Hello, I'm Dolly

Parton sang on Knoxville radio and television as a child, recorded Puppy Love for Goldband at thirteen, and appeared at the Grand Ole Opry in July 1959 with her uncle Bill Owens, introduced by Johnny Cash. After she moved to Nashville in 1964, Fred Foster of Combine Music and Monument signed her to a publishing and recording deal. He first marketed her as a pop singer, and her first five Monument singles leaned that way. That changed after Bill Phillips had a country hit in 1966 with her song Put It Off Until Tomorrow, and Foster let her record country material.

Three of the twelve tracks are her own compositions and seven were co-written with Owens. Dumb Blonde is by Curly Putman and I've Lived My Life by Lola Jean Dillon. The album also gathered three songs she had written that others had already recorded: Put It Off Until Tomorrow, Fuel to the Flame, a hit for Skeeter Davis, and I'm in No Condition, recorded by Hank Williams Jr. It was released on 18 September 1967, after she became a regular on The Porter Wagoner Show, and reached number 11 on Billboard's country albums chart in January 1968. Dumb Blonde reached number 24 and Something Fishy number 17, her first top 20 hit. Eugene Chadbourne of AllMusic wrote that "at least half the songs are among her classics."