I Ain't Never

Background:

American country music star Mel Tillis is well known for having a number of Top 10 hits during the late 1960s to the early 1980s. First gaining fame as a songwriter, he had his first Top 10 single with “Who's Julie” (1969) and first rose to No. 1 with “I Ain't Never” (1972), a song previously recorded and made famous by Webb Pierce. Subsequent hits include “Good Woman Blues,” “Heart Healer,” “I Believe in You,” “Coca-Cola Cowboy,” “Southern Rains,” “Heart Over Mind,” “Sawmill,” “Midnight Me and the Blues,” “Stomp Them Grapes,” “Your Body Is an Outlaw” and “New Patches,” his last Top 10 hit to date. Tillis won a CMA Award for Entertainer of the Year in 1976 and over two decades later, in 1999, he was nominated for a CMA Award for Vocal Event of the Year for his 1998 album “Old Dogs.” As a songwriter, Tillis is perhaps best-recalled for creating a series of hits for Webb Pierce. Besides “I Ain't Never,” which stayed at No. 2 for nine weeks in 1959, he also collaborated with Pierce on “No Love Have I,” “Crazy Wild Desire” and “How Come Your Dog Don't Bite Nobody but Me.” Tillis' acting credits include “Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers” (1967), “The Villain” (1979), “The Cannonball Run” (1981), “Cannonball Run II” (1984) and “Beer for My Horses” (2008).

Tillis, who is an inductee of the Songwriters International Hall of Fame, The Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame, is being recommended for the 2009 Florida Artists Hall of Fame by the Florida Arts Council. Secretary of State Kurt S. Browning stated, “The long and indisputable country music career of Mel Tillis is further noteworthy because of his perennial pride for the Sunshine State. His lifetime of philanthropy for good causes, particularly in helping the youth of Florida, has made him a much-appreciated household name in every part of this state.”

Tillis has six children, including skilled songwriter Mel Tillis Jr., whose work includes the Jamie O’Neal hit “When I Think about Angels,” and country singer Pam Tillis, who achieved success thanks to hits like “Shake the Sugar Tree” and “Maybe It Was Memphis.”

Malaria

Childhood and Family:

Lonnie Melvin Tillis, who would later be popular as Mel Tillis, was born on August 8, 1932, in Tampa, Florida. He was raised in small-town Pahokee, near Florida’s Lake Okeechobee, along with his brother, Richard, and two sisters, Imogene and Linda. At age 3, Mel dealt with a bout of malaria, which may have caused his speech disorder (he stutters). He began playing guitar as a child and by the time he was in high school, he had added the drums and violin to his accomplishments. 16-year-old Mel won a local talent show at his very first public appearance and joined the United States Air Force following high school graduation. After his service ended in 1955, he attended the University of Florida, but soon left to try his hand at music in Nashville, Tennessee.

Mel is the father of six children. They are Mel Jr., Pam, Carrie April, Connie, Cindy and Hannah. In 1984, Mel published “Stutterin’ Boy: The Autobiography of Mel Tillis.”

Who's Julie

Career:

Mel Tillis formed a group called The Westerners while he served with the U.S. Air Force in Okinawa, Japan. With his group, he performed at local nightclubs until he returned back to the United States in 1955. After briefly enrolling in college and taking on various odd jobs, the Florida native headed to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1956 to professionally launch a career in music. As both singer and songwriter, he found minor success there and quickly made his way back to Florida.

In 1957, Tillis wrote “I'm Tired” for Webb Pierce and the song rose to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Lured by the success, the aspiring Tillis signed a songwriting deal with Pierce's label, Cedarwood Music. His next hit for Pierce, “Honky Tonk Song,” was an immediate chart-topper. Tills continued to produce hits for Pierce such as “I Ain't Never” (1959), “No Love Have I” (1959), “Crazy Wild Desire”(1962) and “How Come Your Dog Don't Bite Nobody but Me” (1963).

Already popular as a songwriter, Tillis attracted the attention of Columbia Records, who put him under their contract in the late 1950s. His first single, “The Violet and a Rose” (1958), peaked at No. 24 on the U.S. Country charts. It was followed by a series of Top 40 country hits, namely “Finally” (1959, #28), “Sawmill” (1959, #27) and “Georgia Town Blues” (1960, #24). “Heart Over Mind,” his debut album with Columbia, was released in 1962. During that period, he also found many of his songs covered by other artists like Bobby Bare (“Detroit City”), Ray Price (“One More Time,” “Burning Memories,” and “Heart Over Mind”), Little Jimmy Dickens (“The Violet and a Rose”) and Stonewall Jackson (“Mary Don't You Weep”). Tillis shifted to Kapp Records in the mid-1960s and in 1965, he scored his first Top 15 hit with “Wine.”

The album “Stateside” was released the following year and spawned the title track, which became his next Top 20 hit (#17). “Life Turned Her That Way” (1967) and “Something Special” (1968), both of which were taken from albums of the same names, rose to No. 11 and No. 17 on the U.S. Country charts, respectively. Mel, however, did not enjoy his first Top 10 hit until the release of “Who's Julie” in 1969. His reputation as a hit-maker, however, continued to increase and he created “The Snakes Crawl At Night” for Charley Pride, the huge hit “Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town” for Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, and “Mental Revenge” for Waylon Jennings.

After “Who's Julie,” Tillis' luck as a recording artist started to change. Along with his reputable new backup band the Statesiders, he had two Top 10 country hits with the singles “These Lonely Hands of Mine” (1969, #9) and “She'll Be Hanging Around Somewhere” (1970, #10). He achieved consecutive Top 5 Country hits in 1970 with “Heart Over Mind” (#3) and “Heaven Everyday” (#5) and his mounting fame was further verified with “Commercial Affection” (1970, #8), “Arms of a Fool” (1971, #4), “Brand New Mister Me” (1971, #8), “Take My Hand” (1971, #8) and “Living and Learning” (1971, #9). The latter two were duets with Sherry Bryce. Mel released his first live album, “At the Sam Houston Coliseum,” in 1971.

Tillis' big breakthrough came in 1972 with “I Ain't Never,” a previous hit for Webb Pierce. Recorded under MGM, the song rose to No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs charts. The “I Ain't Never” album also produced the Top 3 hit singles “Neon Rose” (1972) and “Memory Maker” (1974). Other hit singles released under MGM include “Sawmill” (1973, #2), “Midnight Me and the Blues” (1974, #2), “Stomp Them Grapes” (1974, #3), “The Best Way I Know How” (1975, #7), “Woman in the Back of My Mind” (1975, #4), and his version of “Mental Revenge” (1976, #15).

Tillis moved to MCA Records for the 1976 album “Love Revival,” which rose to No. 16 on the Top Country Albums chart. The title track peaked at No. 11, but it was the single “Good Woman Blues” that put the country star back at No. 1. He again scored a No. 1 hit with “Heart Healer,” which was taken from the 1977 album of the same name. For his effort, Tillis was awarded the prestigious Entertainer of the Year Award at the 1976 Country Music Association (CMA) Gala and became an inductee of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame that same year.

In 1978, Tillis had his next chart-topper hit with the title track “I Believe in You” and entered the Top 4 with “What Did I Promise Her Last Night” and “Ain't No California.” Also that year, he made his debut as a television host with the ABC short-lived variety show “Mel and Susan Together,” along with model Susan Anton.

After the runner up “Send Me Down to Tucson” (1979) and the No. 1 hit “Coca-Cola Cowboy” (also 1979), which was used for the Clint Eastwood movie “Every Which Way But Loose,” Tillis signed with Elektra Records and launched the album “Me and Pepper” in 1979. Hits under the Elektra label included “Blind in Love” (1979, #6), “Lying Time Again” (1980, #6), “Your Body Is an Outlaw” (1980, #3), “Steppin' Out” (1980, #9), “Southern Rains” (1981, #1), “Million Old Goodbyes” (1981, #8) and “One Night Fever” (1981, #10). His collaboration with Nancy Sinatra on “Texas Cowboy Night” failed to become a Top 10 hit and only rose to No. 23.

Tillis left Elektra in 1982 after the album “It's a Long Way to Daytona” and briefly returned to MCA during 1983-1984, with which he scored his last two Top 10 hits, “In The Middle Of The Night” and “New Patches.” In 1985, he signed with RCA Records and released the album “California Road,” which produced the Top 40 single “You Done Me Wrong.” He did not resurface until three years later with the single “You'll Come Back (You Always Do),” which again failed to enter the Top 10 and only rose to No. 31.

Following a series of disappointments, Tillis took several years off from music. In 1991, he signed with Curb Records to release a “Greatest Hits” album. “Old Dogs,” his first album of new material since 1985, was released in 1998 under Atlantic Records. It also featured Bobby Bare, Waylon Jennings and Jerry Reed and won the performer a 1999 CMA nomination in the category of Vocal Event of the Year.

In 2007, Tillis was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Apart from his noted music career, Tillis also emerged as an occasional actor. Making his acting debut in the 1967 comedy “Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers,” he spent the next two decades having roles in various films like “W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings” (1975), “The Villain” (1979), “Smokey and the Bandit II” (1980), “The Cannonball Run” (1981), “Cannonball Run II” (1984) and “Uphill All the Way” (1986). He then appeared in the 1994 TV film “Bandit Goes Country” and more recently, he had an unaccredited role in “Beer for My Horses” (2008). He has also completed filming the upcoming Western “Palo Pinto Gold” (2008), which was directed and written by Anthony Henslee.

Awards:

• Country Music Association (CMA): Entertainer of the Year, 1976