Polly Adelaide Hendricks Hazelwood (February 22, 1920 – October 3, 1989), k… Read Full Bio ↴Polly Adelaide Hendricks Hazelwood (February 22, 1920 – October 3, 1989), known professionally as Del Wood, was an American pianist.
Hendricks was born in Nashville, Tennessee. A lifetime resident of Nashville, she was surrounded by the influences of early country music and the remaining vestiges of ragtime, particularly through the guitar pickers. She took up piano at age five, and played ragtime, gospel, and country music. Despite her parent's best efforts to encourage a direction towards classical music, the environment in Nashville, plus the early local programming on radio, convinced her that she wanted to play piano in the honky-tonk style. Her dream goal was the Grand Ole Opry, something she would realize in her early 30s.
Shortening her married name (Adelaide Hazelwood) to something easier to remember (and intentionally non-gender specific), Wood began playing in bands and honky-tonk joints in her 20s. After a decade of building repertoire and reputation, she spent some time as a staff pianist at WLBJ in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was there that she was heard playing "Down Yonder" among other pieces, which led to a gig with a recording group called Hugh `Baby' Jarrett and his Dixieliners. This led to the first of many recording sessions for the Tennessee Records label starting in 1951. "Down Yonder" soon became a national hit in both the country and pop categories in Billboard record charts, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. She is probably the first female country solo instrumentalist to sell a million copies of a record.
This success was turned into appearances on the Grand Ole Opry starting in 1952, which led to an eventual full-time gig there in 1953, fulfilling her long-time dream. Two years later her fame culminated with a contract from RCA Victor Records, where she would make some of the first country/honky-tonk stereo recordings in the late 1950s. While nothing else that she put out had the same success as "Down Yonder", her offerings over the next decade were frequent and consistent. Wood gained the title, Queen of the Ragtime Pianists, sometimes shared with junior fellow plunker Jo Ann Castle. She was also divorced from her stage-namesake, Carson Hazelwood, during this period, but not before adopting a son they named Wesley.
During the Vietnam War, Wood was part of one of the Grand Ole Opry package tours that entertained troops overseas in 1968. Her recordings after the late 1960s were infrequent at best, but her appearances on the Opry continued until just before her death from a stroke on October 3, 1989 at the age of 69.
She was interred in the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.
Hendricks was born in Nashville, Tennessee. A lifetime resident of Nashville, she was surrounded by the influences of early country music and the remaining vestiges of ragtime, particularly through the guitar pickers. She took up piano at age five, and played ragtime, gospel, and country music. Despite her parent's best efforts to encourage a direction towards classical music, the environment in Nashville, plus the early local programming on radio, convinced her that she wanted to play piano in the honky-tonk style. Her dream goal was the Grand Ole Opry, something she would realize in her early 30s.
Shortening her married name (Adelaide Hazelwood) to something easier to remember (and intentionally non-gender specific), Wood began playing in bands and honky-tonk joints in her 20s. After a decade of building repertoire and reputation, she spent some time as a staff pianist at WLBJ in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was there that she was heard playing "Down Yonder" among other pieces, which led to a gig with a recording group called Hugh `Baby' Jarrett and his Dixieliners. This led to the first of many recording sessions for the Tennessee Records label starting in 1951. "Down Yonder" soon became a national hit in both the country and pop categories in Billboard record charts, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. She is probably the first female country solo instrumentalist to sell a million copies of a record.
This success was turned into appearances on the Grand Ole Opry starting in 1952, which led to an eventual full-time gig there in 1953, fulfilling her long-time dream. Two years later her fame culminated with a contract from RCA Victor Records, where she would make some of the first country/honky-tonk stereo recordings in the late 1950s. While nothing else that she put out had the same success as "Down Yonder", her offerings over the next decade were frequent and consistent. Wood gained the title, Queen of the Ragtime Pianists, sometimes shared with junior fellow plunker Jo Ann Castle. She was also divorced from her stage-namesake, Carson Hazelwood, during this period, but not before adopting a son they named Wesley.
During the Vietnam War, Wood was part of one of the Grand Ole Opry package tours that entertained troops overseas in 1968. Her recordings after the late 1960s were infrequent at best, but her appearances on the Opry continued until just before her death from a stroke on October 3, 1989 at the age of 69.
She was interred in the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.
Delta Dawn
Del Wood Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Delta Dawn' by these artists:
Alex Harvey Delta Dawn what's that flower you have on? Could it be…
Ashland Craft Delta Dawn, what′s that flower you have on? Could it be…
B. Midler Delta Dawn what's that flower you have on? Could it be…
Barbara Ray Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on? Could it be…
Bette Midler Delta Dawn what's that flower you have on? Could it be…
Bruce Low Delta Dawn, what′s that flower you have on Could it be…
Caroline Du Preez Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on? Could it be…
Charlie McCoy Delta Dawn what's that flower you have on? Could it be…
Helen Reddy Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on? Could it be…
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Delta Dawn what's that flower you have on Could it…
Nathan Carter Delta Dawn, what′s that flower you have on Could it be…
Ray Conniff Delta Dawn what's that flower you have on? Could it be…
Ray Conniff Singers Delta Dawn what's that flower you have on? Could it be…
Scott Walker Delta Dawn what's that flower you have on? Could it be…
Steve Hofmeyr/Barbara Ray Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on? Could it be…
Teresa Brewer Delta Dawn what's that flower you have on? Could it be…
The Statler Brothers Delta Dawn what's that flower you have on? Could it be…
The Walker Brothers Delta Dawn what's that flower you have on? Could it be…
Tucker Tanya Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on? Could it be…
Waylon Jennings Delta Dawn what's that flower you have on? Could it be…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Del Wood:
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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@elleandtoni
We got to play with The Petersens!! These people are seriously as nice and genuine as they are talented, and it was truly a pleasure to make some music with them while we both found ourselves in Dallas on the road. Check out our other video we did with them on their channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-0Diel8Tqk
@jfr597
No Tent meets The Petersons. Beautiful!
@musicnut1433
Excellent! Just wish there was more of it! 😎❤️
@richarddarlington1139
That was fun but, where's the bass vocal?
@jimmymorgan520
What an awesome surprise for The Sunday Morning video. Playing with The Petersens! How cool is that? The Petersens are Amazing. My musical joy needle it pegged, having musical talent admiration Overload! Can't stop smiling!
@fanoflakespeed9460
I use to live about a mile from Tanya Tucker. I really admired her. From the road you could see her collection of Harley Davidson motorcycles. She complained George Bush made her late for supper at the country music awards . She lived just South of the Nashville Airport. His motorcade shut all routes off to the awards show from the airport. Enjoyed your song as usual.
@ThePetersens
It was so much fun to make music with y’all!! Thanks for having us on your channel :)
@chasbodaniels1744
I enjoyed this sooo much. Thanks!
@benaaronmusic
Y'all sounded amazing!
@GodsVibes
Please do more magic together, really really enjoyed :-)