Shortly after her song 'Dumb Blonde' was released, Dolly performed the song on "The Cas Walker Farm and Home Hour" alongside her Uncle Bill Owens. Years earlier, Dolly was a regular guest on the popular show after being hired by Cas Walker at the age of 10.
In this rare video, shown in color, Dolly and Uncle Bill perform onstage together during "The Case Walker Farm and Home Hour."
'Dumb Blonde' was one of two singles released from Dolly’s first full-length solo album, “Hello, I'm Dolly.” It climbed to No. 24 on the U.S. country singles charts. Curly Putman wrote the song and Fred Foster at Monument Records knew it was right for Dolly. In the liner notes of the album, Foster wrote about what he saw in the young artist. He opened with,
“Sometimes you just know… sometimes. And that makes up for all the times you had to guess.”
"The Cas Walker Farm and Home Hour" was a radio show based in Knoxville, Tenn. that transitioned to television in 1953. It was recorded before a live audience. Between performances, it featured live commercials for Walker’s grocery stores.
During the mid-1950s, the Everly Brothers were regular guests on the show. Other notable guests included Roy Acuff, Chet Atkins, Carl Butler, Jimmy Martin, Bill Monroe, Jim Nabors and Carl Smith.
While Uncle Bill Owens had been touring with Carl and Pearl Butler playing guitar, Dolly had been appearing on early morning shows such as "The Ralph Emery Show" and "The Eddie Hill Show." The two received a break when Fred Foster owner of Combine Music and Monument Records agreed to sign them to a publishing and recording deal.
Dolly recorded "I Wasted My Tears" (her first Monument single) and "What do You Think About Lovin," both written by Dolly and Bill Owens. She followed up with "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby" and "Old Enough to Know Better."
During this same time period, Foster brought Ray Stevens in to produce Dolly's single, "Busy Signal," written by Stevens. The B-side, "I Took Him for Granted," was written by Dolly and Bill Owens.Foster invested a lot in Dolly’s career and even booked her on "American Bandstand." Foster said,
"I told Dolly, she would be a gigantic movie star someday. And she said, 'I think you have lost your mind.' Then I said, 'I didn’t have much to lose anyway Dolly, it’s okay.'"
"Happy, Happy Birthday Baby" brought success to Monument Records, charting at No. 108 on the pop charts and becoming Dolly's first charting single.
