth solo studio album.

The album was released on this day in 1969, and was produced by Bob Ferguson. It peaked at #6 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, and it was her highest-charting album of  the 60’s. The song “My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy” was released as a single, and while it wasn’t a massive success on the charts, Dolly said in her 2020 book Songteller that she didn’t care, because she was never one to shy away from writing about tough topics.

The song talks about a young woman who has grown up in the mountains and leaves her small town with big dreams, only to end up in New Orleans working as a prostitute. She still longs for her mountain boy back home, and it was certainly a daring song choice for the 60’s:

“I wrote a lot of songs that people wouldn’t play on the radio, but I didn’t care. It bothered me at the time, but I never thought, ‘I shouldn’t have done that.’ Whatever I write is just what comes out of me, and I refuse to be judged.”

I’ve always found it so interesting that Carl appears on the cover as the “blue ridge mountain boy,” with Dolly dreaming of him dressed as the woman in the song. Considering how much he hated the spotlight, I’d love to hear the story behind how that happened… I don’t think most people even know it’s him, but it is. Carl Dean is on the cover, which is pretty cool, and it’s one of my favorites of her album covers too for so many reasons.

It’s a neat piece of Dolly’s lore and history within her musical career, and a neat little fun fact that I don’t think most fans know about.

And if  you’ve never heard “My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy” before, now is the perfect time, because it’s an underrated gem and truly one of her best:

“My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy”

 The post Did You Know That Carl Dean Actually Appeared On One Of Dolly Parton’s Album Covers? first appeared on Whiskey Riff.