Mel Tillis

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风格: #传统乡村　#乡村流行　#纳什维尔之声　#牛仔
地区: 欧美

艺人介绍

by Jason AnkenyIn light of all the attention given Mel Tillis infamous speech impediment — he even named his autobiography Stutterin Boy — the polished, sincere vocal delivery and songwriting skills that first earned him fame were often lost in the shuffle; nonetheless, throughout the course of his many decades in country music, Tillis remained one of Nashvilles most enduring personalities. Born Lonnie Melvin Tillis in Tampa, FL, on August 8, 1932, it is believed that his stuttering was the result of a bout with malaria at the age of three. As a child, he learned guitar, and in high school studied both the violin and the drums. At the age of 16, he first performed publicly at a local talent show, and after graduation he entered the military. While stationed in Okinawa, Japan, he formed a group called the Westerners, which played local clubs.After exiting the service in 1955, Tillis went to college and held odd jobs until moving to Nashville the following year. He found little success as a writer or performer there and soon returned to Florida; then, in 1957, Webb Pierce reached number three with Tillis composition Im Tired, earning the aspiring artist a songwriting contract with Pierces Cedarwood Music. After playing with the likes of Minnie Pearl and Judy Lynn, Tillis cut his first single, a cover of the standard It Takes a Worried Man to Sing a Worried Song, in 1957; the B-side, the self-penned Honky Tonk Song, quickly became a chart-topper for Pierce. After a few excursions into rock & roll territory, Tillis earned his first Top 40 hit with 1958s The Violet and a Rose.While Tillis continued to chart singles like 1959s Finally and a pair of duets with Bill Phillips, Sawmill and Georgia Town Blues, his greatest success at the turn of the decade remained as a songwriter. He continued supplying Pierce with hit after hit, including the 1959 smashes I Aint Never and No Love Have I along with 1962s Crazy Wild Desire and 1963s Sawmill. Also covering Tillis songs were Bobby Bare (Detroit City), Ray Price (One More Time, Burning Memories, Heart Over Mind), Stonewall Jackson (Mary Dont You Weep), and Little Jimmy Dickens (The Violet and a Rose, also covered by Wanda Jackson). In 1962, Tillis released his first LP, Heart Over Mind; a year later, he teamed with Pierce for the hit How Come Your Dog Dont Bite Nobody but Me.In 1965, Tillis recorded his first Top 15 hit, Wine. A string of successes followed, including 1966s Stateside, Life Turned Her That Way (the title cut from his 1967 album), and his first Top Ten, 1968s Whos Julie. At the same time, his stature as a songwriter continued to grow thanks to hit covers of his Ruby, Dont Take Your Love to Town (by both Johnny Darrell and Kenny Rogers & the First Edition) and Mental Revenge (Waylon Jennings). At the end of the 1960s, Tillis and his esteemed new backing band the Statesiders came into their own as performers; after two 1969 Top Ten hits, These Lonely Hands of Mine and Shell Be Hanging Around Somewhere, he scored back-to-back Top Five hits in 1970 with Heart Over Mind and Heaven Everyday. In 1971, he began a successful string of duets with Sherry Bryce which included Take My Hand and Living and Learning, and he released the album Live at the Sam Houston Coliseum.1972s I Aint Never became his first chart-topper, and the remainder of the decade which followed was Tillis most fertile period as an artist, as evidenced by a series of Top Five smashes like Neon Rose, Sawmill, Midnight, Me and the Blues, Stomp Them Grapes, and Memory Maker. Between 1976 and 1980, he scored five more number ones — Good Woman Blues, Heart Healer, I Believe in You, Coca Cola Cowboy, and Southern Rains. He also appeared in a number of films, including 1975s W.W. and the Dancekings (with Burt Reynolds and Jerry Reed), 1977s The Villain (starring Kirk Douglas and Arnold Schwarzenegger), Clint Eastwoods Every Which Way but Loose in 1979, and 1980s all-star Smokey and the Bandit II. Albums of the period included 1976s Love Revival and 1980s M-M-Mel Live, in addition to a series of hits compilations.In 1981, Tillis recorded a duets album with Nancy Sinatra called Mel and Nancy, but like most of his work throughout the 1980s, it failed to repeat the success he had previously enjoyed. Although he continued to work in films (co-starring in both Cannonball Run pictures) and notched the occasional Top Ten hit (like 1981s A Million Old Goodbyes or 1983s In the Middle of the Night), his days as a superstar were over. Still, he remained a popular songwriter, especially among younger artists; his Honey (Open That Door) and Diggin Up Bones were number one hits for, respectively, Ricky Skaggs and Randy Travis. Tillis also continued as a successful road act, and in the early 90s, his daughter Pam became one of countrys biggest stars.

Mel Tillis

艺人介绍

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