Delta Queen - Don Fardon (1973)

Out On The YouTube ^

[SamAdams76]

Fifty years ago this week, "Delta Queen" by British pop singer Don Fardon, rocketed onto the Billboard HOT 100 chart, receiving significant airplay in several U.S. markets.

This is haunting mariachi-tinged song that centers around a man's love for a lonely young woman down in New Orleans who is apparently some sort of singer, with only one pair of shoes, who is called "Delta Queen."

The song would eventually climb to number 86 nationwide in the early spring of 1973 but it should have been at least a Top 20 hit.

Don Fardon is still alive and kicking today at the age of 82. He makes his home in Coventry, England.

While Don Fardon is better known for his cover of "Indian Reservation" in 1970, this song, "Delta Queen", is perhaps his finest hour.

Or his finest 3 minutes, 11 seconds, to be exact.

[Chorus:]

Delta Queen, honey, honey
Where you been
Delta Queen, honey, honey
Where you been

Tell me, mister, have you seen
The girl they call the Delta Queen
In New Orleans

He said, I know the girl you mean
She's singing at the Delta Queen
Down Seventeen

And I when I saw here there
Tell the belle slide over here
I didn't mind the smokey room
Or the smell of stale perfume

I only know that she
Was made for making love to me
Just a woman tired of being alone
The one that I'm now taking home

[Chorus:]

She left her home in Baton Rouge
She only had one pair of shoes
What could she lose
The time had come for her to choose
Between the good life and the blues

MARIACHI BREAK

Hey, I only know that she
Was made for making love to me
Just a woman tired of being alone
The one that I'm now taking home

[Chorus:] 2X to fade

[SamAdams76]

Totally different song

[MisterArtery]

OK. Sorry.

[jy8z]

A thread about women of Louisiana isn't complete without

Marie Laveau

[Yardstick]

Wow, surprised I hadn’t heard this before. Cool song.

[SamAdams76]

Thanks. I like to dig up nuggets like this from the past and share with other Freepers. Especially those who appreciate them.

Sometimes you need to give these "lost 45s" a second or third spin for it to grow on you.

[SamAdams76]

No problem, as “Delta Dawn” was a major hit at the time. 13-year-old Tanya Tucker took it Top 10 Country in 1972 and then Helen Reddy took it all the way to number one on the pop charts a year later (1973).