Mel’s Diner

Friday, Feb. 2, 2001 | 9:42 a.m.

When Mel Tillis arrived in Nashville, Tenn. back in the 1950s, the singer-songwriter recalls there being only three publishing companies and two recording studios in town.

Handfuls of country stars, each with their own style, established their individuality through their anecdotal songs, and there was little crossover into popular music. Country music was a culture of its own.

Today country music superstars are household names, with hits topping popular music charts and performers sharing air time with pop/rock artists.

And Tillis? Well, fortunately for fans of older country music, some sounds never change. When the 68-year-old Tillis takes the stage tonight through Sunday at the Orleans, fans will hear from a long list of familiar songs.

"If you're coming to see the show, you're going to see Mel Tillis," he said. "You've got to sing the songs that made you famous.

"I've got a bunch of them."

Excuse the understatement. The 1976 inductee to the Nashville Songwriters International Hall of Fame has written hundreds of country songs, including such hits as "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town," "Coca-Cola Cowboy" and "Send Me Down to Tucson."

His songs have been recorded by such artists as Brenda Lee, Charley Pride, the Oak Ridge Boys and George Strait.

"I still find one in my sock drawer," Tillis said referring to his songs, which he says are "blessings, because I'm not that smart."

"I wake up one day, sit down with my guitar and in 30 minutes I have a song." Tillis said the business of writing country music songs was easier for musicians when he was coming on the scene.

"We had more to write about. There wasn't as much competition," he said. "(And) in the 1950s the entertainers were all different from each other. They had their own styles, their own band and their own character. Today there are only a few like that Dwight Yoakam, George Strait."

Tillis has seen country music evolve from cowboys singing about life on the prairie to the honky-tonk sounds of Hank Williams to the new country of Shania Twain and Faith Hill.

"Every generation has their input and that's what's happening now," Tillis said of today's country stars smashing through the popular music charts.

"And like Bob Wills (a singer of Western-swing music) said, 'There's nothing I can do about it,' " Tillis added with a laugh.

Seriously, though, "More power to them," he said. "I love the kids out there. It keeps us old geezers in the business a while longer."

Tillis attributes the longevity of his career to "treating the business with respect."

"I'm from that old school and I dress my band in nice suits and boots to match," he said. "I want to go out there and dress to the nines if I can."

Tillis' career stretches from his first band, the Westerners -- a group he performed with while serving in the Air Force -- to his theater in Branson, Mo., where he performs nine months a year.

He recently recorded a song with his daughter, country singer Pam Tillis, about a young girl coming of age and how the girl's father responds. The song is on Pam Tillis' upcoming album, which will be released in March.

His gospel album, a new release titled "Beyond the Sunset," is already in stores.

And fans are probably familiar with "Old Dogs," an album featuring Tillis, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Reed and Bobby Bare, which was nominated for Vocal Event of the Year at the 1999 Country Music Awards. Tillis grew up in Pahokee, Fla., at a time when, he said, "there wasn't a whole lot of country music." He said he would go to the movies to see Frank Sinatra, who is his favorite singer.

His introduction to country music came via the airwaves when he would listen to Wills and the Texas Playboys on the radio, along with the sounds of Roy Acuff and Eddy Arnold performing from the Grand Ole Opry.

Shortly after, Tillis bought a guitar and began playing Gene Autry songs. "I always felt I would be in some kind of entertainment," he said. "My mother told me when I was a little feller that I told her I wanted to be a song conductor."

The "song conductor" will be accompanied this weekend by his band and backup singers, the Stutterettes (fondly named for his famous speech impediment). And Tillis said he'll have a few new stories to tell the audience.

"People expect me to talk as well as sing," he said. "I do a lot of stand-up (comedy) onstage."

Those comedic ways evolved from growing up with a speech impediment, he said. "I could ad-lib without stuttering and it would get me a laugh."

Kristen Peterson

is an Accent feature writer. Reach her at 259-2317 or kristen@lasvegassun.com.