Floyd Tillman

Floyd Tillman
Born	(1914-12-08)December 8, 1914 Ryan, Oklahoma
Origin	San Antonio, Texas, United States
Died	Bacliff, Texas
Genres	Country music, Western swing, Honky tonk
Occupation(s)	musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1938–2003
Labels	Decca, Musicor, RCA Victor, Columbia, Heart of Texas

Floyd Tillman (December 8, 1914 – August 22, 2003) was an American country musician who, in the 1930s and 1940s, helped create the Western swing and honky tonk genres. Tillman was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1984.

Biography

Early life

Tillman grew up in the cotton-mill town of Post, Texas as a sharecropper's son. One of his early jobs was with Western Union as a telegraph operator. In the early 1930s He played mandolin at local dances and eventually took up the guitar.

Musical career

Tillman moved to San Antonio played lead guitar with Adolph Hofner, a Western swing bandleader, and soon developed into a songwriter and singer. He took a job with Houston pop bandleader Mack Clark in 1938 and played with Western swing groups fronted by Leon “Pappy” Selph and Cliff Bruner. He also worked with Ted Daffan, and singer and piano player Moon Mullican.

Tillman recorded as a featured vocalist with Selph’s Blue Ridge Playboys in 1938, the same year Floyd scored his first major songwriting hit, "It Makes No Difference Now", giving him his own Decca recording contract. Jimmie Davis purchased the song from Floyd for $300, the rights to which he got back 28 years later.

Tillman's only No. 1 one song as a singer was "They Took the Stars Out of Heaven". It reached the top of the charts in 1944. Previously, he had reached No. 2 with "I'm Gonna Change All My Ways". His 1944 hit, "Each Night At Nine", struck a chord with lonely servicemen during World War II. Axis Sally and Tokyo Rose played it heavily to encourage desertion.

A big hit for Tillman and also for Jimmy Wakely was 1948's "I Love You So Much It Hurts". His 1949 "Slippin' Around", one of the first country western "cheating" songs, was a hit for Tillman as well as Ernest Tubb, Texas Jim Robertson and the duo of Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely. Tillman had another successful song with his own answer, "I'll Never Slip Around Again", as did the Whiting-Wakely duo. He slowed down on his performing in the early 1950s, although he appeared on ABC-TV's Jubilee USA in 1958 and 1959.

Tillman's final album, recorded in 2002–2003 titled The Influence, paired him with country music artists who were influenced by his style and performing: Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Leona Williams, Dolly Parton, Justin Trevino, Ray Price, Frankie Miller, Hank Thompson, Connie Smith, Lawton Williams, Mel Tillis, Darrell McCall, Johnny Bush and George Jones. The project, released in April 2004, featured liner notes by Dr. Bill Malone, Bill Mack, Hank Thompson and Willie Nelson. It was produced by Justin Trevino (country singer) on Heart of Texas Records.

Singles

Year	Single	US Country
1944	"They Took the Stars Out of Heaven"	1
	"G.I. Blues"	5
	"Each Night at Nine"	4
1946	"Drivin' Nails in My Coffin"	2
1948	"I Love You So Much It Hurts"	5
1949	"Please Don't Pass Me By"	14
	"Slippin' Around"	5
	"I'll Never Slip Around Again"	6
	"I Gotta Have My Baby Back"	4
1960	"It Just Tears Me Up"	29

Selected works

Title	Master no	Artists	Recorded	Original issue
A Precious Memory	65158	Floyd Tillman	6 March 1939, Houston	Decca 5696
Why Do I Love You		Floyd Tillman	6 March 1939, Houston	Decca 5696
I'm Always Dreaming of You	66327	Floyd Tillman	29 August 1939, Houston	Decca 5801
Don't Be Blue	66328	Floyd Tillman	6 March 1939, Houston	Decca 5741
Maybe I'll Get By Without You	66330	Floyd Tillman	6 March 1939, Houston	Decca 5801
I Love You So Much It Hurts		Vic Damone, Floyd Tillman and Connie Smith, Red Foley, Ernest Tubb, Ray Charles, Ray Price, Mickey Gilley, Andy Williams, Marie Osmond, Eddy Arnold, Floyd Tillman, Jimmy Wakely, Patsy Cline		RCA Victor 20-7157 A-side
Slipping Around		Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely, Ernest Tubb, Floyd Tillman, Texas Jim Robertson, Marion Worth and George Morgan, Roy Drusky and Priscilla Mitchell, Mack Abernathy, Floyd Tillman and Dolly Parton, Ray Anthony		RCA Victor 20-7157 B-side
I Gotta Have My Baby Back		Floyd Tillman, Red Foley, Ella Fitzgerald, Justin Tubb, Ray Price, Floyd Tillman and Ray Price, Rex Allen, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Les Paul and Mary Ford, Hank Thompson, Glen Campbell	October 1949, Houston	Columbia 20641
I Am Music (Song of Music)		Skeets McDonald
It Makes No Difference Now Co-writer: Jimmie Davis		Eddy Arnold, Bing Crosby, The Supremes, Gene Autry, Ray Charles, Jimmie Davis, Willie Nelson, Hank Snow, Ray Pennington, Buddy Emmons, Hank Thompson, Merle Haggard, Burl Ives		Musicor 1355 A-side
The Stars Fell Out Of Heaven	93739	Floyd Tillman	30 April 1941, Dallas	Decca 6090
This Cold War With You		Floyd Tillman	Ray Price, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and Ray Price, Rex Allen, Columbia 20615
Why Do You Treat Me This Way?		Floyd Tillman	30 April 1941, Dallas	Decca 6090
Each Night At Nine		Floyd Tillman	20 April 1944, New York City	Decca 6104
G.I. Blues		Floyd Tillman
Some Other World		Floyd Tillman		Columbia 20026
Daisy May		Ernest Tubb, Floyd Tillman	11 April 1940, Houston	Decca 5845
Please Don't Pass Me By		Floyd Tillman
I'll Never Slip Around Again		Floyd Tillman, Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely, Doris Day		Columbia 20615

References and external links

• Country Music Hall Of Fame
• Floyd Tillman mp3s