"Delta Dawn" was the title song from Tanya Tucker's first album, and subsequently popularized by Australian singer Helen Reddy, whose rendition rose to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the year 1973, and hit #1 the week of September 15. It was written by former child rockabilly star Larry Collins.

The song is about a woman from Brownsville who is hinted at being mentally unstable. One of the sets of lyrics to evidence this is, "She's 41 and Daddy still calls her "baby" / All the folks 'round Brownsville say she's crazy." The song tells the story of the woman meeting Jesus (the "dark-haired man"), dying, and going to Heaven (the "mansion in the sky").

Originally a song performed by Bette Midler for one of her early LPs (Midler had heard the song in Nashville, memorized it, and performed it three times on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson), the song was released by Reddy a mere two days before Midler, and the song was then moved to the B-side of Midler's release, and was never spoken of again. [1]

Barbra Streisand was also asked to sing the song, but did not like the tune and refused to provide vocals. It was at this time that Reddy was approached to follow up with "Delta Dawn" after her widely popular 1972 single "I Am Woman ." "Delta Dawn" sold over a million copies upon its first release.

Although the song has a Southern gospel feel (as evidenced by the song's introduction by a choir, as well as the lyrics providing the setting of the song in the Deep South), Reddy is from Australia, and trained her voice accordingly to mask her accent.

See also

• Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1973 (USA)