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Contrebassiste Country US né Tillman Ben Franks le 29
Septembre 1920 à Stamps
(Arkansas). Tillman Franks est décédé le 26 Octobre 2006.
A veteran
bassist and songwriter who appeared on the first-ever broadcast of radio's famed
Louisiana Hayride, Tillman Franks nevertheless enjoyed his greatest
influence on country music as a manager and producer, helming the careers of
acts including Webb Pierce,
Johnny Horton, and
David Houston. Born September 29, 1920,
in Stamps, AR, Franks grew up in the Shreveport suburb of Cedar Grove. Inspired
by hero Roy Acuff, he learned guitar at
14, and while a student at Byrd High School, he formed his first band, the
Rainbow Boys, with classmates Claude King
and Buddy Attaway. Eventually the group traveled to Shreveport station KRMD to
cut a record, but upon hearing the playback, Franks was so disappointed by his
Vocals performance that he vowed to quit singing for good. While stationed in the
Pacific during World War II, he formed a new incarnation of the Rainbow Boys
with a then-unknown banjo player named Pete
Seeger. When they failed to recruit a standup bass player, Franks
reluctantly abandoned guitar to assume rhythm duties himself, and the bass
fiddle remained his primary instrument from that point forward. He also hosted a
radio show on military radio, welcoming guests including
Gene Autry and his sidekick Ruff Davis.
After returning stateside, Franks backed Harmie Smith on his KWKH radio showcase,
briefly relocating to Little Rock before coming back to Shreveport in 1948 to
back the Bailes Brothers. Franks
was a member of the Bailes' band on April 3, 1948, the night the Louisiana
Hayride premiered on KWKH. The program would remain an inextricable element
of his life for more than a decade. Franks nevertheless left
the Bailes Brothers in mid-1948,
relocating to Houston to work under auto dealer Elmer Laird alongside
King and Attaway. They also helped Laird
write the song "Poison Love," recording a demo they shopped in Nashville after
an irate customer stabbed Laird to death. The tragedy also spelled the end of
Franks' career as a car salesman, and he again traveled back to Shreveport, this
time with the intention of forming a booking agency.
the Bailes Brothers signed on as
his first clients, and soon his roster included
Kitty Wells and
Johnnie & Jack. Franks also briefly
signed an aspiring singer named Hank
Williams, booking a gig at the Powhatan, LA, school auditorium and
outfitting Williams in the western
dress suit that would become his trademark. Franks moonlighted playing bass with
the Hayride house band, and also taught guitar lessons. His pupils
included Jerry Kennedy,
Merle Kilgore, and
Tommy Sands. However, his management
career did not begin in earnest until late 1951, when he signed with
Webb Pierce (also doubling as his
bassist). Within a year Pierce
terminated the relationship, but not before Franks negotiated a record deal with
Decca and guided the singer to his first number one single, the honky tonk
classic "Wondering." Franks also managed another Hayride star,
Billy Walker, and advised
Slim Whitman, with whom he regularly
sat in on bass; in early 1953, he signed as manager and bassist with
Bill Carlisle & the Carlisles, and by
year's end they scored a number one single, "No Help Wanted."Following brief
stints with Jimmy C. Newman and
Jimmy & Johnny, Franks in 1955
signed a management deal with Johnny Horton.
After negotiating the singer's release from Mercury, he signed a new contract
with Columbia, which issued Horton's
hit, the Franks-penned "Honky Tonk Man," in the spring of 1956. A series of
chart smashes followed, among them "One Woman Man" and "Honky Tonk Mind," and in
1959 Horton scored his first number one
with another Franks composition, "When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty
Below)." Horton enjoyed his greatest
success later that year with the crossover blockbuster "The Battle of New
Orleans." By now, he was the Louisiana Hayride's biggest draw, and his
success was instrumental in installing Franks as head of the Hayride's
Artist Service Bureau as well as landing him a position as vice president of the
program's new Cajun Publishing arm. Per terms of the agreement, Franks was
scheduled to receive a percentage of the Hayride's profits, but he never
saw a dime and on April 16, 1960, he resigned from the show, taking
Horton with him. Without its biggest
star, the program's ratings flat lined, and on August 27 it aired its final
regular performance. On November 5, 1960,
Horton and Franks were returning from a performance at Austin, TX's Skyline
Club when drunken Texas A&M student James Evans Davis veered his vehicle into
their lane. Horton, long plagued by
fears he would be killed by a drunk driver, was pronounced dead upon arrival at
a local hospital, while Franks suffered serious head and internal injuries,
bearing a scar across his forehead for the remainder of his life. After
recovering from his injuries, Franks contacted childhood friend and Rainbow Boys
alum Claude King, who'd issued a handful
of honky tonk singles for labels including Gotham and Specialty, all to little
notice. Franks teamed him with Merle
Kilgore, now a hit songwriter, and in the summer of 1962,
King's "Wolverton Mountain" topped the
country charts. For a time, Franks also managed the career of
Horton's widow, Billie Jean, and in
1963 his newest act, David Houston,
reached number two with "Mountain of Love," the beginning of a 22-year
association that included a series of chart-toppers including "Almost Persuaded,"
"With One Exception," "You Mean the World to Me," and "Have a Little Faith." In
the years to follow, Franks also managed Japanese-born fiddler Shoji Tabuchi and
Terry Bradshaw, the Shreveport
native who quarterbacked the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl victories
before mounting a short-lived career as a country act. In addition, Franks
played bass behind singer and former Louisiana governor
Jimmie Davis, and led his own
Tillman Franks Singers. On July 11, 1996, KWKH sponsored Tillman Franks Day, a
Shreveport celebration with appearances by
King, Kilgore, and
Homer Bailes. Three years later,
he also played the Louisiana Hayride's 50th anniversary festivities. A
charter member of the Country Music Association and member of the Rockabilly
Hall of Fame, Franks published his autobiography, I Was There When It Happened,
in 2000. After a long illness, he died in hospice on October 26, 2006, aged 86.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillman_Franks
Talents : Contrebass, Bass, Songwriter, Manager, Producer
Style musical : Traditional Country, Honky Tonk
DRIFTING TEXAS SAND (1950)
 (Vocals
Webb Pierce)
California Blues (1951)
Hayride Boogie (1951)
Hot Rod-Shotgun Boogie No. 2
(1951)
HI-TONE
POPPA
(1951)
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Years in activity :
| 1910 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 2000 | 10 | 20 |
DISCOGRAPHY
78 t. & Singles
| 10/1950 | 78 t. & SP PACEMAKER 1003 (US) | Tillman FRANKS & The RAINBOW
BOYS / Vocals by Webb
PIERCE -
Drifting Texas Sand
/ You Scared
The Love Right Out Of Me |
| 1951 | 78 t. & SP PACEMAKER 1011 (US) | Tillman FRANKS & His RAINBOW
BOYS / Vocals by Webb
PIERCE -
California Blues
/
Hayride Boogie
|
| 11/1951 | SP GOTHAM G-7412 (US) | Tillman FRANKS & His RAINBOW
BOYS / Vocals by Faron YOUNG -
Hot Rod-Shotgun Boogie No.2
/
Hi-Tone
Poppa
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| 11/1963 | SP STARDAY 651 (US) | Tadpole / Pretty Little Girls |
| 03/1964 | SP STARDAY 670 (US) | Tillman FRANKS SINGERS - Uncle Eph / When The World's On Fire |
| 1964 | SP HILLTOP 3000 (US) | Tillman FRANKS SINGERS - Hey, Good Lookin / So Lonesome I Could Cry |
| 1964 | SP HILLTOP 3005 (US) | Tillman FRANKS SINGERS - Pretty Rainbow (Of Love) / Those Two Blue Eyes |
| 1969 | SP PAULA 1210 (US) | Tillman FRANKS SINGERS - Sweet Lovin' / Tell Me Darling Would You Care |
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Albums
| 1964 | LP 12" HILLTOP JM-6019 (mono) / JS-6019 (stereo) (US) |
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THE HANK WILLIAMS STORY - Tillman FRANKS SINGERS - Your cheatin' heart / Hey, good looking / I'm so lonesome I could cry / Cold, cold heart / Jambalaya / I can't help it if I'm still in love with you / There'll be no teardrops tonight / Long gone lonesome blues / I saw the light / Kawliga |
| 200? | CD ? (US) |
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THE SUNNY SIDE OF LIFE - Tillman FRANKS SINGERS - Sunny Side Of Life / Why Not Tonight / Just A Little Talk With Jesus/ O How I Love Jesus / He Will Set Your Fields On Fire / Telephone To Glory / Jacob's Ladder |
© Rocky Productions 23/11/2013
