Dolly Parton talks about rewriting Bon Jovi's "Lay Your Hands On Me"

IN THE JULY issue of Britain's Country Music People magazine, country star Dolly Parton spoke about her unusual decision to include Bon Jovi's "Lay Your Hands On Me" on her 'Blue Smoke' album transforming it into a gospel song. Said Parton, "The first time I heard 'Lay Your Hands On Me' I thought 'Wow, that sounds like it would make a great gospel song' because I grew up where we believed in laying hands on people, praying for them. . . I thought 'I can't just take the liberty of taking somebody's song and writing words to it without getting their blessings or having them help me with it' so I called Jon Bon Jovi and he said, 'That's fine' . . . They threw some ideas out and I threw some ideas out. They loved what I was doing and I loved what they were doing and I said, 'Well, you wouldn't be opposed to winning a Dove Award would you, if I put it out as a gospel tune?' They said no. So anyhow, it was a kind of a thing that everybody blessed."