From: "Doug Bright" <75366.2463@compuserve.com> To: Subject: Article: October, 2005 Date: Saturday, November 26, 2005 8:15 PM OCTOBER, 2005 ALL-@STAR CD PAYS TRIBUTE TO FLOYD TILLMAN--"THE INFLUENCE" By Doug Bright "I have been a Floyd Tillman fan all of my life," recalls Tracy Pitcox, whose Hillbilly Hits radio show in Brady, Texas spawned the Heart of Texas Country Music Association and his Heart of Texas record label. "I wanted to do a special project that would honor his legendary career. Willie Nelson came to our Floyd Tillman 85th Birthday Bash in 1999. I told Willie about doing a new Floyd Tillman album and asked if he would do a duet with Floyd. He readily accepted the invitation." Nelson, who has always claimed to be the world's biggest Tillman fan, is by no means alone in his admiration of the legendary country singer and songwriter whose compositions "It Makes No Difference Now", "I Love You So Much It Hurts", and "Slipping Around" brought him to fame in the 1940's. In fact, Nelson was joined by such notable fellow admirers as Merle Haggard, Ernest Tubb, and Mickey Gilley on a 1981 tribute album called FLOYD TILLMAN AND FRIENDS issued by Gilley's record label. "We originally envisioned a Floyd Tillman album featuring a duet with Willie," Tracy Pitcox remembers. "As the project grew, so did the list of participants. Many of our country music greats grew up listening to the singing and songwriting talent of Floyd Tillman. This was a way to give something back to Floyd for what he had given them: inspiration." It took several years for the dream to take shape, but in 2002 Tillman journeyed with Pitcox to the San Marcos studio of producer Justin Trevino, another Heart of Texas artist, to begin the recording process. His work was completed in three sessions, laying a foundation on which his younger admirers overdubbed their part of the duets at a later time. "It was great letting the artists pick out their favorite Floyd Tillman song to record," Trevino recalls. "George Jones wanted to record "Driving Nails In My Coffin", Merle Haggard wanted "This Cold War With You", and Hank Thompson wanted "I'll Take What I Can Get"." Floyd Tillman didn't live to see his album released: he died of leukaemia on August 22, 2003 at the age of 88. Nevertheless, thanks to a rough studio mix delivered to him by Tracy Pitcox, he was able to get an idea of how the finished product, entitled FLOYD TILLMAN--THE INFLUENCE, would sound. "Floyd was very proud of "The Influence" and looked forward to having a new album out," Pitcox relates. The disc, released in April 2004 but discovered only now by this publication, opens with Dolly Parton and Floyd Tillman in duet on one of his biggest hits, "Slipping Around". Parton harmonizes very effectively with him and sings her solos with obvious enjoyment and conviction. "Let's slip around, Floyd, what d'ya say?" she suggests seductively at the end of the song, but on further reflection she regretfully adds, "Aw, we're too old for that." "Dolly quickly responded when I asked her about being a part of the album," Tracy Pitcox recalls in his liner notes. "She worked tirelessly in the studio to make her recording with Floyd sound so personal." "It Makes No Difference Now", Tillman's first hit as a songwriter in 1938, is shared with Mel Tillis in an arrangement that simply involves a back-and-forth trading of lines. Tillis had been on the country music scene since the late Fifties, so when Pitcox asked him if he needed the lyrics to the song for the recording session, Tillis replied that he'd been singing it for more years than Pitcox had been on earth. Tillman's 1949 hit "I Gotta Have My Baby Back", a duet with Ray Price, uses the same line-trading strategy as the Mel Tillis track. In order to match Tillman, Price sings in a lower register than the anguished, high-baritone cry that distinguished his late-Fifties classics like "City Lights" and "Heartaches By The Number". Consequently, his performance sounds a bit tame by comparison. "Drivin' Nails In My Coffin", one of only two Tillman hits that he didn't write, is shared with George Jones. Despite an infectiously swinging band and well harmonized choruses, however, it's a rather lackluster performance from both artists. Unfortunately, the same can also be said of a duet with Hank Thompson on Tillman's classic "I'll Take What I Can Get". Tillman's voice definitely shows its age on this album, but there are plenty of satisfying moments here. His most spirited performances include "Each Night At Nine" with Willie Nelson, "I'll Keep On Loving You" with Heart of Texas artist Darrell McCall, "They Took The Stars Out of Heaven" with Johnny Bush, and "As Long As I Have You" with another Heart of Texas artist, Frankie Miller. Tillman is at his poignantly expressive best on the undeservedly forgotten gem "Let's Make Memories Tonight", which he shares with Leona Williams. On this one, a good performance is rendered great by sensitive and strategically placed vocal harmony from the backing musicians. The band, which features Johnny Gimble on fiddle and mandolin, Dave Kirby on lead guitar, and Dicky Overby on steel, delivers the kind of classic honky-tonk and western swing that suggests that Texas, not Nashville, is the place to look for real country music today. FLOYD TILLMAN--THE INFLUENCE can be ordered from the Heart of Texas website, www.hillbillyhits.com, or by mail for $13.95 from Heart of Texas Records, 1701 South Bridge Street, Brady, TX 76825. ----------------------------------------