Puppy Love / Girl Left Alone

Before she became a country music legend, Dolly Parton was a young songwriter with a song called Puppy Love. Originally released by Goldband Records in 1959, Dolly’s first single marked the beginning of a career spanning more than six decades. Written with her Uncle Bill Owens, the buoyant song captures the innocence and excitement of young love in just under two minutes.

To record her earliest songs, Dolly and her grandmother travelled by bus to Lake Charles, Louisiana. The B-side, Girl Left Alone, was written with her Aunt Dorothy Jo Owens and Uncle Bill Owens. Together, the songs preserve a snapshot of Dolly at the beginning of her journey. Yep Roc Records, in partnership with the Southern Folklife Collection, first reissued the single in 2017.