1) Nancy Sue Wilson - … Read Full Bio ↴There is more than one artist with this name:
1) Nancy Sue Wilson - jazz diva best known for her 60s standards recordings.
2) Nancy Lamoureaux Wilson - singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and member of the group Heart.
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1) Nancy Sue Wilson (born February 20, 1937, in Chillicothe, OH, United States – December 13, 2018, in Pioneertown, CA, United States) was a jazz diva famous for recording American standards in the 60s.
She was among contemporary music's most stylish and sultry vocalists; while often crossing over into the pop and R&B markets -- and even hosting her own television variety program -- she remained best known as a jazz performer, renowned for her work alongside figures including Cannonball Adderley and George Shearing. Wilson first attracted notice performing the club circuit in nearby Columbus; she quickly earned a growing reputation among jazz players and fans, and she was recording regularly by the late '50s, eventually signing to Capitol and issuing LPs including 1959's Like in Love and Nancy Wilson with Billy May's Orchestra. Her dates with Shearing, including 1960's The Swingin's Mutual, solidified her standing as a talent on the rise, and her subsequent work with Adderley -- arguably her finest recordings -- further cemented her growing fame and reputation.
In the years to follow, however, Wilson often moved away from jazz, much to the chagrin of purists; she made numerous albums, many of them properly categorized as pop and R&B outings, and toured extensively, appearing with everyone from Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan to Ruth Brown and LaVern Baker. She even hosted her own Emmy-winning variety series for NBC, The Nancy Wilson Show, and was a frequent guest performer on other programs; hits of the period included "Tell Me the Truth," "How Glad I Am," "Peace of Mind," and "Now, I'm a Woman." Regardless of how far afield she traveled, Wilson always maintained her connections to the jazz world, and in the 1980s, she returned to the music with a vengeance, working closely with performers including Hank Jones, Art Farmer, Ramsey Lewis, and Benny Golson. By the 1990s, she was a favorite among the "new adult contemporary" market, her style ideally suited to the format's penchant for lush, romantic ballads; she also hosted the Jazz Profiles series on National Public Radio.
In the early 2000s, Wilson recorded two albums with Ramsey Lewis for Narada (2002's Meant to Be and 2003's Simple Pleasures). Her 2004 album R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal) was a blend of straight-ahead jazz and ballads, similar to her next record, 2006's Turned to Blue, which, like R.S.V.P., used a different instrumentalist for each track. In 2005, Capitol released a three-part series to pay tribute to Wilson's contributions to music in the '50s and '60s: Guess Who I Saw Today: Nancy Wilson Sings Songs of Lost Love, Save Your Love for Me: Nancy Wilson Sings the Great Blues Ballads, and The Great American Songbook.
Wilson died from a long-illness on December 13, 2018 at her home in Pioneertown, California at the age of 81.
2) Nancy Lamoureux Wilson (born March 16, 1954, San Francisco, CA, United States), more popularly known as Nancy Wilson, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter. Along with her older sister Ann Wilson, she is part of the Seattle/Vancouver rock band Heart. She is married to film director and screenwriter Cameron Crowe and has composed and performed music for most of Crowe's movies, including Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky, and Elizabethtown.
While Ann is the lead singer on most of the Heart recordings, Nancy is the lead vocalist on Treat Me Well, These Dreams, Stranded, There's the Girl and Will You Be There (In The Morning), and frequently performs background vocals. She is also the band's rhythm and lead guitarist. In 1999, she released a live solo album, Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop.
Solo albums
1999 - Live At McCabes Guitar Shop
2005 - Elizabethtown
2009 - Baby Guitars
2016 - Undercover Guitar (with Julie Bergman)
2021 - You and Me
Ode to Billie Joe
Nancy Wilson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat
And Mama hollered out the back door "y'all remember to wipe your feet"
And then she said "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge"
"Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
'N' Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas"Well Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please"
"There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow"
'N' Mama said it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
'N' Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night?
"I'll have another piece-a apple pie, you know it don't seem right"
"I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge"
"And now ya tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
'N' Mama said to me "Child, what's happened to your appetite?"
"I've been cookin' all morning and you haven't touched a single bite"
"That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today"
"Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way"
"He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge"
"And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
A year has come 'n' gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe
'N' Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring
And now Mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge
And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge
The lyrics of Nancy Wilson's song Ode to Billie Joe tell the story of a family gathered around the dinner table discussing the news of a young man named Billy Joe MacAllister who had jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge. The conversation illustrates how small talk between family members can be used to mask the deeper emotions that come from trying to understand and cope with a tragedy. Despite the almost casual tone of the conversation, it becomes clear that the news has affected each family member in a different way. The singer struggles with eating while her mother tries to connect her with a preacher who recently visited and claims to have seen her on Choctaw Ridge where Billy Joe was seen throwing something off the bridge. Meanwhile, the other family members share their memories of Billy Joe, with the singer's father even saying "Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please."
Line by Line Meaning
It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
The day was a typical, hot and dry day in the Mississippi Delta region.
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay
The singer and her brother were working on the farm, doing chores such as cutting cotton and baling hay.
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat
The singer and her brother took a break from their work to go back to the house for dinner.
And Mama hollered out the back door 'y'all remember to wipe your feet'
Their mother reminded them to clean their feet before entering the house.
And then she said 'I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge'
Their mother had received some news from a nearby ridge called Choctaw Ridge.
"Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
The news was that a man named Billy Joe MacAllister had committed suicide by jumping off a nearby bridge called the Tallahatchie Bridge.
'N' Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas
Their father brought up the subject of Billy Joe MacAllister while they were having dinner.
"Well Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please"
Their father made a comment about Billy Joe's lack of intelligence.
"There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow"
Their father changed the subject to talk about his work on the farm.
'N' Mama said it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow
Their mother expressed sadness about the news of Billy Joe's suicide.
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
The singer's family believes that the area of Choctaw Ridge has a bad reputation or brings bad events.
And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
The artist's family continues to discuss the news of Billy Joe's suicide.
'N' Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
The singer's brother shared a memory of a prank they played on the singer involving a frog at a picture show.
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
The singer's brother reminded her of a time when they put a frog on her back at a movie theater in Carroll County.
And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night?
The singer remembered speaking to Billy Joe after church on a recent Sunday night.
"I'll have another piece-a apple pie, you know it don't seem right"
The artist changed the subject to ask for more pie while feeling that the recent events are uncomfortable.
"I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge"
The artist remembered seeing Billy Joe at a sawmill on Choctaw Ridge.
"And now ya tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
The singer's brother connected the news of Billy Joe's suicide with his recent sighting.
'N' Mama said to me "Child, what's happened to your appetite?"
The singer's mother noticed that she had not eaten much despite cooking all morning.
"I've been cookin' all morning and you haven't touched a single bite"
The artist's mother expressed concern for her lack of appetite despite her efforts in cooking.
"That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today"
The artist's mother shared the news of a visit from a friendly preacher named Brother Taylor.
"Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way"
The artist's mother invited Brother Taylor over for dinner on Sunday while mentioning it casually.
"He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge"
Brother Taylor mentioned seeing a girl on Choctaw Ridge who resembled the singer.
"And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
Brother Taylor saw the girl and Billy Joe throwing something off the Tallahatchie Bridge, possibly related to Billy Joe's suicide.
A year has come 'n' gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe
A year has passed since the news of Billy Joe's suicide reached the singer's family.
'N' Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
The singer's brother got married and he and his wife opened a store in Tupelo.
There was a virus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring
Their father caught a virus that was circulating and he passed away the previous spring.
And now Mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything
Since their father's death, their mother has lost interest in doing much of anything.
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge
The artist spends a lot of time on Choctaw Ridge, possibly to remember Billy Joe and the events surrounding his suicide.
And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge
The singer drops the flowers she picks into the muddy water below the Tallahatchie Bridge, where Billy Joe ended his life.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Bobbie Gentry
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind