Sophia Michaels
Dolly Parton has shared a new rendition of “The Last Thing on My Mind” from an upcoming all-star collection of covers celebrating what would have been folk legend Doc Watson’s 100th birthday.
I Am a Pilgrim: Doc Watson at 100, due out April 28 and available for preorder now, finds Parton, Rosanne Cash, Jerry Douglas, Chris Eldridge, Steve Earle, Valerie June, Bill Frisell and a dozen others delivering takes on Watson’s greatest tunes.
Ahead of the tribute album’s release, Parton unveiled her tender, newly recorded version of the Tom Paxton-penned “The Last Thing on My Mind,” a song she’s both performed and recorded numerous times throughout her career, including a beloved 1967 duet with Porter Wagoner. The song was also a staple of Watson’s catalog, and it is his version to which Parton’s new take hews more closely:
“Doc Watson is everyone’s hero and a great guitar player,” Parton said in a statement. “Some say he is the absolute best, and I was honored to get to work with him a few times in my career.”
Watson, who died in 2012 at the age of 89, would have turned 100 on March 3. The influential flatpicking guitarist won seven Grammys over his career, and received the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement award in 2004. In 1997, then-President Bill Clinton presented Watson with the National Medal for the Arts, in recognition of his significant impact on national heritage music.
I Am A Pilgrim: Doc Watson at 100 Track List
1. “Shady Grove” – Jerry Douglas
2. “The Last Thing on My Mind” – Dolly Parton
3. “Am I Born to Die” – Nora Brown
4. “Alberta” – Jeff Parker & Matthew Stevens
5. “Make Me a Pallet” – Steve Earle
6. “I Am a Pilgrim” – Rosanne Cash
7. “Florida Blues” – Jack Lawrence
8. “How Long Blues” – Corey Harris
9. “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” – Ariesen
10. “Handsome Molly” – Valerie June & Bill Frisell
11. “Doc’s Guitar” – Yasmin Williams
12. “Little Sadie” – Chris Eldridge
13. “Reuben’s Train” – Lionel Loueke
14. “The Lost Soul” – Marc Ribot
15. “Your Lone Journey” – Bill Frisell
