Comments on: 100 Greatest Women, #15: Tanya Tucker

By: Travis

Travis — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:55:04 +0000

I have pretty much everything Tanya’s has done, and like so many before and after her, she is hit or miss….. I’ve whittled most of it down to the hits, like I usually do and chuck the rest…..

Tanya was the anti Barbara Mandrell of the day… sort of like Gretchen Wilson is the anti Carrie Underwood of today….. her music and voice were raw, right out of the club, fighting it’s way into your sub-conscious.. She mellowed over the years, and I found her sound and music choices to be much more enjoyable,,, bot because I’m a Barbara fan but because I think she made better choices as to what would sell and get radio airplay…..

I think ppl get to picky with what is traditional, hardcore country and what is soft radio played filler…… Artists DON”T make money unless they get airplay….. it works this way…

An artist usually gets a percentage of the profits…. ok,, how does an artist sell records.. 2 ways… someone hears the song on the radio and then buys the album… or a person hears the person sing something in a concert and then buys the record…….

if you don’t have songs on the radio, WHICH gets ppl in the seats for a concert, YOU DON”T SELL RECORDS and you DON”T make money….

I’ve seen Tanya in concert back in the 90′s during her “sparrow in the hurricane” days and it was a great concert albeit her coming down at the time and performing county fairs again……..

I believe her, like Barbara Mandrell deserve lower rankings,, MEANING lower numbers, both in the top ten, NOT Trisha or EMMYLOU,, as both Tanya and Barbara kept country alive during the 80′s coming from two different directions and keeping ppl in the seats and ppl buying albums

By: Roger

Roger — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:15:24 +0000

Thank you for putting Tanya in the TOP 15. To me she is #1 and always will be. Whle I love Dolly, the Bluegrass side is not my thing, but I have loved every song on every album of Tanya’s. I have a problem with Nashville in that I cannot beleive that Tanya has not been asked to be a Grand Ole Opry member. I think I remember that back in the days of TNT, she was banned from becoming a member. Now is that ridiculous or what?

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:18:59 +0000

Trust me ya’ll, you put Tanya in the mix of country vocalists today, she will be the ONLY one to stand out. You just kind of say to yourself, hey, thats TANYA TUCKER, who the hell is everyone else???
JMO, it boils down to the radio playset and program directors. If you aint young and thin, you just aint gettin’ played. I think THAT really sucks for some young dumbass program director to decide WHO retires and WHO doesn’t. I guess my point is, most of the woman out there today sound to much alike, I set Tanya aside from all the rest because, at least you know who the hell is singin’…My ramble is done, Happy 4th Yall and be safe……Michael

By: Leeann

Leeann — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:04:18 +0000

Tanya Tucker was one of the first women voices I could recognize when I first got into country music. I think the song of hers that was going up the charts was “We Don’t Have To Do This”, so I always feel a little nestalgic when I hear that song. I love that third phase of hers that Paul mentioned.

By: Jordan Stacey

Jordan Stacey — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:42:23 +0000

I also figured out the rest of the women (I Think), and am excited to see how close Kevin will follow my placement of them. So far I’ve only found two artists placement a little off (Lorrie Morgan & Miranda Lambert), but Kevin does make a good argument for them.

Now Tanya Tucker has one of the coolest voices in country music. I love her voice, it sounds so, I don’t know, I guess natural. It kinda sounds like if she stopped singing she would die, like she puts her whole soul into it and it’s keeping her alive. (A friend and I discussed this once and it made sense to us). “Delta Dawn” has to be one of the best songs I’ve ever heard, it’s amazing how young she was when she recorded it. It’s a shame that country radio won’t play her anymore.

By: Chad

Chad — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:52:10 +0000

Now I’m getting really excited with who is coming. Last night I sat down to figure out who the last 14 women are (I have that part figured out), and then I rank ordered them from my perspective. I look forward to the write-ups on each and see how close I got to your rankings….

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:24:33 +0000

Actually Shania is a very distinctive voice but on occasion I have heard people say her younger day voice sounds very similar to Tanya’s.

By: Paul W Dennis

Paul W Dennis — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:35:07 +0000

You have Tany a placed exactly where I would put her. Like Johnny Paycheck, Tanya Tucker actually had a three phase career

Phase 1, the Columbia Years , could be labelled as American Gothic’s last stand.

Phase 2, the MCA years were mostly “bad girl/good-time girl” recordings.

Phase 3, the Capitol years, were recordings reflecting the mature adult – love songs and songs detailing adult situations a/k/a real life. My favorite Tanya Tucker recordings mostly come from this latter period although there are gems scattered throughout her career.

As an earlier poster noted, you never had to guess whether the singer was Tanya Tucker or not. You simply knew .

I know Shania has legions of fans but her vocals aren’t all that distinctive. Her songs and arrangements ARE distinctive. I know the songs, so I know it’s Shania, but that isn’t so for new recordings.

The difference between a great singer and a merely good singer is that distinctive or unique quality that makes it easy to recognize their voices. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin weren’t better singers than Vic Damone, John Gary or Matt Munro but they were more easily recognized. Ditto for Tanya Tucker

By: Jonathan at MTCM

Jonathan at MTCM — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:56:35 +0000

You never have to guess whether or not you are listening to a Tanya Tucker song. That voice hers is hard to mistake for someone else.

By: ccf

ccf — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:55:52 +0000

Would you lay with me in a field of stone. Now that was something for tennager to record back int he 70′s