A Few Moments With…Tanya Tucker
Although Nashville is home for Tanya Tucker, she rents a house near Los Angeles, and called us from there during a break in her summer tour. She and her friends were making plans to go down to Beverly Hills for some shopping and spa time. Then the plan was to check in with Lisa Vanderpump, and end up at Mister Chow. The tour has been extended, and even now, forty-five years after Tanya started at the tender age of twelve, she still looks forward to getting on stage. For her set list, she has plenty of choices - more than sixty-five hits, forty-seven of which cracked the Top 20, ten of them reaching #1. But when Tanya joins us on the 2017 Country Music Cruise, you’ll get more than some of the most memorable hits of the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. You’ll get the full Tanya experience. Many of today’s country stars have been through intensive media training, but Tanya says what’s on her mind so expect some great stories to go along with the greatest hits.
First, congratulations on your upcoming Pioneer award at the ACMs in August!
Thank you. It’s an honor.
They say you can tell a pioneer by the arrows in his or her back. Do you feel that way sometimes?
Sometimes! I’m much too old to feel this damn young, to paraphrase Garth Brooks. You know, I’m blessed, more blessed than anyone I know. My heroes are the ones that saved me, and now I’m joining them. I got to hang out with the older legends. Now I get to work with new legends, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, George Strait. It’s funny to be the age I am and a pioneer. Call me a young pioneer.
Your summer tour is in full swing. Are you enjoying being back on the road after a few low-key years?
Been having a great time, and it has been very successful. I’ve been doing something I really miss—reconnecting with the fans. I’ve missed that connection, that feeling I get on stage. You want to be successful in what you do, but to me it’s all secondary compared with getting out there in front of an audience. That’s success to me.
What did you think when you heard a guy, Barret Baber, do “Delta Dawn” on The Voice?
I didn’t catch it all, but someone called me and I turned it on. It was great. Very flattering. Big surprise, too, because you don’t hear many men singing that song, except the ones in the front row at my shows singing along.
The last album you did was for our sister company, Time Life Music-Saguaro Road, and it was an album of country classics, My Turn. Any plans for a new album?
Yes. We’ve been working on this for some time. Really, almost ten years. It’s been a long process but I’ve about got it done. I’ve got a new manager now. You know, my dad managed me for so many years. He passed, and that was the reason I did “My Turn.” Those were the songs he loved. I miss him terribly. He did so much for me, and now I realize how much work he really did. Now we have to find the right home for the record. I feel like I’ve done my job, and now it’s time for whatever company we go with to do theirs. Music’s always been the easy part for me!
You were honored in a Country Music Hall of Fame exhibit last year. How did you feel about seeing your life captured in artifacts?
To be honest, I didn’t really have a chance to absorb it all. I went there for the opening, and it was a whirlwind. Press, photos, and so on. I tried to take a walk back through the exhibit and people were interviewing me. I didn’t get the slow walk-through I wanted, and the chance to let it all sink in. But it’s a great honor, very flattering that they would dedicate an exhibit to my career.
There are still a lot of very young performers coming along. If you could take them aside and give them one piece of advice, what would it be?
Man, that’s a tough one! There are different kids who need different advice. Sometimes the old advice is still the best: stay true to yourself. But for some people that’s no good. Some people shouldn’t be themselves; they need to be someone else! Go for honesty, too. Like they say, if you can fake honesty you’ve got it made! That’s what they teach you in acting school. I guess my top piece of advice is to be second to someone. My preference is to be second to God. If you don’t live by that, you’re sunk.
At one point you were pretty close to Merle Haggard. Did his passing hit you hard?
It was not a good April. Merle died and so did Prince. I didn’t really know Prince’s music that well, and I never knew him personally, but he was a talent, and he was the same age as me. Now THAT’LL scare you. Merle had been in bad health, and I was sad to see him go but it brought his suffering to a close.
We hope you’re looking forward to the 2017 Country Music Cruise as much as we’re looking forward to seeing you. Have you been on a cruise as a performer before?
I haven’t been on one for many years. It’s a different mode of performing. You’re among your audience as soon as you step out of your cabin. Audience members get closer to the artists than anywhere else, and that makes it a unique experience for both of us. That’s part of what makes country music more approachable and relatable than any other music – the connection between the artists and the audience. I’m going to bring my family and some of my best friends. My only problem is I can’t bring my three dogs. They usually go everywhere with me, but they can’t come on-board the ship, I’m told.
Vince Gill is our headliner. You must have worked with him?
Before anyone much knew who he was, he was a star to me. He played guitar and sang harmony on my Number One hit, “Just Another Love.” And he was on “It’s Only Over for You,” as well. He’s so talented, he’s his own category. At the same time, he’s very approachable. A great human being.
Brenda Lee is joining us. Did you and Brenda ever talk about your shared experience of being young performers in the spotlight?
Did we ever, and I am SO looking forward to seeing Brenda again. She’s one of my best friends in the world. I can call her at any time, day or night … and I have! We both got started so young.
The Oak Ridge Boys were fighting you for Number One for a lot of years. Back then, did you run into them on the road or in the studio?
We have a lot of shared memories in our memory bank. It’ll be like homecoming week, and we’ll be on a ship so they can’t run from me!
You’ve lived a very public life, but can you tell us something we don’t know about Tanya Tucker?
It feels like I’ve left it all out there somewhere, but I’ll tell you one thing. I don’t like to put my socks on back-to-front. I think it brings bad luck!
- Colin Escott © 2016