Johnny Tillotson - Talk Back Trembling Lips
Johnny Tillotson's artistic ability and energetic personality consistently delight audiences of all age groups.
He was born in
Jacksonville, Florida but, at nine years old, he was given the responsibility to take care of his grandmother in
Palatka, Florida, some 50 miles away. He traveled back to
Jacksonville to be with his parents each summer. It was at this early age that he decided to be a singer and with the encouragement of his
Mother and Grandmother,
Johnny began to perform at local functions and on the radio. By the time he entered
Palatka Sr.
High School, he had quite a reputation as a talented singer throughout the state of
Florida.
His first television appearance was as a guest on the "
Toby Dowdy
Show". Johnny's performance produced a steady stream of fan mail and resulted in a three year contract as a regular on the country-oriented show. When the "Toby Dowdy Show" went off the air, Johnny had the opportunity to do his own show. He successfully juggled his weekly
TV show and his studies at the
University of Florida until graduation.
It was during these years that Johnny began writing songs. In
1957, a local
D.J. submitted a tape of Johnny's singing to the
National Pet
Milk Talent Contest. Johnny was chosen as one of the 6 national winners from this tape, which afforded him the opportunity to perform on
WSM radio in
Nashville, Tennessee,where he was to receive his biggest break. Miss Lee
Rosenberg, a
Nashville music publisher, was so impressed with Johnny, she took his tape to
Archie Bleyer.
Archie was the owner of
Cadence Records and the force behind much of the success of
The Everly Brothers,
Andy Williams, 'the
Chordettes' and many other artists.
While Johnny was finishing his studies at the University of Florida, (He graduated with a
Bachelor of Science Degree in Journalism and
Communications in
1959), Archie recorded Johnny singing his own composition "
Dreamy Eyes". This song went to the top of the charts in Florida and many other parts of the country, which proved to Archie that Johnny had what it took to sell records. He invited Johnny to move to
New York City immediately upon graduating from college. This was the start of a string of chart records, "
Poetry In Motion", "It Keeps
Right On A Hurtin", "
Without You", "
Send Me The
Pillow That You
Dream On" and many more. It was "It Keeps Right On A Hurtin", one of Johnny's own compositions, which brought Johnny his first
Grammy nomination along with the distinction of becoming one of the first "cross-over" artists. This established Johnny as a country-pop star. The song went on to be recorded by
108 artists including
Elvis Presley and, most recently, it became a #l selling country hit by
Billy Joe Royal.
With 18
Chart records to his credit, he moved to
M.G.M Records where his first release, "
Talk Back Trembling Lips", was a huge success. This was followed by another 8 chart records including "
Heartaches By The Number", which gave Johnny his second Grammy nomination for
Best Vocal Performance. He also recorded the popular hit theme song for the
T.V. show "
Gidget" (
1965), starring
Sally Field. His other hits included "She Understands Me", "Worry", and "
You're The Reason". These hits and his endearing personality and stage presence have enabled Johnny to have a very successful concert career, entertaining audiences all over the world.
IMDb
Mini Biography By: johnnytillotson.com
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NOTE: I divided my uploads among multiple channels, Bookmark this link in your browser for instant access to an index with links to all of John1948's oldies classics.
LINK:
http://tinyurl.com/Channel-Index