Charlie Blum is known locally for his commanding performances in “The Music Man” and “Gypsy.” But he is known worldwide as a major concert promoter, television producer and theater executive.
During his 40-year career, he’s worked with virtually every major artist in show business from Frank Sinatra, Ringo Starr and Michael Jackson to Blake Shelton, Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton.
Blum produced a number of Parton's concerts over the years. At one point, though, some time had elapsed between shows. So he saw the need to reintroduce himself to the rising country music star.
“I go into the dressing room and I go, ‘Hi, Dolly, I'm Charlie ….’ Before I could say [anything more], she went, ‘Stop. I know who you are. Why do you think I come here to play?”
Dolly Parton was a people person. She made it her business to engage with people, to remember their names and the stories they shared with her about themselves and their families.
“No matter who she was talking to, she would give you her full attention and her humor,” Blum recalled. “Her charm was evident from the very beginning. You didn't have to be in a half-hour conversation to realize that she was funny and a wonderful human being. That came across instantly. I've worked with pretty much every entertainer in the business during my time in show business and she stands out as being one of those that was just so genuine.”
He’s not kidding. He has an entire room in his home devoted to memorabilia he’s collected over the years from the entertainment stars for whom he’s produced concerts and other events, such as Jerry Seinfeld, The Jackson Five, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Rod Stewart, The Grateful Dead and Frankie Valli.
But, said Blum, none were more authentic and just a few had the humanitarian impact that Parton did.
“Many artists, when they pass, are remembered for their contribution to the arts,” Blum explained. “I think [Dolly’s] memory and contribution will be what she gave to mankind above and beyond her music talent — her philanthropy, her commitment to the schools, to getting books to kids, to fighting off disease. These were things that she didn't have to do but she felt the need to do that through her entire life, never changed. And that's something to really be commended and to be remembered for. And for all I know, she may want to be remembered for that more than her musical talent.”
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Even though he was quite young at the time (he estimates he was 22 or 23), Blum know right away that Parton was destined for fame. Still, he passed the first time he had the chance to produce one of her concerts.
“This was the late ‘70s, before Willie Nelson made it possible for country musicians to crossover into pop music,” recounted Blum. “Dolly was about to get a television show. She'd been on TV with Porter Wagoner. And I heard she was going out on her own.”
Blum was the general manager at Shady Grove Music Theater in Maryland at the time, and he put in an offer to play her.
“She was willing to do two shows for $5,000, which sounds like a little bit of money, but back then it was a lot … although not for what, in my opinion, she was worth.”
As was standard in the industry, he had so many days in which to rescind his offer, the grace period being intended to give him sufficient time to find a venue for the concert.
Then friends and colleagues got involved.
Most had never heard of Parton. Those who had told Blum she didn’t have a big enough following to make the concert a success. One such “advisor” was producing a show for Melba Moore and talked Blum into investing in that show instead.
“I talked to my mechanic, and he not only wants to come, he wants a ticket for his wife too,” the advisor touted.
“And all of a sudden, I'm convinced. I don’t book Dolly and I invested in Melba Moore instead. Well, it didn’t take long for me to realize you don't book a show because your car mechanic said he's coming to the show,” Blum laughed ruefully. “That's not how it works.”
Melba Moore would eventually go on to win a Tony and be nominated for a Grammy, conquering Broadway with memorable roles in “Hair” in 1967, “Purlie” in 1970 and “Les Miserables” in 1995 (marking the first time a Black woman had been cast as Fantine). But at that time, her concert was a flop and Blum lost his entire investment.
“I was devastated, to say the least,” said Blum. “Financially, that was all I had to my name at the time. But it was more that I went against my gut, that I knew Dolly Parton would be successful and I didn't play it.”
When he met Parton a number of years later at the Meriweather Post Pavilion, he chose not to share that story with her.
“She probably would have laughed and said, ‘Oh, you should have done it.’”
That would have been vintage Dolly Parton.
“She was just such a warm individual,” Blum observed. “You could look at her eyes and see that she was so real. She was kind to whoever she met. It could have been a stagehand. It could have been somebody cleaning up the dressing room. She was just so nice.”
Her outgoing, gregarious nature went against the norm.
“Most entertainers stay pretty much to themselves. I get it. They want their privacy and so forth, so I rarely saw them mingle with the rest of the team. But not Dolly. She would introduce herself to people. She would walk out on the stage and if she had candy or had something with her, she'd offer it to whoever was standing there. Just very, very outgoing, and there's no question in my mind that it was genuine.”
Beyond that, Blum was always impressed by her philanthropy.
“Put the entertainment industry aside, she's was a philanthropist. She gave to promote literacy in the classroom. She's just an amazing, amazing individual,” said Blum, slipping into present tense. “So, her legacy, I know, will go beyond her talent, meaning writing and singing, movies, inspiration for the Broadway musical, ‘Nine to Five,’ because she had done the movie and so forth. There's so much she's done. Her collaboration with so many other artists. That goes on and on."
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
