THE RETURN OF TANYA TUCKER: FEATURING BRANDI CARLILE – Review

So, who doesn’t love the story of a comeback, the rise from the ashes soaring into greater glories and triumphs? Well, this particular performer at the heart of this new feature-length documentary isn’t too keen on it. It actually annoys her a bit, as she prefers something closer to a “resurgence” or a “re-appreciation”. If anyone has truly earned the right to specify a “labeL’ then it’s this artist, who’s been part of the music charts for over fifty years now. She’s amassed lots of fans in that time, but happily one of the youngest fans is making quite a name for herself now, and she’s using her clout to forge a new collaboration with her longtime inspiration. Which explains the lengthy title, THE RETURN OF TANYA TUCKER: FEATURING BRANDI CARLILE.

The “making of” part of the doc really begins with that “featured” performer. Ms. Carlile is pacing the floors of the Fantasy Records studio in LA along with producer Shooter Jennings as they await the arrival of their beloved “diva”. Naturally, she’s fashionably late and strolls from her RV through the doors, just as they’d expect Tanya Tucker to do. It seems that “star on the rise” Carlile saw Tucker perform in a small club and convinced Jennings that an album of new songs was in order (he agreed if she’d co-produce). As she enjoys an early cocktail to “loosen the larynx”, Tucker’s gravelly laugh provides a glimpse of a life lived at full throttle. The film intercuts the studio mixing and discoveries with a look back at a career begun in the early 70s when Tucker hit the charts with “Delta Dawn” at the tender age of thirteen. She was soon the toast of the country music scene with wild nights on the road, and a disastrous foray into pop and disco, before igniting a tabloid inferno with her torrid romance with the much-older star Glen Campbell. But Tanya insists that she’s never gone away, as hard-core fans (the CW music ones are known for their loyalty) stuck with her through smaller venues and stints in rehab. Carlile is one that truly “kept the faith” and we see her gently push Tanya out of her “comfort zone” to pour more of herself into this new work. The film a great “overview” of the new music biz, as they host a “listening party”, play a couple of small clubs, do the “radio DJ interview circuit”, and await the album’s “feedback”. The capper is the preparations going into Tucker singing one of the tunes at a birthday concert for country queen Loretta Lynn (who passed recently). Then looming on the horizon is the announcement of the Grammy nominations. Will they embrace Carlile’s “dream project” and Tucker’s “re-evaluation”?

Writer/director Kathlyn Horan really gives us a “fly on the wall” inside peak of the whole creative process. There aren’t any “big blow-ups”, instead we sit in on artistic discussions in which creative folks who respect and cherish each other differ and often compromise on the length or tone of a single note or the inflection of a lyric. Carlile may know the vocal stylings of Tucker as well if not more than the artist herself with often startling intimacy. Oh, but it’s not all a “love letter” as Horan offers up a “warts and all” overview of Tucker’s “ups and downs” in her professional and private life, giving us a glimpse of country’s “outlaw party-girl” and her scandalous union with Campbell (himself the subject of a terrific recent feature doc). This adds to her surprising life of moderation rather than straight sobriety, Tucker knows when to “cut herself off” and knows that she’s got to stop smoking, mainly for the damage to her vocal “instrument”. But beyond the creative collaboration, we’re given a glimpse of how this union goes from mentor and pupil to a shared admiration of talents. Carlile sees Tucker as a true “trailblazer” pushing country music into the center of “mainstream pop entertainment” rather than the “benchwarmer” or rivaled “outsider”. This is given a visual “spin” by the magenta coif of the still rebellious sixty-something superstar. Okay, Ms. T, we won’t say comeback, but fans of movies and music will be riveted by THE RETURN OF TANYA TUCKER: FEATURING BRANDI CARLILE.

3 Out of 4

THE RETURN OF TANYA TUCKER: FEATURING BRANDI CARLILE opens in select theatres on Friday, November 4, 2022