The entertainment world is mourning the passing of Mel Tillis today.
Following a lengthy struggle to regain his health, the Grand Ole Opry favorite and Country Music Hall of Fame member passed away early this morning (Sunday, Nov. 19) at the Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala, Florida. Tillis battled intestinal issues since early 2016 and never fully recovered. The suspected cause of death is respiratory failure. Tillis was 85.
Mel Tillis has left a legacy as a singer, comedian, TV and movie personality, stage entertainer, music publisher, bandleader and superlative songwriter. If he had done nothing but write “Detroit City” and “Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town,” his place in music history would be assured.
But his catalog includes more than 500 other titles and dozens of major hits, including such standards as “Mental Revenge,” “I Ain’t Never,” “Heart Over Mind,” “Burning Memories,” “All the Time” and “Emotions.” He is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has 18 songs with BMI awards.
As a recording artist, Tillis placed 77 titles on the country charts between 1958 and 1990. He had 35 top-10 hits.
He was a humorous screen presence in such films as W.W. & The Dixie Dancekings (1977), The Villain (1979), Smokey & The Bandit II (1980), The Cannonball Run (1981), Beer for My Horses (2008), Cannonball Run II (1984) and Murder in Music City (1979). Using his trademark stutter for comedic effect, he was a favorite on TV talk shows.
Born Lonnie Melvin Tillis in 1932, he was a native of central Florida, brought up in Pahokee, Dover, Plant City and other communities near Tampa. He contracted malaria at age 3 and often thought that might have been the cause of his stutter. He learned to play guitar in high school and was soon performing in theaters and talent contests. He discovered that his stammer vanished whenever he sang.
Tillis enlisted in the Air Force in 1951. This is when he began writing songs. While serving in Japan as a military cook, he joined a country band called The Westerners.
Following his discharge in 1955, he returned to Florida. He worked as a house painter, a fireman on the railroad, and a strawberry picker. He also continued to write. He first brought his songs to Nashville in 1956. Songwriter Mae Boren Axton (“Heartbreak Hotel”) got him an audition at Cedarwood Publishing.
The following year, Cedarwood co-owner Webb Pierce had a big hit with the Mel Tillis tune “I’m Tired,” so Tillis moved to Nashville. During the next five years, Pierce would also score hits with the songwriter’s works “Honky Tonk Song,” “Holiday for Love,” “Tupelo County Jail,” “A Thousand Miles Ago,” “I Ain’t Never,” “No Love Have I,” “Take Time,” “Crazy Wild Desire,” “Cow Town,” “Sooner Or Later” and “How Come Your Dog Don’t Bite Nobody But Me,” frequently putting his name on the songs as Tillis’s “co-writer.”
Based on his success as a songwriter, Mel Tillis was signed to Columbia Records as a recording artist in 1958. None of his singles for the label were successful. Deeply in debt because his royalties were tied up in litigation, he briefly returned to Florida and worked as a truck driver.
But success as a writer continued. He created the rockabilly classics “Bop-a-Lena” and “Rock the Bop” in 1958 for Ronnie Self and Brenda Lee, respectively. His late-1950s songwriting hits included “Why, Why, Why” and “”Ten Thousand Drums” for Carl Smith, “The Violet and a Rose” for Jimmy Dickens, “Mary Don’t You Weep” for Stonewall Jackson, “Little Dutch Girl” for George Morgan and “All the Time” for Kitty Wells.
Still wishing for singing success, he went on the road with the touring shows of comedians The Duke of Paducah and Minnie Pearl. The latter encouraged him to talk on stage and use his stuttering to comedic affect.
President Obama bestows the National Medal of the Arts on Mel Tillis. Photo: UPI/Kevin Dietsch
Tillis had dreamed of being a recording star since he was a youngster. He persevered in this direction by signing with Decca in 1962, then Kapp Records in 1966. Despite a few sporadic hits, sustained recording success continued to elude him throughout the 1960s. Although only a modest sized hit, his 1966 single “Stateside” provided the name for his band. One bright spot during this period was a 1967 album he made with the legendary Bob Wills.
Another step up was becoming a regular on TV’s The Porter Wagoner Show in 1967. As Wagoner’s opening act on the road, Tillis was forced by the star to form his own band. This evolved into The Statesiders, one of country music’s greatest concert groups. One graduate of that band is Music Row producer/songwriter Buddy Cannon. Other alumni include fiddler Rob Hajacos, steel guitarist Paul Franklin and bass player Ernie Rowell.
Back at home, Nashville songwriter Wayne Walker took Tillis under his wing and mentored him. As a result, Tillis’s songs improved in structure and sophistication.
Ray Price scored with his “One More Time” and “Heart Over Mind,” plus the Tillis/Walker song “Burning Memories.” In 1961, Tillis hit a songwriting home run with Brenda Lee’s pop smash “Emotions” and also had pop success with The Everly Brothers singing his “Stick With Me Baby.” Patsy Cline recorded the Tillis tunes “Strange” and “So Wrong,” which proved to be evergreens.
Then came the 1963 Bobby Bare pop-crossover mega-hit “Detroit City,” which Tillis co-wrote with Danny Dill. Faron Young (“Unmitigated Gall,” 1966)), Waylon Jennings (“Mental Revenge,” 1967) and Kenny Rogers & The First Edition (“Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town,” 1969) kept Mel Tillis’s songwriting at the forefront.
Superstar Charley Pride launched his recording career in 1966 with the Tillis tune “Snakes Crawl at Night.” In 1967, Jack Greene revived “All the Time,” and Tom Jones had an international hit with his remake of “Detroit City,” which foreshadowed the many other times Tillis songs would renew as hits.
Others who had success with Tillis songs during the 1950s and 1960s included Wanda Jackson, Johnnie & Jack, Margie Bowes, Billy Grammer, Johnny Darrell, Lefty Frizzell, Linda Ronstadt, The Stonemans, Burl Ives, Dean Martin, Jean Shepard and Ernest Tubb.
Mel Tillis became a semi-regular on the network TV series The Glen Campbell Good Time Hour. Around this same time, Tillis finally broke through into the country top-10 in 1969-71.
He had signed with MGM Records, where his hero, Hank Williams, had recorded. His own version of “Heart Over Mind” plus “Commercial Affection” both became self-penned hits. Ironically, the other hits he sang at the time were written by others – “These Lonely Hands of Mine,” “Heaven Everyday,” “The Arms of a Fool,” “Brand New Mister Me” and his duets with Sherry Bryce “Take My Hand” and “Living and Learning.”
Charley Pride Joins Mel Tillis Onstage at Honky Tonk Central in Nashville, TN. Photo: Douh Allard
This turned out to be a typical pattern during the next decade. Mel Tillis had 25 top-10 hits during the 1970s. He had his first No. 1 hit with a remake of “I Ain’t Never” in 1972. Apart from that, 1973’s “Sawmill,” 1974’s “Memory Maker” and his 1977 revival of “Burning Memories,” all of his biggest chart hits of that decade proved that he was as great an interpreter of others’ material as he was a writer.
His mellow baritone croon was equally effective on ballads, toe tappers and novelty songs. The Mel Tillis ‘70s hit streak included “Neon Rose” (1973), “Midnight, Me and the Blues” (1974), “Stomp Them Grapes” (1974) and “Woman in the Back of My Mind” (1975).
He signed a lucrative contract with MCA Records, and the hits continued — “Good Woman Blues” (1976), “Heart Healer” (1977), “I Got the Hoss” (1977), “What Did I Promise Her Last Night” (1978), “I Believe in You” (1978), “Ain’t No California” (1978), “Send Me Down to Tuscon” (1979) and “Coca Cola Cowboy” (1979).
Those last two were from the soundtrack of Clint Eastwood’s 1979 movie Every Which Way But Loose, in which Tillis had a small role. Burt Reynolds had given him a small part in 1977’s W.W. & The Dixie Dancekings, then featured him more prominently in 1980’s Smokey & The Bandit II and 1981’s The Cannonball Run, both big box-office hits. Tillis eventually worked in more than a dozen feature films and/or TV movies.
The novelty of a stuttering comic who was so surprisingly mellifluous as a vocalist soon made him a TV favorite, too, just as Minnie Pearl had predicted. He was booked on such mainstream television programs as The Tonight Show, The Dean Martin Show, The Love Boat, The Dukes of Hazzard, Tony Orlando & Dawn and Love, American Style, plus the talk shows of Merv Griffin, Dinah Shore, David Letterman and Mike Douglas.
He also became a favorite on the game shows Hollywood Squares and The Match Game. In 1978, he briefly had his own summer show on ABC-TV, Mel and Susan Together, co-hosting with Susan Anton. Now, he and The Statesiders were booked into the big hotel-casinos of Las Vegas and Atlantic City. In 1976, the CMA voted him its Entertainer of the Year. Also during the decade, he won Comedian of the Year awards from Music City News in 1971 and six consecutive times in 1973-78. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1976.
While continuing to write for Cedarwood, Tilis formed his own song publishing companies, Sawgrass (BMI), Sabal (ASCAP) and Guava (SESAC) to promote the songs of others. He acquired Cedarwood’s catalog in 1983, for a reported $3 million. He also bought radio stations in Amarillo, TX and Mobile, AL
With the assistance of writer Walter Wager, he published his autobiography, Stutterin’ Boy, in 1984. He and Roy Clark formed a movie production company and co-starred in their own 1986 feature, Uphill All the Way. This was not a success. Tillis sold his publishing companies to Universal in 1989. He also made a significant profit when he later sold his radio stations.
On disc, Mel Tillis moved to Elektra Records and had 1980s hits with “Blind in Love,” “Lying Time Again,” “Your Body Is an Outlaw,” “A Million Old Goodbyes,” “Southern Rains,” “One Night Fever,” “In the Middle of the Night,” “New Patches” and a remake of the Bob Wills favorite “Stay a Little Longer.” He sang duets with Nancy Sinatra and Glen Campbell.
As a songwriter, he enjoyed a renaissance with Ricky Skaggs’s 1984 hit “Honey Open That Door.” Skaggs also revived “I’m Tired” in 1987. Gail Davies and Holly Dunn brought back “No Love Have I” in 1978 and 1992, respectively. Juice Newton re-recorded “Emotions” in 1987.George Strait revived “Thoughts of a Fool” in 1992. “Detroit City” and “Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town” have been recorded by more than 30 artists, apiece.
Pictured (L-R): Roy Clark, Mel Tillis, Ray Stevens
During the 1980s, daughter Pam and son Mel Jr., known as Sonny Tillis, both became singer-songwriters on Music Row. Between 1984 and 1999, Pam Tillis scored more than 15 top-10 country hits as a recording artist. She inducted her father into the cast of the Grand Ole Opry in 2007, the same year he was made a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In 1998, Mel Tillis formed The Old Dogs with fellow country veterans Waylon Jennings, Jerry Reed and Bobby Bare. They recorded critically acclaimed and CMA nominated music for Atlantic Records.
Tillis opened his own, $23 million, theater in the tourist mecca of Branson, MO in 1994. It was the largest venue in the town. He performed there on a daily basis until 2002. He was scheduled to return to Branson this year, but health issues intervened.
Mel Tillis songs have endured into modern times, thanks to such artists as Mandy Barnett (2001’s “Strange” and “So Wrong”), Jon Langford & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts (2002’s “Snakes Crawl at Night”), Justin Trevino (2001’s “All Right, I’ll Sign the Papers”), Jamey Johnson (2010’s “Mental Revenge”), Jason & The Scorchers (2002’s “Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town”), Guy Clark (2002’s “Honky Tonk Song”), Dolly Parton (2008’s “The Violet and a Rose”), Dale Watson (2007’s “I Ain’t Never”), Buddy & Julie Miller (2009’s “What You Gonna Do Leroy”) and Hank Williams Jr. (2016’s “Mental Revenge”).
The 2007 Robert Plant and Alison Krauss duet CD Raising Sand won the Album of the Year honor at the Grammy Awards. It included their revival of Tillis’s “Stick With Me Baby.” In 2012, President Obama presented Mel TIllis with the National Medal of Arts to honor him for his contributions to country music. Tillis joined the Florida Artist Hall of Fame in 2009 and won the ACM’s Pioneer Award in 2010.
In 2014, he recovered from heart surgery. He was schedule to entertain on the Country Music Cruise with Kenny Rogers and The Oak Ridge Boys in January 2016. But early that month, Mel Tillis had colon surgery. Initial reports had him in critical condition.
Mel Tillis is survived by his six children Pam, Connie, Carrie, Cindy, Mel Jr., and Hannah. His brothers are Allen Lee and Richard, and his sisters are Linda, Imogene and Mary Ellen.
The Tillis family asks for your prayers and will soon release more information regarding funeral services in Florida and Nashville.
Country Music Legend Mel Tillis Passes
/by Robert K OermannThe entertainment world is mourning the passing of Mel Tillis today.
Following a lengthy struggle to regain his health, the Grand Ole Opry favorite and Country Music Hall of Fame member passed away early this morning (Sunday, Nov. 19) at the Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala, Florida. Tillis battled intestinal issues since early 2016 and never fully recovered. The suspected cause of death is respiratory failure. Tillis was 85.
Mel Tillis has left a legacy as a singer, comedian, TV and movie personality, stage entertainer, music publisher, bandleader and superlative songwriter. If he had done nothing but write “Detroit City” and “Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town,” his place in music history would be assured.
But his catalog includes more than 500 other titles and dozens of major hits, including such standards as “Mental Revenge,” “I Ain’t Never,” “Heart Over Mind,” “Burning Memories,” “All the Time” and “Emotions.” He is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has 18 songs with BMI awards.
As a recording artist, Tillis placed 77 titles on the country charts between 1958 and 1990. He had 35 top-10 hits.
He was a humorous screen presence in such films as W.W. & The Dixie Dancekings (1977), The Villain (1979), Smokey & The Bandit II (1980), The Cannonball Run (1981), Beer for My Horses (2008), Cannonball Run II (1984) and Murder in Music City (1979). Using his trademark stutter for comedic effect, he was a favorite on TV talk shows.
Born Lonnie Melvin Tillis in 1932, he was a native of central Florida, brought up in Pahokee, Dover, Plant City and other communities near Tampa. He contracted malaria at age 3 and often thought that might have been the cause of his stutter. He learned to play guitar in high school and was soon performing in theaters and talent contests. He discovered that his stammer vanished whenever he sang.
Tillis enlisted in the Air Force in 1951. This is when he began writing songs. While serving in Japan as a military cook, he joined a country band called The Westerners.
Following his discharge in 1955, he returned to Florida. He worked as a house painter, a fireman on the railroad, and a strawberry picker. He also continued to write. He first brought his songs to Nashville in 1956. Songwriter Mae Boren Axton (“Heartbreak Hotel”) got him an audition at Cedarwood Publishing.
The following year, Cedarwood co-owner Webb Pierce had a big hit with the Mel Tillis tune “I’m Tired,” so Tillis moved to Nashville. During the next five years, Pierce would also score hits with the songwriter’s works “Honky Tonk Song,” “Holiday for Love,” “Tupelo County Jail,” “A Thousand Miles Ago,” “I Ain’t Never,” “No Love Have I,” “Take Time,” “Crazy Wild Desire,” “Cow Town,” “Sooner Or Later” and “How Come Your Dog Don’t Bite Nobody But Me,” frequently putting his name on the songs as Tillis’s “co-writer.”
Based on his success as a songwriter, Mel Tillis was signed to Columbia Records as a recording artist in 1958. None of his singles for the label were successful. Deeply in debt because his royalties were tied up in litigation, he briefly returned to Florida and worked as a truck driver.
But success as a writer continued. He created the rockabilly classics “Bop-a-Lena” and “Rock the Bop” in 1958 for Ronnie Self and Brenda Lee, respectively. His late-1950s songwriting hits included “Why, Why, Why” and “”Ten Thousand Drums” for Carl Smith, “The Violet and a Rose” for Jimmy Dickens, “Mary Don’t You Weep” for Stonewall Jackson, “Little Dutch Girl” for George Morgan and “All the Time” for Kitty Wells.
Still wishing for singing success, he went on the road with the touring shows of comedians The Duke of Paducah and Minnie Pearl. The latter encouraged him to talk on stage and use his stuttering to comedic affect.
President Obama bestows the National Medal of the Arts on Mel Tillis. Photo: UPI/Kevin Dietsch
Tillis had dreamed of being a recording star since he was a youngster. He persevered in this direction by signing with Decca in 1962, then Kapp Records in 1966. Despite a few sporadic hits, sustained recording success continued to elude him throughout the 1960s. Although only a modest sized hit, his 1966 single “Stateside” provided the name for his band. One bright spot during this period was a 1967 album he made with the legendary Bob Wills.
Another step up was becoming a regular on TV’s The Porter Wagoner Show in 1967. As Wagoner’s opening act on the road, Tillis was forced by the star to form his own band. This evolved into The Statesiders, one of country music’s greatest concert groups. One graduate of that band is Music Row producer/songwriter Buddy Cannon. Other alumni include fiddler Rob Hajacos, steel guitarist Paul Franklin and bass player Ernie Rowell.
Back at home, Nashville songwriter Wayne Walker took Tillis under his wing and mentored him. As a result, Tillis’s songs improved in structure and sophistication.
Ray Price scored with his “One More Time” and “Heart Over Mind,” plus the Tillis/Walker song “Burning Memories.” In 1961, Tillis hit a songwriting home run with Brenda Lee’s pop smash “Emotions” and also had pop success with The Everly Brothers singing his “Stick With Me Baby.” Patsy Cline recorded the Tillis tunes “Strange” and “So Wrong,” which proved to be evergreens.
Then came the 1963 Bobby Bare pop-crossover mega-hit “Detroit City,” which Tillis co-wrote with Danny Dill. Faron Young (“Unmitigated Gall,” 1966)), Waylon Jennings (“Mental Revenge,” 1967) and Kenny Rogers & The First Edition (“Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town,” 1969) kept Mel Tillis’s songwriting at the forefront.
Superstar Charley Pride launched his recording career in 1966 with the Tillis tune “Snakes Crawl at Night.” In 1967, Jack Greene revived “All the Time,” and Tom Jones had an international hit with his remake of “Detroit City,” which foreshadowed the many other times Tillis songs would renew as hits.
Others who had success with Tillis songs during the 1950s and 1960s included Wanda Jackson, Johnnie & Jack, Margie Bowes, Billy Grammer, Johnny Darrell, Lefty Frizzell, Linda Ronstadt, The Stonemans, Burl Ives, Dean Martin, Jean Shepard and Ernest Tubb.
Mel Tillis became a semi-regular on the network TV series The Glen Campbell Good Time Hour. Around this same time, Tillis finally broke through into the country top-10 in 1969-71.
He had signed with MGM Records, where his hero, Hank Williams, had recorded. His own version of “Heart Over Mind” plus “Commercial Affection” both became self-penned hits. Ironically, the other hits he sang at the time were written by others – “These Lonely Hands of Mine,” “Heaven Everyday,” “The Arms of a Fool,” “Brand New Mister Me” and his duets with Sherry Bryce “Take My Hand” and “Living and Learning.”
Charley Pride Joins Mel Tillis Onstage at Honky Tonk Central in Nashville, TN. Photo: Douh Allard
This turned out to be a typical pattern during the next decade. Mel Tillis had 25 top-10 hits during the 1970s. He had his first No. 1 hit with a remake of “I Ain’t Never” in 1972. Apart from that, 1973’s “Sawmill,” 1974’s “Memory Maker” and his 1977 revival of “Burning Memories,” all of his biggest chart hits of that decade proved that he was as great an interpreter of others’ material as he was a writer.
His mellow baritone croon was equally effective on ballads, toe tappers and novelty songs. The Mel Tillis ‘70s hit streak included “Neon Rose” (1973), “Midnight, Me and the Blues” (1974), “Stomp Them Grapes” (1974) and “Woman in the Back of My Mind” (1975).
He signed a lucrative contract with MCA Records, and the hits continued — “Good Woman Blues” (1976), “Heart Healer” (1977), “I Got the Hoss” (1977), “What Did I Promise Her Last Night” (1978), “I Believe in You” (1978), “Ain’t No California” (1978), “Send Me Down to Tuscon” (1979) and “Coca Cola Cowboy” (1979).
Those last two were from the soundtrack of Clint Eastwood’s 1979 movie Every Which Way But Loose, in which Tillis had a small role. Burt Reynolds had given him a small part in 1977’s W.W. & The Dixie Dancekings, then featured him more prominently in 1980’s Smokey & The Bandit II and 1981’s The Cannonball Run, both big box-office hits. Tillis eventually worked in more than a dozen feature films and/or TV movies.
The novelty of a stuttering comic who was so surprisingly mellifluous as a vocalist soon made him a TV favorite, too, just as Minnie Pearl had predicted. He was booked on such mainstream television programs as The Tonight Show, The Dean Martin Show, The Love Boat, The Dukes of Hazzard, Tony Orlando & Dawn and Love, American Style, plus the talk shows of Merv Griffin, Dinah Shore, David Letterman and Mike Douglas.
He also became a favorite on the game shows Hollywood Squares and The Match Game. In 1978, he briefly had his own summer show on ABC-TV, Mel and Susan Together, co-hosting with Susan Anton. Now, he and The Statesiders were booked into the big hotel-casinos of Las Vegas and Atlantic City. In 1976, the CMA voted him its Entertainer of the Year. Also during the decade, he won Comedian of the Year awards from Music City News in 1971 and six consecutive times in 1973-78. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1976.
While continuing to write for Cedarwood, Tilis formed his own song publishing companies, Sawgrass (BMI), Sabal (ASCAP) and Guava (SESAC) to promote the songs of others. He acquired Cedarwood’s catalog in 1983, for a reported $3 million. He also bought radio stations in Amarillo, TX and Mobile, AL
With the assistance of writer Walter Wager, he published his autobiography, Stutterin’ Boy, in 1984. He and Roy Clark formed a movie production company and co-starred in their own 1986 feature, Uphill All the Way. This was not a success. Tillis sold his publishing companies to Universal in 1989. He also made a significant profit when he later sold his radio stations.
On disc, Mel Tillis moved to Elektra Records and had 1980s hits with “Blind in Love,” “Lying Time Again,” “Your Body Is an Outlaw,” “A Million Old Goodbyes,” “Southern Rains,” “One Night Fever,” “In the Middle of the Night,” “New Patches” and a remake of the Bob Wills favorite “Stay a Little Longer.” He sang duets with Nancy Sinatra and Glen Campbell.
As a songwriter, he enjoyed a renaissance with Ricky Skaggs’s 1984 hit “Honey Open That Door.” Skaggs also revived “I’m Tired” in 1987. Gail Davies and Holly Dunn brought back “No Love Have I” in 1978 and 1992, respectively. Juice Newton re-recorded “Emotions” in 1987.George Strait revived “Thoughts of a Fool” in 1992. “Detroit City” and “Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town” have been recorded by more than 30 artists, apiece.
Pictured (L-R): Roy Clark, Mel Tillis, Ray Stevens
During the 1980s, daughter Pam and son Mel Jr., known as Sonny Tillis, both became singer-songwriters on Music Row. Between 1984 and 1999, Pam Tillis scored more than 15 top-10 country hits as a recording artist. She inducted her father into the cast of the Grand Ole Opry in 2007, the same year he was made a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In 1998, Mel Tillis formed The Old Dogs with fellow country veterans Waylon Jennings, Jerry Reed and Bobby Bare. They recorded critically acclaimed and CMA nominated music for Atlantic Records.
Tillis opened his own, $23 million, theater in the tourist mecca of Branson, MO in 1994. It was the largest venue in the town. He performed there on a daily basis until 2002. He was scheduled to return to Branson this year, but health issues intervened.
Mel Tillis songs have endured into modern times, thanks to such artists as Mandy Barnett (2001’s “Strange” and “So Wrong”), Jon Langford & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts (2002’s “Snakes Crawl at Night”), Justin Trevino (2001’s “All Right, I’ll Sign the Papers”), Jamey Johnson (2010’s “Mental Revenge”), Jason & The Scorchers (2002’s “Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town”), Guy Clark (2002’s “Honky Tonk Song”), Dolly Parton (2008’s “The Violet and a Rose”), Dale Watson (2007’s “I Ain’t Never”), Buddy & Julie Miller (2009’s “What You Gonna Do Leroy”) and Hank Williams Jr. (2016’s “Mental Revenge”).
The 2007 Robert Plant and Alison Krauss duet CD Raising Sand won the Album of the Year honor at the Grammy Awards. It included their revival of Tillis’s “Stick With Me Baby.” In 2012, President Obama presented Mel TIllis with the National Medal of Arts to honor him for his contributions to country music. Tillis joined the Florida Artist Hall of Fame in 2009 and won the ACM’s Pioneer Award in 2010.
In 2014, he recovered from heart surgery. He was schedule to entertain on the Country Music Cruise with Kenny Rogers and The Oak Ridge Boys in January 2016. But early that month, Mel Tillis had colon surgery. Initial reports had him in critical condition.
Mel Tillis is survived by his six children Pam, Connie, Carrie, Cindy, Mel Jr., and Hannah. His brothers are Allen Lee and Richard, and his sisters are Linda, Imogene and Mary Ellen.
The Tillis family asks for your prayers and will soon release more information regarding funeral services in Florida and Nashville.
Dean Dillon Movie Preview Attracts George Strait, Chris Stapleton, Kenny Chesney
/by Eric T. ParkerPictured (L-R): Dean Dillon, George Strait, Robert Earl Keen, Cole Claassen (film director). Photo: Jon-Paul Bruno
A new songwriter documentary has been released.
Tennessee Whiskey – The Dean Dillon Story chronicles the songwriting and influences of legendary BMI tunesmith Dean Dillon.
“There’s a lot of people that go to Dean for songs,” cited George Strait in the film. “But I don’t know how many of ’em have his songs on every record they ever recorded.”
In addition to appearances by Strait in the film, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Kix Brooks, Robert Earl Keen and Sony/ATV’s Troy Tomlinson were cited.
During an exclusive industry gathering at the Franklin Theater on Tuesday, Nov. 14, A-list Nashville talent gathered surrounding the film. Among them were Leslie Satcher, Jeffrey Steele, Pam Tillis, Brandy Clark, Rory Feek, Lee Ann Womack, Chris Stapleton, Chesney, and Strait with his wife Norma. Hosted by the film’s director Cole Claassen, BMI and Sony/ATV, the VIP cocktail reception and preview began with a short welcome from the man of the hour.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think anything like this would ever happen, to be quite honest,” said Dillon. “I want to thank my way-better half, Susie. And most of my kids are here tonight—that’s important to me.” Strangely, no family member interviews notably stood out in the 80-minute film.
Claassen and Dillon met at the Mountain High Music Festival in Mount Crested Butte, Colorado.
“I said, ‘Dean, let’s make a movie about you. I want to tell your story.’ He hemmed-and-hawed and finally said, ‘Let’s do it,'” said Claassen. “This is a highlight of my career and life. I appreciate Dean and Susie for letting me in their life. I am humbled to have that opportunity.”
BMI Icon songwriter Dillon has written more than 26 No. 1 songs, with the majority of those recorded by his longtime friend and “King of Country” George Strait, including “The Chair,” “Nobody in His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her,” “Ocean Front Property,” “Famous Last Words of a Fool,” “I’ve Come to Expect It From You,” “If I Know Me,” “Easy Come, Easy Go,” “She Let Herself Go” and “Living for the Night.” Dillon also wrote the classic “Tennessee Whiskey,” most recently popularized by Stapleton.
The film is available for rent or purchase in iTunes.
Tennessee Whiskey: Official Trailer from Cole Claassen on Vimeo.
John Oates Teams With All-Star Americana Band For ‘Arkansas’
/by Lorie HollabaughJohn Oates has teamed with some stars in the Americana music world to bring his new album, Arkansas, to life. The project, his first for Thirty Tigers, is scheduled for release Feb. 2.
The album originally began as a tribute to Oates’ idol, Mississippi John Hurt. During a series of Nashville recording sessions, it evolved organically to become a unique collection featuring a wide range of Oates’ musical influences. Oates describes it as “Dixieland, dipped in bluegrass, and salted with Delta blues.”
“This is the record I have always wanted to make, with the band to bring it to life. After all these years, I feel I’ve finally been able to capture the sound that’s in my head,” said Oates.
The album was recorded at Addiction Studios in Nashville and produced by Oates and David Kalmusky, who also engineered and mixed it. The “Good Road Band” featured on the project includes Sam Bush on mandolin, Russ Pahl on pedal steel, Guthrie Trapp on electric guitar, Steve Mackey on bass, Nathaniel Smith on cello, and Josh Day on drums and percussion.
Oates shines a light on music from America’s past long before the birth of rock ‘n’ roll on the new project, with fresh interpretations including the Emmett Miller classic “Anytime” from 1924, as well as the Jimmie Rodgers tune, “Miss the Mississippi and You,” from 1932. Re-imagined traditional Delta, country blues and ragtime selections salute legendary artists like Mississippi John Hurt and Blind Blake. Two new original tracks by Oates blend seamlessly with the traditional roots material, as well as John’s deep catalog of Hall and Oates hits.
Nashville Band Moon Taxi To Release First RCA Records Album In January
/by Lorie HollabaughMoon Taxi is set to release their fifth studio album, Let The Record Play, on Jan. 19, 2018 via RCA Records. This marks the band’s first project for RCA and is available for pre-order via ridethemoontaxi.com and all digital retailers
Let The Record Play features 10 tracks, including their global streaming hit “Two High,” which is currently No. 1 at Triple A Radio and has garnered over 64 million streams on Spotify alone. Fans who pre-order the album will be treated to the brand-new song and title track “Let The Record Play” as an instant grat track.
The band recently released the official music video for “Two High,” which trails the band and their fans throughout the world, backstage and on stage at their electrifying live shows. Members Trevor Terndrup (vocals, guitarist), Spencer Thomson (guitarist and producer), Wes Bailey (keyboardist), Tommy Putnam (bassist) and Tyler Ritter (drummer) just completed the North American leg of the “Put ‘Em Up” tour and are currently touring in Europe before ending the year with select shows in the U.S.
Let The Record Play Track Listing:
‘Nashville’ To End After Season 6
/by Jessica NicholsonSeason 6 will be the last for CMT’s Nashville, entertainment company Lionsgate revealed on Friday (Nov. 17). CMT picked up the series in 2016, giving the show its fifth and sixth seasons, after a four-season run on ABC.
The final, 16-episode sixth season will launch Thursday, Jan. 4 on CMT, with the finale set to air in summer 2018. Long-time SVOD partner Hulu will continue to bring new episodes of Nashville throughout the season, making them available after they air on CMT.
The series is produced by Lionsgate and Opry Entertainment and is executive produced by Marshall Herskovitz, Ed Zwick, Steve Buchanan and Callie Khouri, who created the series.
“All of us on Nashville are so incredibly grateful to the show’s fans, who convinced CMT to give us a chance to keep telling the story of these remarkable characters,” said Herskovitz. “And we want to return the favor with a final season that celebrates all the joys and passions, twists and turns — and amazing music! — that made Nashville such an exciting journey for the last six years.”
“After more than 120 episodes of unforgettable television, we believe that creatively it is time for the series to come to its triumphant close at the end of the upcoming season,” said Kevin Beggs, Chairman of the Lionsgate Television Group. We’re very proud of our incredibly talented cast and crew, the creative brilliance of our showrunners, and the loyal support of our great partners at CMT, Hulu and ABC Studios. Most importantly, we owe a special debt of thanks to the Nashville fans who propelled the series to an incredible run. We owe it to them to make the 6th season the most exciting and memorable of all.”
The show has inspired 22 soundtracks since its debut (including a Christmas project), which have collectively sold more than one million albums and over 5 million single-track downloads.
Nielsen 360 Survey Finds AM/FM Radio Still Preferred Music Discovery Method
/by Jessica NicholsonA recent Nielsen U.S. Music 360 study has found that while streaming continues to increase in popularity among music listeners, AM/FM radio still stands as the primary way listeners discover new music, according to 49 percent of study participants.
The second most-popular avenue for discovering new music is recommendations from friends and relatives (40 percent), followed by online music services (27 percent) and social media (25 percent). 72 percent on study participants who stream music online also listen to some form of radio.
The study found that 90 percent of the population listens to music, with consumers spending an average of 32.1 hours per week listening to music. The survey also found that people spend an average of $156 on music each year, the majority of that allocated to live performances.
Outside of concert attendance, survey participants spent 41 percent of their music listening time consuming music through streaming, while terrestrial and satellite radio took 25 percent of listening time. Fourteen percent of listening time was spent on music from a digital music library, and physical formats took up 11 percent of listening time.
Source: Nielsen
Among those who consume music via streaming, Nielsen’s study says that 58 percent of listeners create their own playlists, and 32 percent of listeners share the playlists with others. Forty-eight percent of study participants said that they preferred making their own playlists to listening to the playlists of others, while many participants ranked playlists made by family or friends as more important than those created by experts or artists.
Given the multitude of ways to consume music, the study found music listeners use an average of 3.4 devices weekly to consume music, with that number ticking up to 3.8 devices on average for teens and millennials.
Social media is increasingly vital for listeners to stay up to date on news about their favorite artists, with 55 percent of all music listeners in the study saying they use social media to stay informed about artists they like. Primarily, they use social media to discover news of upcoming albums (54 percent), tour updates (50 percent) and behind-the-scenes information about an artist’s life (48 percent).
Nielsen’s collected data for the study from an online survey in August 2017, involving more than 3,000 music consumers over 13 years of age. The data was weighted to reflect U.S. census population information including age, gender, region, education and more.
For more statistics from Nielsen’s 2017 360 Survey, visit Nielsen.com.
Weekly Chart Report 11/17/17
/by Alex ParryClick here or above to access MusicRow‘s weekly CountryBreakout Report.
Rebel Engine Entertainment Forms In-House Radio Promo Team
/by Lorie Hollabaugh“We are thrilled to welcome such a passionate, professional and knowledgeable team to Rebel Engine,” shares label Vice President, Carli McLaughlin. “Mike, Chris and David are truly top-notch, and we couldn’t be prouder to establish our Radio Promotions Division with their veteran experience.”
Mike Borchetta brings over 50 years of industry experience to the new promotions department. As Vice President of Curb Records, Borchetta played an instrumental role in signing Tim McGraw to the label and in moving the label’s headquarters from Burbank to Nashville. As head of indie label Lofton Creek, Borchetta took “I Loved Her First” by Heartland to the top of the charts.
David Shaw comes to Rebel Engine most recently from Reviver Records, where he fought for LOCASH’s No. 1 hit “I Love This Life.” He also spent 15 years at Columbia Records.
Chris Borchetta is a 15-year promotions veteran with stops at Big Machine, Lofton Creek, Category 5, and most recently Star Farm Promotions.
Dan Bremnes Signs With Word Entertainment
/by Lorie HollabaughWord Entertainment has signed singer/songwriter Dan Bremnes to its roster. On the heels of this new partnership, the British Columbia native will release “Going Together.” The track marks his first digital single since the release of his 2015 major label debut album, Where The Light Is (Sparrow/Capitol CMG).
“I’m very excited to start on this next chapter, and am truly honored to work with such an exceptional team,” Bremnes shared.
Produced by Toronto-based Mike Wise and mixed by Dan Weston, “Going Together” is dedicated to Bremnes’ wife of ten years, Britt. “From day one she has been the most supportive, sacrificial and amazing partner,” Bremnes said. “This is our love story.”
A special lyric video created for the song features Bremnes’ Instagram feed chronicling he and Britt’s adventures together, including the birth of their children, son Eli (3) and daughter Eden (6 months).
Bremnes is currently on the Winter Jam Spectacular tour, and will again join the 47-city tour from January through March, opening for headliners Lecrae and Skillet and performing a solo set with loop pedals and samplers. In December, he will head back to Canada to headline 16 dates on his inaugural Christmas tour, Jingle All The Way.
Women’s Music Business Association Names Officers, Wonder Woman Award Winners
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R): Jana Horvath, Rachael Miller, Charlene Bryant, Mary Larimer, Kortney Toney, Lauren Simon and Ellen Mundy. Not Pictured: Dana Dickie
The Women’s Music Business Association (WMBA) held their annual Wonder Woman Awards on Tuesday (Nov. 14) at The Valentine in downtown Nashville. The event this year included a mixer for potential new members of the organization, the award ceremony, and the election of WMBA’s 2018 officers.
This year’s Wonder Woman Award winners were:
Rookie of the Year Award: Kelsey Wise
Humanitarian Award: Dana Lalevee
The Extra Mile Award: Jana Horvath
The Unsung Hero Award: Makenzie Williams
The Spirit Award: Kortney Toney
The Ambassador Award: Charlene Bryant
Movin’ On Up Award: Emilie Gilbert
The Confidante Award: Nancy Deckant
Wonder Woman Award: Lisa Boullt
Following the Wonder Woman Awards ceremony, WMBA’s 2018 officers were announced. The officers, who were voted on by current members of WMBA, will begin their new terms in January 2018.
WMBA 2018 Officers:
President: Ellen Mundy
Vice President: Lauren Simon
Secretary: Kortney Toney
Treasurer: Jana Horvath
Events & Education Co-Chairs: Mary Larimer and Dana Dickie
Membership & Marketing Co-Chairs: Charlene Bryant and Rachael Miller
The Women’s Music Business Association is a 501(c)6 nonprofit membership organization dedicated to fostering opportunities for women within the music industry through education, networking, industry involvement, and community service.