ROOTS of Country Music

The Professional Work of Tillman Franks

Tillman Franks was born in Stamps, Arkansas. At age two, his family relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana. When he was a teenager, his parents had an old hand-cranked Victrola and his father had purchased a new record. It was by Roy Acuff and the song was Would You Care. Franks loved the song and played it over and over. That triggered his desire to become a country music singer.

When World War II started, Tillman joined the Army in 1942. While stationed at Tinker Air Base in Oklahoma, Franks got to meet one of his idols, Gene Sullivan. They immediately become friends and it was from Sullivan that he learned a lot of comedy.

Pictured right Tillman Franks

Franks was discharged in1945. Later that year, he got a job playing bass fiddle with Harmie Smith. Harmie had a program each morning on KWKH and would work a show most nights within a 150-mile radius of Shreveport.

Franks' career was going nowhere, so Dick Hart and Les Gibbs invited him to come to Little Rock, Arkansas and work with them (mid-1947). By the first part of 1948, Franks was back in Shreveport working for the Bailes Brothers. Tillman played bass with them on the first night of the famed Louisiana Hayride on Saturday night, April 3, 1948. From then on, his life would be entwined with the Hayride.

Shortly after the Hayride started, Franks left Shreveport to go to Houston, Texas to join Buddy Attaway and Claude King on KLEE for Elmer Laird Auto Sales. Laird had several car lots and a car-financing firm.

In early 1949, Tillman returned to Shreveport and got into the booking business. He initially booked Johnny Bailes and then Johnny and Jack and Kitty Wells. During that time Hank Williams Sr. came to Shreveport and Franks was among the first to befriend him. Tillman booked Hank's first show in the area which was the school auditorium at Powhatan, Louisiana. In addition, Franks gave him a white western dress suit, because Williams did not have one at the time. It turned out to be Hank's first western dress suit. A picture of Hank in the suit was used on the postage stamp that was issued June 10, 1993 by the U.S. Postal Service to commemorate Williams' career.

Webb Pierce was becoming more and more popular and in November 1949 made his first appearance on the Hayride. In 1951, Franks joined Pierce as his Manager. It was the first job he had that carried this title. Pierce joined the Grand Ole Opry in September 1952, but before then he and Franks had a parting of the ways.

In1953 Franks started working with Bill Carlisle and the Carlisles, first as a bass player and then as manager. In 1953, Franks moved to Nashville when the Carlisles join the Opry. By 1954, Franks had left the Carlisles and moved back to Shreveport. He again started booking shows and briefly managed Jimmy C. Newman.

Pictured left Johnny Horton

In 1955, Franks was back on the Hayride with an artist that would prove to be his most successful, the great Johnny Horton. In order for Horton to succeed, Franks knew he would have to change his music. Tillman worked out a deal to get Horton off Mercury Records and secured him a contract with Columbia.

Horton's first cut, in1956, was Honky Tonk Man. The first song to go to No. 1 for Horton was Springtime In Alaska. Horton cut the title song for the movie of the same titlr, which starred John Wayne. But the biggest hit of all was The Battle Of New Orleans. Franks said it skyrocketed to sell more than 2 million copies in just a matter of weeks. The song was written by Jimmy Driftwood. In April, 1960, Franks left the Hayride, taking with him their top star, Johnny Horton. The blow was fatal. On Aug. 27, 1960, the Hayride held its last regular performance.

By the time North to Alaska was riding the airwaves in 1960, Johnny Horton was getting strong premonitions of an early and violent death. Johnny was booked into the Skyline Club in Austin, Texas on November 4, 1960. After two sets, he started the drive back to Shreveport, LA. He was headed to a lake in Southern Louisiana for the start of the duck hunting season. Bass player Tommy Tomlinson was in the back seat and manager Tillman Franks in the front. Tillman noted Horton was driving too fast, but that was not unusual. Horton always drove fast, as if propelling along his own prophecy.

As they approached the Little River Bridge on Highway 79, near Cameron, Texas, James Evan Davis was driving a pick-up truck that smashed head-on into Horton's car. Davis' pick-up bounced off both sides of the bridge before plowing into Horton's vehicle. Both Franks and Tomlinson were taken to a hospital in Cameron. Horton was alive when ambulances arrived on the scene but died en route to the hospital. Franks suffered head injuries and Tomlinson suffered multiple leg fractures that eventually led to the amputation of his leg. Davis, who was not injured, was charged with intoxication manslaughter.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Written by: Richard Bell, Country Music Historian - Nashville, Tennessee, USA. April 2011