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.
Here You Come Again
Del Wood Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Here You Come Again' by these artists:
B.J. Thomas Here you come again, just when I've begun to get myself…
Charlotte Day Wilson Here you come again Just when I′ve begun to get myself…
Clay Aiken Here you come again, just when I've begun to get myself…
D. Parton Here you come again Just when I've begun to get myself…
Dolly Parton Kris Kristofferson & Jeremy Jordan The scene was a small roadside cafe The waitress was sweepin…
Frente! Here you come again, just when I've begun to get myself…
Honky Tonk Darlings Here you come again Just when I've begun to get myself…
J.Emblow Here you come again, just when I've begun to get myself…
Jessica Andersson Here you come again Just when I′ve begun to get myself…
Lena Zavaroni Here you come again, Just when I′ve begun to get myself…
Maureen McGovern Here you come again, just when I've begun to get myself…
Parton Dolly Here you come again Just when I've begun to get myself…
Patti LaBelle Here you come again, just when I've begun to get myself…
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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@jimreeves5212
LOVE this whole record!!
@user-yo3vv7rs1r
Love the cat too ❤💗❤💗❤💗
@susanaustin80
This was one of my Dad's favorite tunes - thanks for bringing back some happy memories for me :)
@rsrtaipoo
your cat i, gather, had developed a musical ear by now..... nice piece ,...... thanks
@josephseiglow187
Great music.
@MocCreatorStudios
Thank you so much.
@cgrable8342
WOWZER !
@franshaverkamp6044
Leuke kat
@armallya
excellent recording love your turntable, how did you capture and digitize the audio. I have a Technics turntable would like to do some digitization, I also have a USB turntable but audio is not this good
@maynardcat
+Arvind Mallya The better quality Technics would be better to use than a USB. If the Technics has a magnetic cartridge you would need a small magnetic preamp, avilable on ebay, you can download free recording software that does a good job like audacity.