Speaking of me and country radio, I can remember exactly where I was when I heard Delta Dawn the first time: just past the lake and headed down the narrow road through the trees that would eventually take me up to the main road and the 7-11. It was a journey I took frequently, so I was practically on auto-pilot.
And then Tanya Tucker‘s voice and the eerie slow drone under it hit me like a cold bucket of water to the face. I think I turned it up mainly to make sure I was hearing correctly, because it didn’t sound like anything I had ever heard before. I don’t remember when this happened, but I’m guessing it was somewhere around 1992, when Two Sparrows in a Hurricane came out. The DJ probably even played them back to back.
I’m not sure I ever heard Delta Dawn on the radio again after that, or at least not for a while, but it stuck with me just the same.
Here she is singing it on Hee-Haw; she was 14 when this performance was recorded.