Tanya Tucker to Brandi Carlile: 'Don't mess with my bad reputation'

Chaos and human is how Grammy-winning Brandi Carlile describes country singer Tanya Tucker. She also uses words including “legend,” “tough” and “original female outlaw.”

“There would be no Miranda (Lambert), no Brandi (Carlile), no Gretchen (Wilson), no Maren (Morris) without Tanya Tucker,” Carlile said. “That’s where we found our piss and vinegar. If you tell her that, she won’t believe you.”

Carlile teamed with Shooter Jennings to produce Tucker’s new album “While I’m Livin,’” the “Delta Dawn” singer’s first in 17 years. Available Aug. 23, the 10-song collection includes a reimagined version of Lambert’s tender smash “The House That Built Me,” Waylon Jennings’ “High Ridin’ Heroes” and Tucker's new single “The Wheels of Laredo,” which was written by Carlile, Tim Hanseroth and Phil Hanseroth.

“It’s a haunting melody, and it talks about being down in Laredo and what they’re doing down there,” Tucker said. “It paints a picture, and (my friends) say, ‘You come in and sing it, and I feel like I’m there.’ That’s what we want to do is make sure everyone hears the song and feels like they’re there.”

Carlile and her frequent songwriting partners Tim Hanseroth and Phil Hanseroth — to whom she refers as “the twins” — co-wrote six of the album’s 10 songs and joined Tucker to pen the last track, “Bring My Flowers Now.”

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The idea for “Bring My Flowers Now” sprung from a conversation about a funeral four decades ago. Tucker remembers saying, “Man, bring my flowers now while I’m living.” A short time later, she mentioned the idea to Loretta Lynn, who told her she should write that into a song. A few months ago, Tucker was at Lynn’s home and Lynn asked her if she’d ever written that song.

Tucker wrote the chorus for "Bring My Flowers Now" and told Carlile about it. On their last day in the recording studio on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip, Carlile approached Tucker about finishing the lyrics.

Tucker hesitated.

“I was like, ‘Uhhhh, can I go to the bathroom first?” she recalled.

“She’s a good writer,” Carlile added.

“It took me 40 years and 20 minutes to write the song,” Tucker said.

Tucker has been one of country music's boldest names since she was 13 years old. In 1972, the Seminole, Texas, native broke through with her classic "Delta Dawn." Over the decades, she went on to chart hits including “Soon,” “Two Sparrows in a Hurricane,” “It’s a Little Too Late,” “Trouble,” “Texas (When I Die),” “If It Don’t Come Easy” and “Strong Enough to Bend.”

The singer wasn't ready to return to the recording studio when Carlile approached her with the idea, but she relented.

"I told her, 'Don’t mess with my bad reputation. It’s earned me a damn good living,' " Tucker said.

Carlile couldn’t be prouder of the project they created. She believes it fills a void for mature women who are often artistically underserved.

“Women Tanya’s age (60) have no one telling their story, no one talking about what it means to be an empty nester or what it’s like to not be able to keep your home,” she said. “We think that music is to service and become fodder for the lifestyle of the young. Shooter Jennings and I believe in Tanya Tucker more than she believes in herself. She’s worth believing in. She’s not Santa Claus. She’s real, and she’s very, very … good.”

Just don't call it a comeback. Tucker hates the word comeback.

"(Tucker) prefers the word relaunch," Carlile admitted. "But it’s not often we can tell a legend we love and appreciate them while they’re still with us. Let’s call it a comeback. Let’s give her one while she’s living."

'While I'm Livin' track list

1. "Mustang Ridge" (written by Brandi Carlile, Tim Hanseroth and Phil Hanseroth)

2. "The Wheels of Laredo" (written by Brandi Carlile, Tim Hanseroth and Phil Hanseroth)

3. "I Don't Owe You Anything" (written by Brandi Carlile, Tim Hanseroth and Phil Hanseroth)

4. "The Day My Heart Goes Still" (written by Brandi Carlile, Tim Hanseroth and Phil Hanseroth)

5. "High Ridin' Heroes" (written by David Lynn Jones)

6. "The House That Built Me" (written by Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin)

7. "Hard Luck" (written by John C. “Pete” Bailey, David Lee Mitchell, Raymond L. Turner and Jerry Ontiberoz)

8. "Rich" (written by Brandi Carlile, Tim Hanseroth and Phil Hanseroth)

9. "Seminole Wind Calling" (written by Brandi Carlile, Tim Hanseroth and Phil Hanseroth)

10. "Bring My Flowers Now" (written by Tanya Tucker, Brandi Carlile, Tim Hanseroth and Phil Hanseroth)

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tanya Tucker to Brandi Carlile: 'Don't mess with my bad reputation'