Pam Tillis

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Pam Tillis
Pam Tillis
Pam Tillis
Background information
Birth name Pam Tillis
Born July 24, 1957
Origin Plant City, FL
Genre(s) Country
Instrument(s) Guitar
Years active 1981 - Present
Label(s) Arista Nashville
Warner Bros. Records
Website Official Website

Pam Tillis (born July 24, 1957 in Plant City, Florida) is an American country music singer and actress.

Contents

[edit] The Early Years: 1957 – 1983

The daughter of singer Mel Tillis, she grew up in Nashville, TN surrounded by music. At age eight, she sang on the Grand Ole Opry.

Tillis got her musical start out in Los Angeles, releasing a pop single in 1981 for Elektra Records, "Every Home Should Have One", that failed to chart. The single, along with its flip side, "Holding On To What Is Gone", have never been reissued.

Tillis took another shot at pop stardom with her first (and only) album for Warner Bros. Above and Beyond the Doll of Cutey was released in 1983. The first single, "Killer Comfort", was backed with album track "(You Just Want To Be) Weird"; Tillis issued a promotional music video clip that featured scenes of her with various dolls, and her posing for the album cover. Both "Killer Comfort" and its follow-up single "Love Is Sneakin' Up On You" failed to chart. The album has been out of print for two decades, but cut-out copies can be found fairly easily in Nashville.

[edit] The WB Nashville Years: 1984 – 1987

After failing to connect with the pop audience, Tillis regrouped and returned to Nashville. In 1984, she began making regular appearances on Nashville Now, the TNN Variety Show hosted by Ralph Emery. Tillis was transferred from the pop division of Warner Bros. Records to the Nashville country division, and she began a four-year period of releasing low-charting singles while simultaneously finding success as a songwriter.

Tillis had already received cuts as writer by dance artist Gloria Gaynor ("When You Get Around To It") and Chaka Khan recorded "So Close" in 1986. Tillis began making great headway as a writer during this period. Before the eighties decade closed out, she would score cuts with Janie Fricke, Highway 101, Conway Twitty, Chaka Khan, Suzy Bogguss, Dan Seals and Juice Newton.

Tillis had less success getting her own recording career off the ground. Warner Bros. issued several singles that all stalled in the lower regions of the chart. Her biggest hit of this period was "Those Memories Of You" in 1986, which reached #55. The following year, it was a top five hit for Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris, who included it in their Trio album. Four other singles peaked lower, and "One Of Those Things", which would become a big hit for Tillis in the early nineties, failed to chart at all. In an attempt to capitalize on Tillis' huge success for Arista, Warner Bros. issued Pam Tillis Collection in 1994, which featured all five of her chart hits for the label, and pre-hit recordings of "Maybe It Was Memphis", "One of Those Things" and "Five Minutes", the last of which was a #1 smash for Lorrie Morgan in 1990.

Warner Bros. released Tillis from her contract in 1987. While continuing to find great success as a writer, Tillis raised her profile in Nashville by spearheading "Twang Night" at Twelfth and Porter in Nashville and by appearing in a local production of Jesus Christ Superstar, playing the role of Mary Magdalene to critical acclaim.

Another positive step forward was Pam's participation in "Women In The Round", a regular songwriter's night at Nashville's famed Bluebird Cafe. Along with Ashley Cleveland, Tricia Walker and Karen Staley, Tillis sang her own compositions; she also hosted the events, which grew in popularity over the course of 1989 and into 1990. After meeting and signing with manager Mike Robertson, Tillis used her local exposure and songwriting talents to land a major label deal with Arista Records. The legendary company had just opened their Nashville offices, and signed Tillis to become their flagship female artist.

[edit] The Arista Years: 1990 – 2001

[edit] Put Yourself In My Place

Pam Tillis singing on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 at the 2006 Missouri State Fair. Tillis was opening up for George Jones.
Pam Tillis singing on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 at the 2006 Missouri State Fair. Tillis was opening up for George Jones.

Tillis recorded her Arista debut with producers Paul Worley & Ed Seay at the helm. The duo had great success producing Highway 101 in the late eighties and would go on to produce Martina McBride and the Dixie Chicks. Tillis wrote seven tracks on the album, including the title cut, "Put Yourself In My Place." Clearly energized and boasting a new confidence, Tillis wrote in the liner notes: "First, I'd like to thank ahead of time, everyone responsible for making this my first Gold album...But seriously, that's how much I believe in my team. Talk about a new start!"

Tillis may have been jesting, but her prediction proved prophetic, as the project quickly took off. The lead single, "Don't Tell Me What To Do", was written by Max D. Barnes and Harlan Howard. It was originally recorded by Marty Stuart's "I'll Love You Forever (If I Want To)" in 1988. Stuart never issued it as a single. Tillis had a huge hit right out of the gate. "Don't Tell Me What To Do" topped the Radio & Records singles chart and reached #5 on the Billboard chart. Tillis shot a video for the song that featured her in various Nashville haunts, performing at a diner with son Ben drinking a shake in the background, and browsing the Mel Tillis section at Phonoluxe Records while eyeing her former lover.

Arista chose the Tillis-penned "One Of Those Things" as the next single. Co-written with eighties hitmaker Paul Overstreet, she had released it as a single in 1985 for Warner Bros., but that early version failed to chart. Janie Fricke had also covered the song on her 1989 album Labor of Love. This time out, the song was a hit, reaching #6 on the Billboard country chart.

Arista serviced the title track to radio stations next, which would eventually reach #11. Tillis performed the song on the 1991 CMA Awards, where she was nominated for Single of the Year ("Don't Tell Me What To Do") and the Horizon Award. By that time, album sales had cooled off, but Arista had an ace up their sleeve.

Tillis had first heard "Maybe It Was Memphis" years ago, and had been performing it for years. When she first heard the playback during the Arista sessions, she cried. The label knew it had a huge hit on its hands, but held off on releasing the pop-flavored track until Tillis was clearly established at radio. Once released, the song took off like a rocket. It reached #3 on the singles chart, but more importantly, it revitalized the album, pushing it into the top ten of the country albums chart and pushing it well past gold in sales. Arista even serviced the single to pop radio stations, a rarity in the early nineties. The torrid hit became her signature song.

The strength of "Memphis" encouraged Arista to pull a fifth single from the project. The honky-tonk "Blue Rose Is" reached #21 in the spring of 1992, as Tillis was putting the finishing touches on her next album. The song was co-written with her husband, Bob DiPiero, who she married on Valentine's Day of 1991.

[edit] Homeward Looking Angel

After the gold-selling success of Put Yourself in My Place, Tillis returned to the studio to record the follow-up album. Working again with Paul Worley & Ed Seay, Tillis recorded an ambitious collection of both self-written and outside material. Just when she thought the album was done, she heard the demo for "Shake the Sugar Tree". She fell in love with the song, but as she later recalled in her 1997 radio special At the Ryman, "We were all out time, we were all out of money, so they put my voice on the demo tape."

The result was one of the biggest hits of her career. "Shake the Sugar Tree" peaked at #3, and the playful video became a CMT favorite. Tillis performed the show on the 1992 CMA Awards, where she was nominated for the same two categories as the previous year: Horizon Award, which she lost to Suzy Bogguss, and Single of the Year, this time for "Maybe it Was Memphis."

With the lead single hitting the upper reaches of the charts, Tills released Homeward Looking Angel on September 29, 1992. While the album didn't peak as high as its predecessor, stalling at #26, it sold more consistently, and radio warmly embraced the follow-up single "Let That Pony Run", written by Gretchen Peters.

The album featured five songs co-written by Tillis. The sweeping title track ran a full five minutes, and was vulnerably autobiographical. Tillis reprised her own "Rough and Tumble Heart", which had been recorded by Highway 101 a few years earlier. Another composition of hers, "We've Tried Everything Else", would be covered by Michelle Wright. Pop legend Dusty Springfield not only recorded "Fine, Fine Very Love", but used it as the title track for her album.

Tillis entered 1993 with her first Grammy nomination, as "Maybe It Was Memphis" was nominated for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female; the award went to Mary Chapin Carpenter. Tillis' increase in stature became clear in the spring, when she was nominated at the ACM Awards for Top Female Vocalist for the first time.

While enjoying this success, Arista issued the third single from Homeward Looking Angel, "Cleopatra, Queen of Denial." Co-written by Tillis, the rocking, tongue-in-cheek tune only reached #11, despite a dance mix being included on the radio disc. However, the song still became one of Tillis' signature hits; even though radio wasn't quite ready for a record that aggressive, video outlets gave heavy rotation to the stunning video, which featured a combination of Egyptian and country themes. The clip would lead to Best Video nominations at both the CMA's in 1993, and the ACM's in 1994.

"Cleopatra" also stimulated album sales, and on June 2, 1993, Homeward Looking Angel was certified gold, reaching that mark in a little over eight months; it had taken her previous album more than twice as long to reach the same sales heights. As the final single, Arista released "Do You Know Where Your Man Is", a retro number about Tillis once quipped: "If Tammy Wynette was just starting out, she'd kill for this song." It peaked at #16, and while its lack of a video make it one of her less well-known hits, its distinctive style has kept it in Tillis' set list over the years more often than some of her higher-charting singles. As her star continued to rise in the nineties, the album would eventually reach platinum status.

With Homeward Looking Angel, Tillis clearly established herself as one of new country's most promising young talents. However, she was feeling restless and wanted to cover more musical ground with her next project. That would mean breaking away from her proven production team and taking control of the recording process herself. The resulting album would bring her the most commercial and critical success of her career to date.

[edit] Accomplishments

Pam Tillis has had thirteen top ten hits on the country music charts and in 1994 was named the Country Music Association "Female Vocalist of the Year." In 1999, she earned a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Twice divorced, she has a grown son, Ben, and lives in Nashville.

[edit] Singles

Year Song US Country Album
1984 Goodbye Highway #71 N/A
1985 One Of Those Things N/A N/A
1986 These Memories Of You #55 N/A
1986 I Thought I'd Just About Had It With Love #67 N/A
1986 I Wish She Wouldn't Treat You That Way #68 N/A
1987 There Goes My Love #71 N/A
1991 Don't Tell Me What To Do #5 Put Yourself In My Place
1991 One Of Those Things (re-release) #6 Put Yourself In My Place
1991 Put Yourself In My Place #11 Put Yourself In My Place
1992 Maybe It Was Memphis #3 Put Yourself In My Place
1992 Blue Rose Is #21 Put Yourself In My Place
1992 Shake the Sugar Tree #3 Homeward Looking Angel
1993 Let That Pony Run #4 Homeward Looking Angel
1993 Cleopatra, Queen of Denial #11 Homeward Looking Angel
1993 Do You Know Where Your Man Is #16 Homeward Looking Angel
1994 Spilled Perfume #5 Sweetheart's Dance
1994 When You Walk in the Room #2 Sweetheart's Dance
1995 Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life) #1 Sweetheart's Dance
1995 I Was Blown Away #16 Sweetheart's Dance
1996 In Between Dancees #3 Sweetheart's Dance
1996 Deep Down #6 All Of This Love
1996 The River and the Highway #8 All Of This Love
1996 It's Lonely Out There #14 All Of This Love
1996 Betty's Got a Bass Boat #62 All Of This Love
1997 All The Good Ones Are Gone #4 Greatest Hits
1997 Land of the Living #5 Greatest Hits
1998 I Said a Prayer #12 Every Time
1998 Every Time #38 Every Time
1999 After a Kiss #49 Happy, Texas soundtrack
2002 Please #22 Thunder & Roses
2007 Band In The Window RhineStoned: High on Country Music

[edit] Grand Ole Opry

In 2000, Pam became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Pam also appeared on the Opry's 75th Birthday special on CBS, performing an original song she wrote as a tribute to Minnie Pearl called "Two Dollar Hat".

[edit] Theater

As well as singing, she has acted in guest spots on television and on stage in the Tennessee Repertory production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and on Broadway in "Smokey Joe's Café" that ran from 1995 to 2000.

[edit] Discography

[edit] External links

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