Going Solo
Wagoner convinced his label RCA Victor to sign the talented songstress and the label decided to protect their cherished investment by releasing her first single, a cover of Tom Paxton’s “The Last Thing on My Mind” as a duet with Wagoner in 1967.
The song reached the country top 10 in January 1968 and in turn began a six-year streak of uninterrupted top-10 singles for the duo.
Although Parton’s first single for RCA Victor, “Just Because I’m a Woman” reached number 17 in the summer of 1968, none of her solo songs, even a future staple such as “In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)”, were as successful as the work she did with Wagoner.
The duo was named Vocal Group of the Year in 1968 by the Country Music Association.