Floyd Tillman

Floyd Tillman (born December 8, 1914 in Ryan , Oklahoma , † August 22, 2003 ) is an American country musician and songwriter who was successful in the 1940s and 1950s.

Beginnings

Floyd Tillman grew up in poor conditions in rural Texas. At a young age he taught himself to play the guitar and mandolin. Soon he was making public appearances with his brother. In 1933 he joined Adolph Hofner 's Western Swing Band, which resided in San Antonio . Two years later he became a member of the Houston Blue Ridge Playboys. Here he used an electrically amplified guitar for the first time. His next stop was the Mack Clark Orchestra in 1936, where he worked as a guitarist, mandolin player and singer. During this time he wrote his first songs.

Career

In 1939 Tillman signed a record deal with the Decca label. It was not until 1944 that he achieved the first number 1 hit in the folk (C&W) charts with They Took The Stars Out Of Heaven . With his song It Makes No Difference Now he was less successful. He sold it for $ 300 to Jimmie Davis , who achieved a hit with it (as did later Bob Wills and Bing Crosby ). Above all, his peculiar singing style, which with many singles did not pay special attention to pitch and tempo, made commercial success difficult. Another reason was the fact that he continued to live in his Texan homeland and only appeared occasionally in the "Music City" Nashville .

During the Second World War he was stationed in Houston as an army radio operator, which enabled him to continue recording records. After the war ended, he switched to the Columbia label, where he was able to seamlessly build on his old successes in 1946 with the top 3 hit Drivin 'Nails in My Coffin . He was still regularly represented in the top 10. His best-known hit was Slipping Around in 1949 , but with which others were again more successful. In the 1950s he changed labels several times. His last hit parade placement was in 1960.

Floyd Tillman is best remembered as a songwriter. In 1970 he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame . In 1984 he received the greatest honor in country music: he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame . Floyd Tillman died on August 30, 2003 at the age of 88.

Discography

• 1958 - Floyd Tillman's Greatest
• 1961 - Floyd Tillman's Best
• 1962 - Let's Make Memories
• 1964 - Slippin 'Around
• 1967 - Floyd Tillman's Country
• 1968 - Dream On
• 1969 - I Still Be Loving You

Web links

• http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/inductees/floyd_tillman.html