Delta Dawn
"Delta Dawn" is a song written by musician Larry Collins and country songwriter Alex Harvey. The first notable recording of the song was in 1972 by American singer and actress Bette Midler for her debut album The Divine Miss M. However it is best known as a 1972 top ten Country Songs|country hit] for Tanya Tucker and a 1973 US number one hit for Helen Reddy.
Titling
The title character is a faded former Southern belle from Brownsville, Tennessee, who, at 41, is obsessed with the long-ago memory of a suitor who jilted her. The lyrics describe how the woman regularly "walks downtown with a suitcase in her hand / looking for a mysterious dark haired man" who she says will be taking her "to his mansion in the sky".Writing
Alex Harvey said he wrote the song about his mother:Ten years before Harvey wrote the song, he was performing on TV and told his mother not to come, lest she get drunk and embarrass him. That night she died in a car crash, and Harvey believed it was suicide caused by his rejection.
For years Harvey suffered from guilt over the incident, until a cathartic incident the night he wrote the song. He was at fellow songwriter Larry Collins' house, who was asleep while Harvey noodled around on his guitar. He believed his mother then came to him in a vision:
After writing the first few lines of the song, Harvey woke Collins and they finished it together.
Cover versions
The first recording of "Delta Dawn" was made by Harvey for his album Alex Harvey released in November 1971. Harvey had performed as the opening act for Helen Reddy at the Troubadour in January 1972, but at that time Reddy made no connection with any of Harvey's compositions.Bette Midler version
During the time Tanya Tucker’s and Helen Reddy’s recordings of the song were being produced, Bette Midler recorded "Delta Dawn" for her The Divine Miss M debut album, for which her bluesy version was planned as the lead single. Reddy's single was released June 1973, two days after Midler's. The preemption required a marketing change for Midler, so the original B-side "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was shopped to radio, itself becoming a top ten hit.The song was also included on Midler's 1977 live album Live at Last which was recorded at the Cleveland Music Hall in Cleveland, Ohio.
Tanya Tucker version
Before Bette Midler's recording, Nashville-based producer Billy Sherrill heard her sing "Delta Dawn" on The Tonight Show and wanted to sign Midler to Epic Records and have her record it. Upon finding that Midler already signed with Atlantic Records, Sherrill cut the song with Tanya Tucker, who was newly signed to Epic, at the Columbia Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Tucker's version was released in April 1972; it reached number six Country that spring.While Harvey's original version started with the first verse, Sherrill suggested starting with the chorus instead, done a cappella – a term unknown to 13-year-old Tucker. This distinction became a signature of her version.
| Chart | Peak position |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 3 |
Helen Reddy version
Record producer Tom Catalano created an instrumental track of "Delta Dawn." Catalano first offered the vocal track to Barbra Streisand, but she refused; after this he gave the vocal to Reddy.Reddy's version, which added upward modulation to Tucker's cold intro and nonstop vocals throughout, entered the top ten on 18 August 1973, on its way to its lone week at number one on the main Billboard Hot 100 chart, on 15 September 1973. It remained in the top 10 for eight weeks, and was ranked as the Hot 100 singles of 1973|No. 14 song for 1973] according to Billboard. "Delta Dawn" was also the first of Reddy's six consecutive—and eight overall—number one hits on the Billboard Hot [Adult Contemporary Tracks|Easy Listening chart]. The song also topped the Cash Box chart on 8 September 1973, remaining at number one for two weeks.
Reddy had reached number two with both "I [Don't Know How to Love Him]" and I Am Woman in her native Australia; "Delta Dawn" became her first number one hit there, spending five weeks at the top of the Kent Music Report in August and September 1973. "Delta Dawn" also marked Reddy's only chart appearance in South Africa, reaching number 13 in the autumn of 1973.
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Sylvie Vartan version (French)
In 1973, the song was adapted into French by Michel Mallory as "Toi le garçon". It was recorded by French pop singer Sylvie Vartan and released as a non-album single in October 1973. Vartan's version peaked at Number 22 on the French Belgian charts on March 9, 1974.| Chart | Peak position |
| Belgium | 22 |
Other versions
Nola Francis released a version of the song in 1973. It peaked at number 98 in Australia.American country group Home Free released the a capella version of "Delta Dawn" together with country singer and songwriter Brooke Eden in 2023.