Nash's much-reprinted 1978 biography of Dolly Parton included material gathered from a long interview with its subject, that took place over the course of several days. The biography, Dolly, was published just as Parton reached mainstream appeal outside of the country music world, via her now-famous pop-music crossover. Nash has closely followed Parton's career since, having also written numerous magazine articles about her and reviewing a number of Parton's albums.
Other projects
In 1988 Nash received acclaim for her book on Jessica Savitch, Golden Girl: The Story of Jessica Savitch, which was the basis for the 1996 motion pictureUp Close & Personal, as well as a made-for-television movie named Almost Golden. In the 1990s Nash began researching the life of Elvis Presley in order to write a book. Although there were already several hundred Presley books on the market, her 1995 book, , provided what Entertainment Weekly called "stunning allegations." As a result of Nash being able to get the collaboration of employees Marty Lacker, Lamar Fike, and Presley's first cousin, Billy Smith who lived and worked with Presley throughout his life, she provided a look at Presley not previously published.
Her research into Presley led to a second book on Colonel Tom Parker. While covering Presley's death, Alanna Nash had seen what most of the throng of reporters there at the time considered as somewhat bizarre decorum by Parker when he came to the funeral dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and baseball cap. For her 1995 book, Nash had interviewed Colonel Parker but her examination into his life kept unfolding with so many twists and turns that it led to six years of exhaustive research including travel to his birthplace Breda in the Netherlands for documents and interviews. Her book, The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley, was published on July 15, 2003 to acclaim. Billboard called it a "classic of music industry reporting". Other positive reviews came from The Washington Post, The New York Review of Books, Variety, and Publishers Weekly, among others. In the UK, Mojo music magazine said her book was "the most incisive and comprehensive look at the life of the elusive Colonel available" and the reviewer for The Observer lauded the book as "perhaps the most thoroughly researched music book ever written" — before adding that "sadly most of the story has been told before. Nash simply adds layer after layer of padding." For her reporting on Colonel Parker, Nash was voted one of the "Heavy 100 of Country Music" by Esquire magazine and earned the 2004 CMA Media Achievement Award and the 2004 Belmont Book Award. She has reviewed for Stereo Review magazine, Reader's Digest, and Amazon.com as well as others.
