This was written by the country performers Alexander Harvey (not to be confused with the Scottish musician of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band) and Larry Collins in 1972. Tracy Nelson (who sang backup on the original) and Bette Midler put the song in their live repertoire before it became a country hit for Tanya Tucker.
Barbra Streisand passed on the song after the backing track had been recorded by her producer without her prior knowledge.
Bette Midler's "Delta Dawn" single was scheduled for release, but Capitol Records beat Midler (and Atlantic Records) by releasing Reddy's single two days before Midler's release date. This prompted the bigwigs of Atlantic to flip the record and push the former B-side, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (of Company B)" instead. At the last minute, "Delta Dawn" was dropped from the 45 and replaced by "Superstar," which became a hit for the Carpenters.
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