Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Posted on June 25, 2009 - by cory
New Album!
Tanya’s new album, My Turn, is now available. Purchase your copy from iTunes or Amazon.
Posted on June 25, 2009 - by cory
Tanya Tucker Takes Her “Turn”
by Chuck Dauphin
Many people have fond memories of going to the Grand Ole Opry for the first time, and Tanya Tucker is no different.
“My dad had taken me to Nashville all the way from Wilcox, Arizona back in 1967,” she recalls. “I was nine years old and he was going to get me started there. I made some demos, and after we did that, I wanted to go to the Opry. So he took me to the Ryman, and we waited in line. It was in the middle of summer and it was so hot! Of course, that was back in the days when the Ryman didn’t have air conditioning. We sat in the back with our hand-held fans, and Daddy looked down at me and said ‘Now don’t you wish you were up there doing it, instead of back here sitting with me? That was a pretty monumental thing for me, as I realized I wanted to be a singer.”
Just a little over four years later, Tucker was the talk of Music Row with her cut on Alex Harvey’s “Delta Dawn,” and the rest, they say, is HER-story! The legendary career of the Seminole, Texas native continues with the release of her Saguaro Road debut MY TURN, which is a collection of songs that share two things in common: One, they are all some of Country Music’s most enduring songs, and Two—they were all favorites of her late father, Beau.
“I dedicated the album to his memory because he’s the one that got me into Country Music and started my love affair with it,” she says of her father who passed away in November of 2006. “He was my mentor, my coach, and my manager. These are some songs he always loved—I used to sing several of them when I was a kid, so it only made sense to dedicate the album to him.”
Recording the songs on MY TURN, which were all originally made famous by some of Country Music’s most legendary male vocalists was a daunting task—even for the adventurous Tucker. “There was a fear of not being able to do these songs as well, or do them justice,” she admitted. “You get the originals implanted in your head. I just wanted to try to make these my own–like they did. Take “Lovesick Blues” from Hank Williams, for example. That’s hard to beat. I don’t think we did, but I hope we did it justice. I just hope the people like our versions.”
Tanya recently shared a few of her thoughts concerning some of the cuts off MY TURN with Music News Nashville!
“Love’s Gonna Live Here” (originally a # 1 for 16 weeks in 1963 for Buck Owens.)—”We all loved Buck Owens. He was very inspirational to me when I was a kid. This is one that Pete Anderson, my producer, was very adamant about. I kind of wanted to do “I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail,” but when I finished it, I realized I really enjoyed our version of this one. Having Jim Lauderdale guest on the track was special, as well!”
“Crazy Arms” (originally a #1 for 20 weeks in 1956 for Ray Price.)—-”I didn’t do this one as a kid, but I’ve heard it all my life, so I was very familiar with it. I don’t think I even had to have a lyric sheet. I had second thoughts when I left the studio—that I could have done it better… like Ray Price did. It’s a great song, I just hope we did it right.”
“You Don’t Know Me” (a hit in 1956 for Eddy Arnold)—-”My dad really loved this song. It was one of his favorites. I did it a few years ago for a George Jones special, and he said ‘If you cut that song as a single, it will be a hit.’ That was a song I really wanted to do. I hope that Eddy Arnold would be proud of it. Rhonda Vincent’s just incredible on the song, as she is on several on the album. I think she’s just awesome.”
“After The Fire Is Gone” (the very first Conway-Loretta duet from 1971)—-”That is another song that is one of my favorites. It turned out to be one of my favorite cuts on the album. I was going to cut it with Billy Ray Cyrus, but our schedules got crazy. I think the Grascals were just great, and I put my own Loretta touch on the cut.”
While promoting MY TURN is her top career priority these days, she is also gearing up for another round of reality television. “We have about six episodes in the can. It’s called “Tuckertime,” and it’s going to be a continuation of “Tuckerville.” The only difference is we used our own production company, and it’s going to be a lot more reality than the other show was. We’re really proud of it. As soon as we get it finished, we’re going to take it to cable and hopefully get it sold and out.”
While Tanya has lived her life before the cameras, “Tuckerville” was a learning experience, albeit one that she had pleasant thoughts of—early. “Well, at the beginning, it was great. They did a great job in the beginning, but I think that Hollywood gets very impatient. They want to make something happen. I kept telling them to just hang out and film…Something would happen, but they got impatient. They started to create things for my kids to do, and there were some things I wouldn’t let them get by with. I didn’t find out some of them until I saw it on TV!”
Right now, it’s the new album that has her attention, and she’s hopeful that the man she made it for would be pleased. “I would hope that he’d be proud of it. He was my biggest critic, so I’m sure there’d be something he wouldn’t like about it,” she says with a laugh. “But that’s the way we are……I do hope he would be happy with it.”
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