Norma Jean
American singerWikipedia
59
MENTIONS
29
EPISODES
27
PODCASTS
Search complete. 59 mentions across 29 episodes found for "Norma Jean".
Sep 6, 2026
Larry KratkaHOST
But on this Labor Day special, I'm going to play a song about a woman driving a big rig.
Larry KratkaHOST
Here's Norma Jean.
Norma JeanSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
A little boy is what my daddy wanted.
Norma JeanSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
A little girl just didn't fit his plans.
6 MINS LATER
Larry KratkaHOST
Now get this, the owner of a Nashville auto parts store actually built a a 1949 through 1970 Cadillac based on the Johnny Cash song.
Larry KratkaHOST
Now, if you want to see what it looks like, Google the song one piece at a time, and you can see a picture of that amazing car.
Larry KratkaHOST
I was on set with Norma Jean in something she did back in 1968 called The Truck Driving Woman.
Larry KratkaHOST
The song is about a gal who drives a big rig like her daddy, but her daddy wanted a boy to follow his footsteps.
EricHOST
We started our Labor Day show with Merle Haggard and Working Man Blues.
EricHOST
Next, Norma Jean was singing Heaven Help the Working Girl.
EricHOST
And we just heard Travis Tritt, with I believe a little George Jones at the end, that was Lord Have Mercy on the Working Man.
EricHOST
In Wisconsin, Labor Day became an official state holiday in 1893.
Carley ThorneHOST
Yes, exactly.
Carley ThorneHOST
So she replaces Norma Jean, who had just left, who's...
Carley ThorneHOST
And the audience loved Norma Jean.
Blair MacMillanHOST
Okay.
Carley ThorneHOST
So she was going into a very hostile environment, and, like, they would just, like-
Blair MacMillanHOST
Mm
Carley ThorneHOST
... literally, like, uh, chant loudly for Norma Jean when she was singing and stuff like that.
Blair MacMillanHOST
Fair enough.
Knox McCoyHOST
So it had some juice, but it wasn't like institutionalized media that she'd been cast on.
Knox McCoyHOST
So she gets hired and the regular viewers are not feeling her because she's replacing someone named Norma Jean.
Jamie GoldenHOST
They loved Norma Jean.
Jamie GoldenHOST
They would
Knox McCoyHOST
chant her name when she came out at the beginning.
Kevin QuigleyHOST
So she releases this full-length album, Hello, I'm Dolly.
Kevin QuigleyHOST
So there's this super-duper famous country star named Porter Wagner, and he has this TV show and a road show, and he's been touring with this woman named Norma Jean, not Marilyn Monroe.
Kevin QuigleyHOST
Goodbye, Norma Jean.
Kevin QuigleyHOST
Though I never
Matt ParishHOST
knew you.
Kevin QuigleyHOST
to this story.
Kevin QuigleyHOST
There's a lot of connections to you in this story.
Kevin QuigleyHOST
So Norma Jean decides to strike it out on her own, or maybe she's just sick of the limelight.
MadiganHOST
Cause this dumb blonde ain't nobody's fool.
MadiganHOST
Dolly's big break came when she received a letter from Porter Wagoner, a popular country singer and host of the Porter Wagoner Show in 1967, asking her to replace Norma Jean on the show, who was known as the girl singer.
MadiganHOST
Porter Wagoner was a pretty big deal at the time, and he was responsible for bringing country music to a much wider audience across the United States, when before the genre was mostly prominent in the South.
MadiganHOST
He offered Dolly $60,000 a year to appear on the show, which was way more money than she had ever seen in her entire life.
MadiganHOST
She accepted his deal to be on the show and also agreed to sign on to the same record company as Wagoner, RCA Records.
MadiganHOST
Her first appearance on The Porter Wagoner Show was on September 15, 1967, and she had 4 million people watching her performance.
MadiganHOST
She was received with mixed reviews from the audience as they were so sad to see Norma Jean was no longer on the show,
speaker_0ADVERTISER
as she had been part of it for seven years before she left abruptly.
Alex BatdorfHOST
Dolly joined the Porter Wagner show.
Alex BatdorfHOST
and replaced the then co-host, Norma Jean, who was super beloved.
Alex BatdorfHOST
And people were giving Dolly heat at first because they were so attached to Norma.
Alex BatdorfHOST
But obviously she won them over because it's Dolly Parton.
Monty MaderHOST
A syndicated television program running in over 100 markets hosted by a six-foot-plus Missouri man in a nudie suit covered in rhinestone wagon wheels with a house band and a, quote, girl singer.
Monty MaderHOST
The girl singer was Norma Jean Beazler.
Monty MaderHOST
She announced her departure in August of 1967.
Monty MaderHOST
Porter Wagner hired Dolly Parton to replace her.
Monty MaderHOST
The audience hated her.
Monty MaderHOST
They booed.
Monty MaderHOST
They chanted Norma Jean's name at her while she was standing on stage trying to sing.
Monty MaderHOST
This went on for months.
Porter WagonerSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Right now, I want you to meet the little lady on our show.
Porter WagonerSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
You know, Miss Norma Jean, that's been with us for many, many years, had to leave our show because we work so much on the road and do so many TV shows to kind of have a little time at home for our personal life.
Porter WagonerSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
And I looked at a long time and thought of many, many folks that we all liked and thought that you would like.
Porter WagonerSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
And here's a little gal that...
Chely WrightGUEST
Yeah, 100%.
Chely WrightGUEST
So, uh, Norma Jean was Porter's first girl singer, uh, that-
Kara SwisherHOST
Mm-hmm
Chely WrightGUEST
... you may have seen on the Porter Wagoner Show.
19 more episodes mention Norma Jean.
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