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
Willie & Laura Mae Jones
Nancy Wilson Lyrics
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They lived right down the road from us in a shack, just like our shack
The people worked the land together, and we learned to count on each other
When you live off the land you don't have the time to think about another man's coulour
The cotton was high and the corn was growin' fine
But that was another place and another time
Willie would play and the kids would sing and everybody would mess around
And Daddy bring on his guitar, we'd play all through the night
And every now and then ol' Willie would grin and say
'Hey you play alright' (and that made me feel so good)
I remember the best times of all when Saturday came around
We'd always stop by Willie's house and say
'Do y'all need anything from town?'
He'd say 'No, but why don't cha all stop on your way back through
And I'll get Laura Mae to cook us some barbecue (you know, they good)'
The cotton was high and the corn was growin' fine (yes it was)
But that was another place and another time
The years rolled past our land, and took back what they'd given
We all knew we'd have to move if we were gonna make a livin'
So we all moved on and went about our separate ways
Sure it was hard to say goodbye to Willie and Laura Mae (Jones), oh yeah
The cotton was high and the corn was growin' fine (yes it was)
But that was another place and another time
The cotton was high and the corn was growin' fine (the cotton was growin' fine)
But that was another place and another time
In Nancy Wilson's song "Willie & Laura Mae Jones," the singer reminisces about her and her family's close relationship with their neighbors, Willie and Laura Mae Jones. The song paints a picture of a simple life lived off the land, where skin color didn't matter, and community was everything. The singer remembers sitting on the front porch with Willie and their families, playing music and singing together. They all lived in shacks and worked on the land together, forming a tight-knit community where they could rely on each other. The song is nostalgic for a time when life was simpler and people were more connected to each other and the land.
As the years went on, the families had to move on to find new opportunities, and the singer remembers how hard it was to say goodbye to Willie and Laura Mae. The song ends on a bittersweet note, with the singer acknowledging that the past is gone and things have changed. However, the memories of those simpler times and the connection with their neighbors will always be cherished.
Line by Line Meaning
Willie and Laura Mae Jones were our neighbors a long time back
Willie and Laura Mae Jones were our neighbors from a long time ago.
They lived right down the road from us in a shack, just like our shack
They lived close by us in a small house just like ours.
The people worked the land together, and we learned to count on each other
We all worked together on the land and learned to rely on one another.
When you live off the land you don't have the time to think about another man's coulour
Living off the land leaves no time to discriminate against others based on skin color.
The cotton was high and the corn was growin' fine
The crops were thriving and flourishing.
But that was another place and another time
Those memories belong to a distant past.
We'd sit out on the front porch in the evenin' when the sun went down
We used to sit on the porch in the evening as the sun would set.
Willie would play and the kids would sing and everybody would mess around
Willie played music while kids sang and everyone had fun together.
And Daddy bring on his guitar, we'd play all through the night
My father joined in with his guitar, and we played music all night long.
And every now and then ol' Willie would grin and say 'Hey you play alright' (and that made me feel so good)
Sometimes Willie would smile and compliment our music, and it made me feel happy.
I remember the best times of all when Saturday came around
Saturday was the best day for us to hang out.
We'd always stop by Willie's house and say 'Do y'all need anything from town?'
We would always stop by Willie's house and offer to pick up things they needed from town.
He'd say 'No, but why don't cha all stop on your way back through, and I'll get Laura Mae to cook us some barbecue (you know, they good)
Willie would decline, but invite us to come back to their house and enjoy some delicious barbecue cooked by Laura Mae.
The years rolled past our land, and took back what they'd given
As time went by, the land became less productive and started to deteriorate.
We all knew we'd have to move if we were gonna make a livin'
We all realized that we had to leave if we wanted to sustain ourselves.
So we all moved on and went about our separate ways
We eventually left and went our different paths in life.
Sure it was hard to say goodbye to Willie and Laura Mae (Jones), oh yeah
It was difficult to bid farewell to close friends like Willie and Laura Mae.
The cotton was high and the corn was growin' fine (yes it was)
The crops were still doing well before we left.
But that was another place and another time
Those memories belong to a past that we have moved on from.
The cotton was high and the corn was growin' fine (the cotton was growin' fine)
The crops were doing well, especially the cotton.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Tony Joe White
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind