Lonnie Melvin "Mel" Tillis (August 8, 1932 - November 19, 2017) was an Amer… Read Full Bio ↴Lonnie Melvin "Mel" Tillis (August 8, 1932 - November 19, 2017) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s, with a long list of Top 10 hits.
Tillis's biggest hits include "I Ain't Never", "Good Woman Blues", and "Coca-Cola Cowboy". On February 13, 2012, President Barack Obama awarded Tillis the National Medal of Arts for his contributions to country music.[1] He also has won the CMA Awards' most coveted award, Entertainer of the Year. He is also known for his speech impediment, which does not affect his singing voice. His daughter is country music singer Pam Tillis.
He died on November 19, 2017, at the age of 85.
Mel Tillis was born on August 8, 1932, in Tampa, Florida, but later raised in Pahokee, Florida, (near West Palm Beach). His stutter developed during his childhood, a result of a bout with malaria. As a child, Tillis learned the drums as well as guitar and at age 16, won a local talent show. He attended the University of Florida but dropped out and joined the United States Air Force. While stationed as a baker in Okinawa, he formed a band called The Westerners, which played at local nightclubs.
After leaving the Air Force in 1955, Tillis returned to Florida where he worked a number of odd jobs, eventually finding employment with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in Tampa, Florida. He used his railroad pass to visit Nashville and eventually met and auditioned for Wesley Rose of famed Nashville publishing house Acuff-Rose Music. Rose encouraged Tillis to return to Florida and continue honing his songwriting skills. Tillis eventually moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and began writing songs full-time. Tillis wrote "I'm Tired," a No. 3 country hit for Webb Pierce in 1957. Other Tillis hits include "Honky Tonk Song" and "Tupelo County Jail." Ray Price and Brenda Lee also charted hits with Tillis's material around this time. In the late 1950s, after becoming a hit-making songwriter, he signed his own contract with Columbia Records. In 1958, he had his first Top 40 hit, "The Violet and a Rose," followed by the Top 25 hit "Sawmill."
Although Tillis charted on his own Billboard's Hot Country Songs list, he had more success as a songwriter. He continued to be Webb Pierce's songwriter. He wrote the hits "I Ain't Never" (Tillis's own future hit) and "Crazy, Wild Desire." Bobby Bare, Tom Jones ("Detroit City"), Wanda Jackson, and Stonewall Jackson also covered his songs. Tillis continued to record on his own. Some well-known songs from his Columbia years include "The Brooklyn Bridge," "Loco Weed," and "Walk on, Boy." However, he did not achieve major success on the country charts on his own.
In the mid-1960s, Tillis switched over to Kapp Records, and in 1965, he had his first Top 15 hit with "Wine." Other hits continued to follow, such as "Stateside" and "Life Turned Her That Way" (which was later covered by Ricky Van Shelton in 1988, going to No. 1). He wrote for Charley Pride ("The Snakes Crawl At Night") and wrote a big hit for Kenny Rogers and The First Edition called "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town." He also wrote the hit "Mental Revenge" for Outlaw superstar Waylon Jennings. (It has also been covered by the Hacienda Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Gram Parsons, Barbara Mandrell, and Jamey Johnson.) In 1968, Tillis achieved his first Top 10 hit with "Who's Julie." He also was a regular featured singer on The Porter Wagoner Show.
Things turned around in 1969 for Tillis. He finally achieved the success he always wanted with two Top 10 country hits, "These Lonely Hands of Mine" and "She'll Be Hanging Around Somewhere." In 1970, he reached the Top 5 with "Heart Over Mind," which peaked at No. 3 on the Hot Country Songs list. After this, Tillis's career as a country singer went into full swing. Hits soon came quite easily, such as "Heaven Everyday" (1970), "Commercial Affection" (1970), "Arms of a Fool" (1970), "Take My Hand" (a duet with Sherry Bryce in 1971), and "Brand New Mister Me" (1971). In 1972, Tillis achieved his first chart-topper with his version of his song "I Ain't Never." Even though the song was previously a hit by Webb Pierce, Tillis's version is the better-known version of the two. Most of the above-mentioned song hits were recorded on MGM Records, Tillis's record company in the early part of the decade.
After the success of "I Ain't Never," Tillis had another hit, which came close to No. 1 (reaching No. 3), entitled "Neon Rose," followed by "Sawmill," which reached No. 2. "Midnight, Me and the Blues" was another near chart-topper in 1974. Other hits Tillis had on MGM include "Stomp Them Grapes" (1974), "Memory Maker" (1974), "Woman in the Back of My Mind" (1975), and his version of "Mental Revenge" (1976). Tillis achieved his biggest success with MCA Records, with which he signed in 1976. It started with a pair of two No. 1 hits in 1976, "Good Woman Blues" and "Heart Healer". (In an interview, he mentioned having written five hits in one week.) Thanks to this success, in 1976 Tillis won the CMA Awards's most coveted award, Entertainer of the Year, and was also inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame that year. He achieved another No. 1 in 1978 with "I Believe In You" and then again in 1979 with "Coca-Cola Cowboy," which was put in the Clint Eastwood movie Every Which Way but Loose, in which he also made a cameo appearance. Also in 1978, Mel co-hosted a short-lived variety series on ABC television, Mel and Susan Together with model Susan Anton. Other hits around this time included "Send Me Down to Tucson," "Ain't No California," and "I Got the Hoss." In mid-1979, Tillis switched to another record company, Elektra Records.
After signing with Elektra, he continued to make hit songs such as "Blind In Love" and "Lying Time Again," both hits in 1979. Until 1981, Tillis remained on top of his game as one of country music's most successful vocalists of the era. "Your Body Is an Outlaw" went to No. 3 in 1980, followed by another Top 10 hit, "Steppin' Out." "Southern Rains" in 1981 was his last No. 1 hit. That same year, he released an album of duets with Nancy Sinatra which spawned two hit singles, the Top 30 hit "Texas Cowboy Night" and the double A-side, "Play Me or Trade Me/Where Would I Be." He remained with Elektra until 1982 before switching back to MCA for a brief period in 1983. That summer, he scored a Top 10 hit with "In The Middle Of The Night" and had his last Top 10 hit with "New Patches" in 1984. By this time, however, Tillis had built up a financial empire thanks to investing in music publishing companies such as Sawgrass and Cedarwood. He also appeared in movies, including Love Revival, W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975), The Villain (1979), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980),The Cannonball Run (1981), and Uphill All the Way (1986), a comedy western in which he starred with fellow country singer Roy Clark, among others. In 1979, he acquired radio station KIXZ (AM) in Amarillo, Texas, from Sammons-Ruff Associates, which converted from Top 40 to country music and became a force in the Panhandle region. A short time later, Tillis acquired Amarillo, Texas, Rock FM station KYTX, which changed calls to KMML (a play on Tillis's stutter). Still later he operated WMML in Mobile, Alabama. All of his stations were sold after a time for a healthy return. He briefly signed with RCA Records, as well as Mercury Records, and later Curb Records in 1991. By this time, his chart success had faded.
Since his heyday in the 1970s, Tillis remained a songwriter in the 1980s, writing hits for Ricky Skaggs and Randy Travis. He also wrote his autobiography called Stutterin' Boy. (The title comes from Tillis's speech impediment.) Tillis appeared as the television commercial spokesman for the fast-food restaurant chain Whataburger during the 1980s. Tillis continued to record and have occasional hits through the decade, with his last top-10 hit coming in 1984 and his last top-40 country hit in 1988; like most country artists of the classic era, his recording career was dented by changes in the country music industry in the early 1990s. He also built a theater in Branson, Missouri, where he performed on a regular basis until 2002. In 1998, he teamed up with Bobby Bare, Waylon Jennings, and Jerry Reed to form The Old Dogs. The group recorded a double album of songs penned entirely by Shel Silverstein. In July 1998, Old Dogs Volumes 1 and 2 were released on the Atlantic Records label. A companion video, as well as a Greatest Hits album (composed of previously released material by each individual artist), were also available. In the 1990s, Tillis's daughter, Pam Tillis, became a successful country music singer in her own right, having hits like "Maybe It Was Memphis" and "Shake the Sugar Tree."
The Grand Ole Opry inducted Mel Tillis on June 9, 2007. He was inducted into the Opry by his daughter Pam. Along with being inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, it was announced on August 7 that year that Tillis, along with Ralph Emery and Vince Gill, is the latest to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Tillis has six children: songwriter Mel "Sonny" Tillis, Jr., singer-songwriter Pam Tillis, Carrie April Tillis, Connie Tillis, Cindy Tillis, and Hannah Tillis. Mel has one brother, Richard, and two sisters, Linda and Imogene.
Tillis's biggest hits include "I Ain't Never", "Good Woman Blues", and "Coca-Cola Cowboy". On February 13, 2012, President Barack Obama awarded Tillis the National Medal of Arts for his contributions to country music.[1] He also has won the CMA Awards' most coveted award, Entertainer of the Year. He is also known for his speech impediment, which does not affect his singing voice. His daughter is country music singer Pam Tillis.
He died on November 19, 2017, at the age of 85.
Mel Tillis was born on August 8, 1932, in Tampa, Florida, but later raised in Pahokee, Florida, (near West Palm Beach). His stutter developed during his childhood, a result of a bout with malaria. As a child, Tillis learned the drums as well as guitar and at age 16, won a local talent show. He attended the University of Florida but dropped out and joined the United States Air Force. While stationed as a baker in Okinawa, he formed a band called The Westerners, which played at local nightclubs.
After leaving the Air Force in 1955, Tillis returned to Florida where he worked a number of odd jobs, eventually finding employment with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in Tampa, Florida. He used his railroad pass to visit Nashville and eventually met and auditioned for Wesley Rose of famed Nashville publishing house Acuff-Rose Music. Rose encouraged Tillis to return to Florida and continue honing his songwriting skills. Tillis eventually moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and began writing songs full-time. Tillis wrote "I'm Tired," a No. 3 country hit for Webb Pierce in 1957. Other Tillis hits include "Honky Tonk Song" and "Tupelo County Jail." Ray Price and Brenda Lee also charted hits with Tillis's material around this time. In the late 1950s, after becoming a hit-making songwriter, he signed his own contract with Columbia Records. In 1958, he had his first Top 40 hit, "The Violet and a Rose," followed by the Top 25 hit "Sawmill."
Although Tillis charted on his own Billboard's Hot Country Songs list, he had more success as a songwriter. He continued to be Webb Pierce's songwriter. He wrote the hits "I Ain't Never" (Tillis's own future hit) and "Crazy, Wild Desire." Bobby Bare, Tom Jones ("Detroit City"), Wanda Jackson, and Stonewall Jackson also covered his songs. Tillis continued to record on his own. Some well-known songs from his Columbia years include "The Brooklyn Bridge," "Loco Weed," and "Walk on, Boy." However, he did not achieve major success on the country charts on his own.
In the mid-1960s, Tillis switched over to Kapp Records, and in 1965, he had his first Top 15 hit with "Wine." Other hits continued to follow, such as "Stateside" and "Life Turned Her That Way" (which was later covered by Ricky Van Shelton in 1988, going to No. 1). He wrote for Charley Pride ("The Snakes Crawl At Night") and wrote a big hit for Kenny Rogers and The First Edition called "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town." He also wrote the hit "Mental Revenge" for Outlaw superstar Waylon Jennings. (It has also been covered by the Hacienda Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Gram Parsons, Barbara Mandrell, and Jamey Johnson.) In 1968, Tillis achieved his first Top 10 hit with "Who's Julie." He also was a regular featured singer on The Porter Wagoner Show.
Things turned around in 1969 for Tillis. He finally achieved the success he always wanted with two Top 10 country hits, "These Lonely Hands of Mine" and "She'll Be Hanging Around Somewhere." In 1970, he reached the Top 5 with "Heart Over Mind," which peaked at No. 3 on the Hot Country Songs list. After this, Tillis's career as a country singer went into full swing. Hits soon came quite easily, such as "Heaven Everyday" (1970), "Commercial Affection" (1970), "Arms of a Fool" (1970), "Take My Hand" (a duet with Sherry Bryce in 1971), and "Brand New Mister Me" (1971). In 1972, Tillis achieved his first chart-topper with his version of his song "I Ain't Never." Even though the song was previously a hit by Webb Pierce, Tillis's version is the better-known version of the two. Most of the above-mentioned song hits were recorded on MGM Records, Tillis's record company in the early part of the decade.
After the success of "I Ain't Never," Tillis had another hit, which came close to No. 1 (reaching No. 3), entitled "Neon Rose," followed by "Sawmill," which reached No. 2. "Midnight, Me and the Blues" was another near chart-topper in 1974. Other hits Tillis had on MGM include "Stomp Them Grapes" (1974), "Memory Maker" (1974), "Woman in the Back of My Mind" (1975), and his version of "Mental Revenge" (1976). Tillis achieved his biggest success with MCA Records, with which he signed in 1976. It started with a pair of two No. 1 hits in 1976, "Good Woman Blues" and "Heart Healer". (In an interview, he mentioned having written five hits in one week.) Thanks to this success, in 1976 Tillis won the CMA Awards's most coveted award, Entertainer of the Year, and was also inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame that year. He achieved another No. 1 in 1978 with "I Believe In You" and then again in 1979 with "Coca-Cola Cowboy," which was put in the Clint Eastwood movie Every Which Way but Loose, in which he also made a cameo appearance. Also in 1978, Mel co-hosted a short-lived variety series on ABC television, Mel and Susan Together with model Susan Anton. Other hits around this time included "Send Me Down to Tucson," "Ain't No California," and "I Got the Hoss." In mid-1979, Tillis switched to another record company, Elektra Records.
After signing with Elektra, he continued to make hit songs such as "Blind In Love" and "Lying Time Again," both hits in 1979. Until 1981, Tillis remained on top of his game as one of country music's most successful vocalists of the era. "Your Body Is an Outlaw" went to No. 3 in 1980, followed by another Top 10 hit, "Steppin' Out." "Southern Rains" in 1981 was his last No. 1 hit. That same year, he released an album of duets with Nancy Sinatra which spawned two hit singles, the Top 30 hit "Texas Cowboy Night" and the double A-side, "Play Me or Trade Me/Where Would I Be." He remained with Elektra until 1982 before switching back to MCA for a brief period in 1983. That summer, he scored a Top 10 hit with "In The Middle Of The Night" and had his last Top 10 hit with "New Patches" in 1984. By this time, however, Tillis had built up a financial empire thanks to investing in music publishing companies such as Sawgrass and Cedarwood. He also appeared in movies, including Love Revival, W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975), The Villain (1979), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980),The Cannonball Run (1981), and Uphill All the Way (1986), a comedy western in which he starred with fellow country singer Roy Clark, among others. In 1979, he acquired radio station KIXZ (AM) in Amarillo, Texas, from Sammons-Ruff Associates, which converted from Top 40 to country music and became a force in the Panhandle region. A short time later, Tillis acquired Amarillo, Texas, Rock FM station KYTX, which changed calls to KMML (a play on Tillis's stutter). Still later he operated WMML in Mobile, Alabama. All of his stations were sold after a time for a healthy return. He briefly signed with RCA Records, as well as Mercury Records, and later Curb Records in 1991. By this time, his chart success had faded.
Since his heyday in the 1970s, Tillis remained a songwriter in the 1980s, writing hits for Ricky Skaggs and Randy Travis. He also wrote his autobiography called Stutterin' Boy. (The title comes from Tillis's speech impediment.) Tillis appeared as the television commercial spokesman for the fast-food restaurant chain Whataburger during the 1980s. Tillis continued to record and have occasional hits through the decade, with his last top-10 hit coming in 1984 and his last top-40 country hit in 1988; like most country artists of the classic era, his recording career was dented by changes in the country music industry in the early 1990s. He also built a theater in Branson, Missouri, where he performed on a regular basis until 2002. In 1998, he teamed up with Bobby Bare, Waylon Jennings, and Jerry Reed to form The Old Dogs. The group recorded a double album of songs penned entirely by Shel Silverstein. In July 1998, Old Dogs Volumes 1 and 2 were released on the Atlantic Records label. A companion video, as well as a Greatest Hits album (composed of previously released material by each individual artist), were also available. In the 1990s, Tillis's daughter, Pam Tillis, became a successful country music singer in her own right, having hits like "Maybe It Was Memphis" and "Shake the Sugar Tree."
The Grand Ole Opry inducted Mel Tillis on June 9, 2007. He was inducted into the Opry by his daughter Pam. Along with being inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, it was announced on August 7 that year that Tillis, along with Ralph Emery and Vince Gill, is the latest to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Tillis has six children: songwriter Mel "Sonny" Tillis, Jr., singer-songwriter Pam Tillis, Carrie April Tillis, Connie Tillis, Cindy Tillis, and Hannah Tillis. Mel has one brother, Richard, and two sisters, Linda and Imogene.
Burning Memories
Mel Tillis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tonight I'm burning old love letters
Photographs and memories of you
Hoping somehow I'll feel better
And when the smoke is gone I won't want you
Burning mem'ries
(Teardrops fall while I am)
Burning mem'ries
Burning all those memories of you that I can't lose
My heart to you no longer matters
And I can't live on memories
Into the fire those dreams you've shattered
And when the smoke is gone then I'll be free
Burning mem'ries
(Teardrops fall while I am)
Burning all those memories of you that I can't lose
Oh, those burning mem'ries
(Teardrops fall while I am)
Burning mem'ries
(Teardrops fall while I am)
Photographs and memories of you
Hoping somehow I'll feel better
And when the smoke is gone I won't want you
Burning mem'ries
(Teardrops fall while I am)
Burning mem'ries
My heart to you no longer matters
And I can't live on memories
Into the fire those dreams you've shattered
And when the smoke is gone then I'll be free
Burning mem'ries
(Teardrops fall while I am)
Burning all those memories of you that I can't lose
Oh, those burning mem'ries
(Teardrops fall while I am)
Burning mem'ries
(Teardrops fall while I am)
In Mel Tillis's song "Burning Memories," the singer is trying to move on from a past love by burning all the physical mementos and memories that remind them of the person. The act of burning the love letters, photographs, and shattered dreams is symbolic of the singer's desire to release their emotional attachment to the past relationship. The use of the word "burning" throughout the song gives a sense of finality and destruction, emphasizing the singer's determination to leave the memories behind. The repetition of the line "teardrops fall while I am burning memories" suggests that despite the singer's efforts to move on, the pain and sadness of the past still linger.
The lyrics are an emotional expression of heartbreak and the struggle to let go of a past love. By burning the memories, the singer hopes to find closure and be free from the emotional weight of their past relationship. The overall theme of the song is that sometimes, in order to move forward, we have to let go of the past and all the memories that come with it.
Line by Line Meaning
Tonight I'm burning old love letters
I am destroying any tangible reminders of our past relationship.
Photographs and memories of you
Any pictures or moments that we shared are being eradicated from existence.
Hoping somehow I'll feel better
I am destroying these items to try and alleviate the emotional pain I feel due to our breakup.
And when the smoke is gone I won't want you
Once these memories and artifacts are gone, I hope to no longer have any desire for you or our past relationship.
Burning mem'ries
I am intentionally destroying any physical evidence of our past relationship.
(Teardrops fall while I am)
Although I am trying to move on, this process of destruction is still causing me emotional pain.
Burning all those memories of you that I can't lose
I am setting fire to anything that still remains of our past relationship that I cannot bear to keep.
My heart to you no longer matters
You hold no emotional weight over me anymore.
And I can't live on memories
My reliance on reminiscing about the past is holding me back from moving on.
Into the fire those dreams you've shattered
I am destroying any hopes and dreams that I had for us as a couple that have since been destroyed.
And when the smoke is gone then I'll be free
Once I am rid of any and all reminders of our past relationship, I will finally be free to move on.
Oh, those burning mem'ries
The act of intentionally destroying any remnants of our past relationship is a powerful and emotional experience.
Lyrics ยฉ O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: KRIS KRISTOFFERSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Milton Moore
I can well understand this being the favorite
version for many
people; but
for Roy Drusky's
version, it would be
my favorite also.
At any rate, a great
song among so many country standards through which to
remember the late /great Mel
Tillis.๐๐๐๐
Double D
I was lucky to live in the 50s, 60s and 70s! The music was at its peak! Mel Tillis was right there with some of the best! That man had a great voice and could write some beautiful songs! Heโs going to be missed!
Shirley Hume
What a voice love all his songs.
FBI Detector
I remember riding around in Foss, Oklahoma with my grandma and grandpa in their Lincoln town car age 7 or 8 listening to this, Send Me Down To Tucson, Faded Love, and Anthony Berger. Sadly grandma passed away on October 24, 2020 and now, grandpa passed on May 13, 2021. I donโt know how to go on without them. However, Mel God rest his soul, is helping me through it. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Debbie Coleman
RIP MEL, COUNTRY MUSIC LOST ANOTHER GREAT SINGER. THANKS FOR ALL OF THE MEMORIES!!!!
Patricia Trasatti
love his voice and singing
Muzikgirl67
JUST AS GOOD AS GOLD!!...Thank you soooo much for posting and sharing this wonderful #9 country hit back from the summer of 1977...I thoroughly enjoyed it!...(sound quality is first-rate too!)...take care!! :)
Rebecca D
Muzikgirl67. Thank you too for your post
barrygioportmorien1
Fantastic song by Mel.
Milton Moore
I can well understand this being the favorite
version for many
people; but
for Roy Drusky's
version, it would be
my favorite also.
At any rate, a great
song among so many country standards through which to
remember the late /great Mel
Tillis.๐๐๐๐
spanish eyes
one word......perfection.......thank you for posting this,love mel.....bless.