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Chanteur
Country US né le 27 Avril 1929 au Texas, Tommy Hill est le frère de
Goldie Hill et a enregistré chez Enterprise (51),
Decca (52-53), Feature (53-54), Hickory (54-56), Starday (59-62) et CMR Records
(72-73). Il est décédé le 21 Mars 2002.
Tommy Hill
never quite made it as a country star, despite a couple of decades of trying and
crossing paths with (and even working for) stars and legends like
Smiley Burnette,
Webb Pierce,
Hank Williams, and
Johnny Horton. He wrote some very successful songs and produced important
hits by others, and also left some hot rockabilly sides behind.
Born on a farm near Coy City, TX, on the eve of the Great Depression, Hill was
one of four children. He spent a good part of that childhood picking cotton in
order to help his family survive. He also listened to the radio and especially
enjoyed the music of
Jimmie Rodgers,
the Delmore Brothers, Cowboy Slim Rinehart, and
Wayne Raney. It was while dragging sacks of cotton through the fields that
Hill vowed to try for a career as a musician. He learned guitar listening to
Ernest Tubb's lead player, Jimmie Short, and was proficient enough as a
teenager to get a gig playing on radio with Big Bill Lister in San Antonio -- he
was good enough, in fact, to blow the competition out of the studio.
With his brother Ken, Hill got gigs working with Red River Dave McEnery, and one
day in 1948, musician/actor
Smiley Burnette (of
Gene Autry and
Roy Rogers fame) passed through San Antonio and found himself in need of a
guitar player or two. Tommy and Ken were hired for the gig and stayed with
Burnette, who brought them to California, which got them into the background
scenes in his movies as extras and musicians.
The Hollywood work only lasted for 18 months before Hill and his brother
returned to Texas to try and really make it in the music business. Sometime in
1949, Hill was playing in a group called the Texas Hillbillies, and he managed
to cross paths during the years that followed with
Hank Williams and
Johnny Horton. A couple of years later, Hill got picked up by
Webb Pierce as a fiddle player. They only worked together for about four
months, during which time
Pierce cut one of Hill's original songs, "Slowly," before Hill decided to
form a band of his own.
Pierce's manager,
Tillman Franks (who also later managed
Horton), got Hill a contract with Decca Records in 1952. He formed his own
band in Shreveport, LA, with his sister
Goldie, who had a hit with Hill's "Let the Stars Get in My Eyes" (retitled "Don't
Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes"), which he had originally written for
Kitty Wells.
Hill had little success with Decca and was persuaded to join Hickory Records,
the recording arm of Acuff-Rose publishers. By that time, rock & roll was
rumbling out of the South and the Midwest, and Hill ran across a fellow Texan
with a yen to record, steering him to Decca in Nashville -- that marked the
start of
Buddy Holly's commercial recording career. He also saw
Ronnie Self in concert and took to heart the kind of music that the kids
were listening to. He tried his hand at rockabilly, recording a single session
one night that took more than 35 years to see the light of day.
Somehow, however, success eluded Hill. He had no hits during his three years at
Hickory Records, and he subsequently hooked up with Starday Records, where he
eventually became a producer, handling many of the label's releases until 1968.
After a stint with MGM Records, Hill went into partnership with his fellow
guitarist,
Pete Drake, in the Stop label, which recorded
the Jordanaires and
Johnny Bush, among others, during its brief existence. Finally, in 1972,
Hill formed Gusto Records, and two years later went into partnership with Moe
Lytle; the two eventually bought out the King and Starday labels, and Hill was
the producer of Starday's biggest hit, "Teddy Bear" by
Red Sovine.
Hill hasn't been heard from since the early '60s as a recording artist, and none
of his country sides are currently in print. In 1993, however, Bear Family
Records released his long-lost rockabilly session from that June night in 1958.
Despite his talent and his years of playing and writing, Hill never scored a
hit; however, as he observed in Colin Escott's notes for Get Ready Baby, he had
a habit of always giving his best songs away to others.
Talents : Vocals, Guitar
Style musical : Traditional Country, Rockabilly
That Life That I'm
Living (1953)
Ain't Nothing Like Loving
(1958)
Oil On My Land
(1959)
Walls Of Stone
(1959)
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Years in activity :
| 1910 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 2000 | 10 | 20 |
DISCOGRAPHY
78 t. & Singles
| 1951 | SP ENTERPRISE 416 (US) |
Texas Hillbillies - Until Heaven Comes Along - I'll Take Texas / I'm Gonna Shoo My Blues Away |
| 111952 | 78 t. DECCA 28474 (US) | More I Give The More You Take / I Ain't Settin' Where I Was |
| 11/1952 | SP DECCA 9-28474 (US) |
More I Give The More You Take / I Ain't Settin' Where I Was |
| 04/1953 | 78 t. DECCA 28690 (US) | The Last Letter / Love Me For A Lifetime |
| 04/1953 | SP DECCA 9-28690 (US) |
The Last Letter / Love Me For A Lifetime |
| 1953 | SP FEATURE 1077 (US) |
That Life That I'm Living
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| 1953 | SP FEATURE 1089 (US) |
Jess Little & Bass Slaughter - The Blues Are Back Again / I Must Leave You Now |
| 1954 | SP FEATURE 2001 (US) |
End Of My Stairway / In The Middle Of The Morning |
| 02/1954 | 78 t. HICKORY 1002 (US) | Love Me, Baby / Life That I'm Living |
| 02/1954 | SP HICKORY 45-1002 (US) |
Love Me, Baby / Life That I'm Living |
| 07/1954 | 78 t. HICKORY 1010 (US) | Bright Lights Is Your Heaven / Say It Now |
| 07/1954 | SP HICKORY 45-1010 (US) |
Bright Lights Is Your Heaven / Say It Now |
| 02/1955 | 78 t. HICKORY 1020 (US) | Collision With Love / Honky Tonk Romance |
| 02/1955 | SP HICKORY 45-1020 (US) |
Collision With Love / Honky Tonk Romance |
| 07/1955 | 78 t. HICKORY 1031 (US) | Diddle Dumpling / Six Foot Of Earth |
| 07/1955 | SP HICKORY 45-1031 (US) |
Diddle Dumpling / Six Foot Of Earth |
| 12/1955 | 78 t. HICKORY 1039 (US) | Mister Jukebox / Sugar Manner |
| 12/1955 | SP HICKORY 45-1039 (US) |
Mister Jukebox / Sugar Manner |
| 04/1956 | 78 t. HICKORY 1047 (US) |
I Wanta Show My Baby Off
 / Although I'm Second Hand |
| 04/1956 | SP HICKORY 45-1047 (US) |
I Wanta Show My Baby Off
/ Although I'm Second Hand |
| 04/1959 | SP Starday 45-429 (US) | |
| 12/1962 | SP Starday 45-611 (US) |
K.C. Train Whistle Blues / Twin Fiddle Polka |
| 1965 | SP Starday 45-723 (US) | That's Truck Drivin' (Slim Jacobs) / Cabin Call (Tommy Hill’s String Band) |
| 1972 | SP CMR 45-101 (US) |
Ain't She A Crying Shame? / Why-Why-Why? |
| 1972 | SP CMR 45-102 (US) |
Strength Of My Weakness / My Heart Is Mine |
| 1972 | SP CMR 45-103 (US) |
Paint Your World Happy / When She Comes Running Back To Me |
| 1973 | SP CMR 45-105 (US) |
Sweet Dreams And Lonely Memories / Make It Easy On Yourself |
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Unissued Tracks
| 1958 | Unissued - (Bear Family CD 15709 (#1)) |
Ain't Nothing Like Loving
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| 1958 | Unissued - (Bear Family CD 15709 (#3)) |
Can't Help It
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| 1958 | Unissued - (Bear Family CD 15709 (#7)) |
Do Me A Favor
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| 1958 | Unissued - (Bear Family CD 15709 (#5)) |
Get Ready Baby [vers. 1]
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| 1958 | Unissued - (Bear Family CD 15709 (#9)) |
Get Ready Baby [vers. 2]
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| 1958 | Unissued - (Bear Family CD 15709 (#8)) |
Have A Little Faith In Me
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| 1958 | Unissued - (Bear Family CD 15709 (#2)) |
In The Middle Of The Morning [vers. 1]
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| 1958 | Unissued - (Bear Family CD 15709 (#10)) |
In The Middle Of The Morning [vers. 2]
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| 1958 | Unissued - (Bear Family CD 15709 (#4)) |
Life Begins At 4 O'Clock
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| 1958 | Unissued - (Bear Family CD 15709 (#6)) |
Love Words
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Albums
| 1963 | LP 12" ABC Paramount ABC 446 (mono) / ABCS-446 (stereo) (US) |
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Pickin' 'N' Grinnin' - The Bluegrass Hillbillies - The Ballad Of Jed Clampett / Big Red's Special / Nine-Pound Hammer / Shortnin' Bread / Silver Threads And Golden Needles / Tom Dooley / Hand Me Down My Walkin' Cane / Drunkard's Hiccups / This Land Is Your Land / The Lonesome Mohawk / Darlin' Cora / I Ain't Got Nobody |
| 1963 |
LP 12" Starday SLP-210 (mono) / S-SLP-210 (stereo) (US) |
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The Swingin' Sound of Modern Country Music with Percussion - Tommy Hill's Nashville String Band - Frankie & Johnny / Bayou Medley / Jole Blon - Big Mamou / Tennessee Volunteer March / String Boogie Woogie / The Waltz You Saved For Me / Dixieland Rag / Twin Fiddle Polka / K.C. Train Whistle Blues / New Westphalia Waltz / Cherokee Swing / Western Dance Medley: Faded Love-A Maiden's Prayer - Just Because |
| 1969 | LP 12" Starday S-SLP-439 (US) |
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THE Golden Country Melodies - Tommy Hill & Nashville Cats - Release Me (And Let Me Love Again) / Honey / Bummin' Around / Theme From Giddy Up Go / Y'all Come / Melody From Danny Boy / Gentle On My Mind / Send Me The Pillow That You Dream On / Blues Stay Away From Me / Alabam / Harper Valley PTA / Am I That Easy To Forget |
| 1993 | CD Bear Family BCD-15709 (GER) |
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Get Ready Baby - Ain't Nothing Like Loving / In The Middle Of The Morning / I Can't Help It / Life Beginf At Four O' Clock / Oh Get Ready Baby / Love Words / Do Me A Favor / Have A Little Faith On Me / Oh Get Ready Baby / In The Middle Of The Morning |
| 2004 | CD Hillbilly Researcher HBR # 74 (UK) |
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Tommy Hill - Until Heaven Comes Along I'll Take Texas / I'm Gonna Shoo My Blues Away / I Ain't Settin' Where I Was / The More I Give, The More I Take / Love Me For A Lifetime / The Last Letter / The Life That I'm Living (Feature) / What Is It Darling? / The Life That I'm Living (Hickory) / Bright Lights Is Your Heaven Love Me, Baby Say It Now / The Blues Are Back Again / I Must Leave You Now / The End Of The Stairway / In The Middle Of The Morning / Honky Tonk Romance / I Wanta Show My Baby Off / Collision With Love / Although I'm Second Hand / Six Foot Of Earth / Diddle, Diddle Dumpling / Mr. Jukebox / Sugar Nanner / Walls Of Stone / Oil On My Land |
| 2010 | CD BACM CD 293 (UK) |
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The Life That I’m Living - Until Heaven Comes Along I'll Take Texas / I'm Gonna Shoo My Blues Away / I Ain't Settin' Where I Was / The More I Give, The More I Take / Love Me For A Lifetime / The Last Letter / The Life That I'm Living (Feature) / What Is It Darling? / The Life That I'm Living (Hickory) / Bright Lights Is Your Heaven Love Me, Baby Say It Now / The Blues Are Back Again / I Must Leave You Now / The End Of The Stairway / In The Middle Of The Morning / Honky Tonk Romance / I Wanta Show My Baby Off / Collision With Love / Although I'm Second Hand / Six Foot Of Earth / Diddle, Diddle Dumpling / Mr. Jukebox / Sugar Nanner / Walls Of Stone / Oil On My Land |
© Rocky Productions 16/04/2024
