From: philip.davies Date: Sun Dec 8, 2002 10:05 am - UPDATED 6 JANUARY 2004 Subject: Born To Be With You - Floyd Tillman FLOYD TILLMAN Born Floyd Tillman, on December 8th 1914, Ryan, Oklahoma Died 22 August 2003, Bacliff, TX Floyd was the youngest of 11 kids, his sharecropping father moved to Post, Texas when Floyd was still a baby. As a youngster he learnt to play mandolin & banjo before taking up the guitar. he joined Adolph Hofner's band and began singing as well. he later admitted that his main wish was to be a songwriter as he could not sing! He joined Mack Clark's dance band before leaving to join Leon "Pappy" Selph's Blue Ridge Playboys. This great band had Moon Mullican, Ted Daffan and Cliff Brunner as members. Daffan had radio repair shop and fitted Floyd's guitar with a primitive electric pick up. Floyd left Clark's band because the boss didn't rate Floyd's hillbilly standard It Makes No Difference Now ( covered later by Gene Autry and one Bing Crosby). This established Floyd as a song writer of note but later in a lean spell he sold the song to Jimmie Davis for $200 (he managed to buy back a share of his own song in 1966). He'd signed for Decca in 1939 but it was during the war that he had his first solo success. 1944 saw him reach number 1 with They Took The Stars Out Of Heaven. After serving in the forces during WW2 he resumed songwriting and playing in the honky tonks of Houston. His other top 10 hits for Columbia included GI Blues (long before Tulsa Maclean!!), Driving Nails In My Coffin, I Gotta Have My Baby Back and 2 of the finest honky tonk songs ever written, Slippin' Around and I Love You So Much It Hurts. He was one of the first to chart with cheating songs, now a staple diet of pop and country music. He even penned I'll Never Slip Around Again. In 1949 Slippin' Around was a pop no.1 and million seller for Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely, whilst Ernest Tubb had a country no. 1 (and a top 20 pop) with it. It's been covered over the years, giving chart hits for Texas Jim Robertson in 1950, George Morgan in 64, Roy Drusky 65 and mack Abernathy in 88. JLL covered it at the height of his Smash country success in the late 60s too, which was my introduction to Mr T. Honky tonk gems like I'll Take What I Can Get & A Small Little Town are crying out for a modern interpretation. Anyone got Dwight or Alan J's phone numbers? This ongoing success meant Floyd broke up his band in the early 50s and only played and recorded sporadically, his last song with the band was the prophetic I Don't Care Anymore! His last chart entry was in 1960. He recorded through the 60s and had a steady fan base amongst traditional country fans. His classic songwriting and influence on later duet pals Willie Nelson (surprise!!) and Merle Haggard meant his name has lasted whilst some of his contemporaries with better voices have faded from memory. His voice was definitely an acquired taste, slightly lazy and drwan out, often singing just behind the beat. It certainly gave him a distinctive sound.He was one of the pioneers of air travel to gigs and also championed the use of electric guitar, which rather upset the staid country establishment. His songs have seen him elected into the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 1970 and also the prestigious Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1984, unusually for the CMA honouring a legend whilst he's still around to enjoy the accolade. He seldom appeared in Nashville preferring to play in Texas Phil Davies Recommended Listening Country Music Hall Of Fame - MCA 1991 the 39-44 Decca sides and some earlier Blue Ridge Playboy Western Swing sides Best Of, Collector's Choice 1998 A decent collection of his mid 40s and 50s Columbia sides, with gems like This Cold war With You and the classics mentioned earlier