I don’t need to sit hear and tell you that whatever Dolly Parton says, goes. Everyone knows that. Dolly can do no wrong, she’s an American icon, and even when she took a moment to dish out some criticism directed at Johnny Cash, she was in the right. Simply put, if Parton says something, it must be true. Dolly has often talked about how she was infatuated with Johnny Cash from a young age. In fact, she’s cited that the “Folsom Prison Blues” singer taught her what sex appeal was, and she recalls that it all got started when she saw the country legend for the very first time at the Grand Ole Opry. Parton told the story like this during a short interview from the Foo Fighters (yes, the rock band) in 2016: “Johnny Cash was the first time I knew what sex appeal was, or charisma. I was just a girl, and that was one of those times where my uncle and I were down (in Nashville), and I guess it may have been that same time that I sang at the Grand Ole Opry. I remember sitting in the audience and looking at Johnny, and I was just a girl with my hormones beginning to rage.  Johnny came out on stage and all that weird moving and all, it just really stirred me like I couldn’t understand what I was feeling. It was years later, and I had a terrible crush on him at the time, that’s what true charisma and magnetism is. Just the way he moved. And then later I realized a lot of it was the dope too. I think he was twitching and moving around (because of the drugs), but he was so magnetic.” In a 1994 interview with Ralph Emery, she would even go as far as to call that feeling “horny.” Yup… Dolly said she was horny for Johnny Cash. Parton told that exact same story in an episode of the Dumb Blonde podcast with Bunnie XO that came out a year or so ago. The country legend doesn’t shy away from the fact that Cash was her first crush. She even told Johnny’s wife, June Carter, at some point. And no, that didn’t lead to bad blood… it was actually the opposite. Dolly, June Carter and Johnny all became great friends as the years went on. In the midst of that same interview, where Parton complimented Cash’s sex appeal, she also snuck in some criticism that may have been overlooked at the time. Dolly claimed that Johnny Cash wasn’t all that talented vocally, but sandwiched that observation in between saying he was an underrated songwriter, and that she compared him to a great Hollywood actor known for his roles in westerns: “Johnny was such a great writer. People don’t really realize what a wonderful songwriter he was. I’ve recorded different songs of his, as I have a lot of other people. But, I always thought that Johnny was not a great singer, as far as a voice, but I always think of Johnny as the ‘John Wayne of Country Music.’ He just had a presence, he just had an authority. He just had a way about him that was just so different.” To her credit, it’s not like Johnny Cash was out there hitting the high notes. However, most country music fans would tell you that his voice is one of the most iconic in the genre’s history. He may not have had the best voice, like Dolly said, but he certainly got the best out of it. You can hear Dolly Parton talk more about Johnny in the interview below: The post “He Just Had Authority”: Dolly Parton Explains Why Johnny Cash Wasn’t A Great Singer, But He Didn’t Have To Be first appeared on Whiskey Riff.