Bradley's Buzz

bub103 Tanya Tucker – Tanya Tucker
December 3, 2007
Original Release: April 1975
MCA Records #2141

Tanya’s self titled MCA debut veers a little from her Billy Sherrill produced Columbia output, particularly with the advent of a few poppier elements. First and foremost she went with producer Snuff Garrett who had brought Cher back into the pop charts with the likes of “Dark Lady” and “Gypsys Tramps & Thieves” and Tanya’s first MCA single wasn’t all that far from those tunes – “Lizzie & The Rainman” was a pop laced country song about a traveling salesman who swore he could make rain come to a small drought stricken town, all for the measly price of $100. The song sounds silly but like most of Tanya’s recordings she pulls it off. She pulled it off so well in fact that the song became her one and only top 40 pop hit – and of course it hit the top of the country charts.

The traveling salesman type of character is found in a lot of Tanya’s earlier recordings, later she’d discover the rodeo man but for this 70’s time period there was always some strange wanderer making their appearances in her song. Now I lived in a small town when I was a kid (which for a brief time would’ve been the 70’s) but I don’t recall the traveling salesman and rain men still making their beats but then again I didn’t live in a very small Southern town where sheer croppers were the norm and the Mason Dixon line was something people cared about.

The best track in my opinion on Tanya Tucker, takes the whole salesman character and puts him right into our hands – the closing number “Traveling Salesman” finds Tanya playing a waitress in Abilene where the most exciting thing people talk about is whether or not it’s going to rain (they should call Lizzie and her rainman) and seeing who gets off the train that runs through the town.

As it so happens, our girl catches the eye of a dark haired traveling salesman who wanders into her restaurant and declares – “girl it gets so lonely for a salesman on the road/ and this suitcase full of samples gets to be a heavy load/ I can tell you’re the only girl in town who’s got some style/ do you know a quiet place where a traveling salesman can rest awhile?”

Of course you know what that means don’t you? That’s right our girl was screwing him rotten. In fact by the second verse she can’t wait for Thursdays when her man comes back to town for some more “rest”. The third verse turns it all around as she sings about buying a new dress and meeting the man at the station because she has some news to share. Now I was totally expecting the whole pregnancy thing but whatever news she has to share with the man we never get to know, for instead of her dark haired stranger, a blonde stranger gets off the train instead. What follows is the best line as Tanya sassily sings, “What else was a girl to do when he smiled at me and said, ‘girl it gets so lonely for a salesman on the road…” It’s classic and it’s here for you to download (at the bottom).

To me this is the album where Tanya really starts making some great decisions about the songs she chooses, through out her early MCA recordings she toys with pop while still keeping her country roots in tact – the album’s second single was straight up country with “San Antonio Stroll” a cute little ditty about going to the big dance in town, “Someday Soon” is also very country and of course the aptly titled “King Of Country Music” is a cool little country song about well an old time singer, “and the screaming fans acknowledge a hit from way back when/ he’s the king of country music once again…”

“The Serenade That We Played” is probably the most old time country song on Tanya Tucker and I have to admit not one of my favorites though Tanya does really dig into it but it’s nowhere near as entertaining as her cover of Jessi Colter’s “I’m Not Lisa” – “I’m not Lisa/ my name is Tanya/ Lisa left you years ago/ my eyes are not blue/ but mine won’t leave you….” Her performance on it is superb.

Two more covers push the pop side though they are from the 60’s so they have a country rock flavor to them – the Everly Brother’s “When Will I Be Loved” featuring Phil Everly on back up is good but I’m more partial to Linda Ronstadt’s cover of it for some reason, and “Son Of A Preacher Man” is great fun but again Tanya can kick ass when she’s Tanya but she can’t do a real Dusty Springfield.

“Love Of A Rolling Stone” is interesting since its central theme will be one repeated over and over again in Tanya’s future songs – “all I ever wanted was a baby in my arms/ a wedding ring and a simple thing called home/ all you ever gave me was a look down some old highway/ the sky above and the love of a rolling stone.”

On almost every single one of these upcoming albums there is a song about some wild man who likes his freedom and Tanya’s love for him – usually she’s right there running around with him, but the whole idea ends up being she wants to settle down and have a baby. If this was an isolated theme it wouldn’t really matter but since it appears on her next few albums I have to wonder if little teen age Tanya was thinking of having herself a kid at the time… by some Southern standards she was probably an old maid by 16.

Tanya Tucker is a pleasant little debut for what I’m sure was Tanya’s new lease on recording – trying to push her way into pop charts and choosing better and better songs. From here on out she’d put out a new album about every six months and would venture even further into the pop field and each would be a little more successful of a listen though none would launch two number one singles like Tanya Tucker did though she would continue to have pretty big hits – but I think that just amounts to the promotion MCA did for Tanya Tucker as her next few albums just get better and better.

Tanya Tucker – Tanya Tucker (bubbatunes; bub103)
Track List:
01. Lizzie And The Rainman 02. Love Of A Rolling Stone 03. San Antonio Stroll 04. I’m Not Lisa 05. The King Of Country Music 06. When Will I Be Loved 07. The Serenade That We Played 08. Son Of A Preacher Man 09. Someday Soon 10. Traveling Salesman


Come back tomorrow when we head into more of Tanya's 70's poppiness with her next album Lovin' & Learnin' - as we hit day 4 of our 11 Days Of Tanya Tucker.