53 Years Ago Today, 14-Year-Old Tanya Tucker Scored Her First No. 1 With a Song Later Covered by George Jones and Tammy Wynette

On this day (May 20) in 1973, Tanya Tucker topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with “What’s Your Mama’s Name.” It was her first trip to the top of the charts. More than that, it was her first major step in establishing herself as a country star.

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Tucker was seemingly destined to be a star. After impressing the entertainment managers at the Arizona State Fair, the eight-year-old prodigy made her performance debut with Mel Tillis. In the early 1970s, she recorded a demo tape that made its way from Nevada, where her family lived at the time, to Nashville. Producer Billy Sherrill heard it and signed the teen prodigy to Columbia Records, according to AllMusic.

Tucker was just 13 when she landed her first hit with “Delta Dawn.” Her next release, a double A-side single featuring “The Jamestown Ferry” and “Love Is the Answer,” brought her another. A year later, she released “What’s Your Mama’s Name” and landed her first No. 1.

Tanya Tucker Tackled Mature Material

One of the major things that set Tanya Tucker apart from other child artists was that she didn’t go for childish material. For instance, Billy Sherrill wanted her to record “The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.” as her debut single. She chose and fought to record “Delta Dawn.” Later, she got backlash for recording “Would You Lay with Me in a Field of Stone.”

While the subject matter of “What’s Your Mama’s Name” is completely different from “Would You Lay with Me in a Field of Stone,” it is no less mature. The song tells the story of a man from New Orleans who travels to Memphis to find his lost lover and their daughter, whom he has just learned about.

Everyone in town ignores the man until he sees a “little green-eyed girl” and offers her candy if she’ll tell him her mother’s name. He then gets arrested because onlookers think he’s a predator. After he dies, they find proof that he was just trying to find his family.

George Jones recorded a rendition of “What’s Your Mama’s Name” for his 1973 album Nothing Ever Hurt Me (Half as Bad as Losing You), but didn’t release it as a single. Tammy Wynette also recorded the song in the 1970s. However, her version wasn’t released until October 1998, a few months after she died. It appears on the compilation titled Collector’s Edition.

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