Expert: Mel Priddle - 1/7/2008

Question
How old was the person who wrote this? Oh Who is the original singer and how old was she?"
Thank you
Sam

Answer
Hello Sam,

The first single release of "Delta Dawn" was by Tanya Tucker in 1972 when she was 13 years-of-age, although it had been an album track by one of its co-writers, Alex Harvey, in 1971 when he was 26.

The song was co-written by Larry Collins who had been one of the two Collins Kids, a brother and sister rockabilly act who had been performing since around the age of eight and ten. He would have been 27 when he co-wrote "Delta Dawn".

Here's a little history concerning the song itself, as given by Alex Harvey:

"It's a song about women's liberation. That was a big deal at the time, and I guess it still is. I like images a lot, and mystery, and I think the mystery of 'Delta Dawn' is what pulled it together. The song basically came out of a feeling that I had for my mother, but I'm not really sure.

I cut the song in Nashville for my first Capitol album. One of the background singers on that session was Tracy Nelson, who had her own band, Mother Earth. She got booked at the Bottom Line in New York City, and added 'Delta Dawn' to her act. A fan of hers, Bette Midler, heard the tune and was hypnotized by it. She came every night and learned the song exactly the way Tracy did it. Bette then began to perform the song at the Continental Baths in New York. It got an immediate reaction. She sang the song three different times on the Johnny Carson show.

Billy Sherrill, who worked for Columbia-Epic, had a thirteen-year-old girl named Tanya Tucker under contract. He was going to produce her, but hadn't yet chosen any material. Once he heard Bette do 'Delta Dawn' on TV, he knew the song could be a smash. So, right after the release of Bette's first album, The Divine Miss M, he put out a country version by Tanya.

Well, that single began to take off. Then, Tom Catalano, who was producing Barbra Streisand, decided that Barbra could cut 'Delta Dawn' for the pop market and have a big hit. In her absence, he cut an instrumental backing track, brought her down to the studio, and then played it for her. She didn't like the tune, and refused to put her voice on it.

So, Wally Schuster, a song plugger for United Artists Music, called up Jeff Wald, Helen Reddy's husband and manager, and asked if Helen might be interested. They made a deal, Helen put her voice on the track, and the rest was history. Helen's single took off immediately in the summer of 1973.

I think 'Delta Dawn' became a hit primarily because of all the exposure that it was given on the Tonight Show. The song was rightfully Bette Midler's hit. It was her image, and would have been a great image builder for her, especially in light of the mystique that she carries around with her today. Bette's "Delta Dawn" single had been scheduled for release, but Capitol Records beat Midler (and Atlantic Records) by releasing Reddy's single two days before Midler's release date. This prompted the bigwigs of Atlantic to flip the record and push the former 'B' side, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", instead. At the last minute, "Delta Dawn" was dropped from the 45 and replaced by "Superstar," which became a hit for the Carpenters, and her 'Delta Dawn' was forgotten."


Glad to be of help. Cheers.......Mel.