Balcony Concerts with Sylvia Sammons

“In South Carolina 

There're many tall pines 

I remember the oak tree 

That we used to climb 

But now, when I'm lonesome 

I always pretend 

That I'm gettin' the feel 

Of hickory wind” 

So begins the song, Hickory Wind, attributed to singer/songwriter Gram Parsons as his signature work. The story of that song may be something far different, however. Blind from the age of six, Sylvia Sammons grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and began singing and playing at an early age, eventually mastering the guitar, banjo and several other stringed instruments. Sammons began traveling to Highlands in the 1970’s, eventually building a home and woodcraft shop on 4th Street. Like many, Sammons split her time between summers in Highlands and winters in Florida.

A veteran of the Greenville coffee house circuit and other regional music venues of the 60’s and 70’s, she began performing impromptu concerts from the balcony of her home on the “Hill” and continued doing so for 14 summers until 2003. Those Friday evening recitals of old-time English, Scotch Irish and American folk tunes became a tradition for locals and visitors alike as she would end her time by lowering a bucket to the crowds of up to 100 people for tips. Her repertoire included hymns like “Amazing Grace” and works written in Appalachia like “Across the Blue Mountains”, as well as many songs that she penned herself.

That begins the mystery behind the song Hickory Wind. Unfortunately, the controversy began following Gram Parson’s tragic death when Sylvia Sammons heard a later version of the song performed by Joan Baez and recognized it as her own. When interviewed for an online article in 2002, Sammons claimed that she regularly performed the song at Greenville coffee houses during 1963, a time when Parsons was temporarily touring in South Carolina. She further claimed that she reached a settlement with the publisher in 1969 when she turned over a tape-recorded copy of the song which was her proof of authorship. She was supported in the article by several people who claimed to hear her perform the song long before Parsons claimed to write it in 1968. The controversy deepened, though, when Parsons, cowriter, Bob Buchanan recalled writing the second verse on a cross-country train ride with Parsons, but only after he heard Parsons play the tune and sing the opening verse.

Sylvia Sammons High School yearbook photo

The conflicting stories have been typically resolved in Parson’s favor by the mainstream public who wanted to believe such a signature song must be his own. As support, they pointed to the fact that Sammons was listed as age 42 in an unrelated Orlando Sentinel article in 1993, which would have made her 12 when she claimed to write and first perform the song. Whether a typo, or a woman lying about her age, this age for Sammons was clearly wrong. A 1962 Wade Hampton High School yearbook, lists a graduating senior, Sylvia Sammons, in its gallery of photographs. This would have made her 19 or 20 years of age when the young and talented singer purported to write the now famous song. Whose version is correct? Regardless, it makes for an interesting story about one of the great characters in Highland’s musical history.