Author Archives: Yancey Tallent

About Yancey Tallent

Celia Yancey Tallent is a native Mississippian who grew up surrounded by storytellers. The richness of her family background and experience has provided a lifetime of fodder for tale spinning, entertaining her friends with endless hilarious stories of nothing but the truth. “I can’t think outside what I’ve lived, so writing one word of fiction is out of the question for me.” She began to hone her talents at Ole Miss as a songwriter in the sixties, working with Jimmy Weatherly at Sun Studio, and continued her musical career, strongly influenced by associations with Jim Dickenson, Steve Cropper, Wayne Jackson, Jimmy Crosthwait and Dan Penn. Her album titled “Yancey” in 1975, gained notoriety in Europe, but after one European tour, she decided that rearing he son was much more important than pounding the pavement for more musical success. “It terrifies me to publish a story. I’m so afraid if someone doesn’t hear me tell it, they might miss the point completely. So, we’ll see.”