Nickel dreams

by Tanya Tucker

Born into poverty, the grandchild of sharecroppers, Tanya grew up poor in a family that had come out of the Oklahoma hills in the Great Depression. Her family imbued her early on with a love of country music - and of being "Tucker tough." Also early on, Tanya decided she wanted to become a country music singer. Her father, Beau, was determined that she and her sister La Costa, also a budding singer, would succeed. On an impulsive trip to Nashville, he buttonholed anyone who would listen, often brushing past secretaries and into executive offices brandishing a demo tape. When this expedition came to nothing he moved the family to Las Vegas, where, he figured, someone had to listen to his girls. After singing in every honky-tonk and piano bar she could find, Tanya's first big break came when Billy Sherill signed her up at age 13 and gave her the song "Delta Dawn," which became her anthem and a huge runaway hit, topping the country charts. Tanya talks candidly about the whirlwind of sudde