Johnny Tillotson (born April 20, 1939 in Jacksonville, Florida) is an Americansinger and songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored 9 top-tenhits on the pop, country and adult contemporary billboard charts including ”Poetry In Motion” and the self-penned ”It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'”. He also sang ”Yellow Bird”, an adaptation of the Haitian song. Johnny’s version is quoted as being a favorite of the former head of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, because he and his wife had enjoyed it during their honeymoon. (BBC Interview)

Tillotson was inducted in the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2011.

 By the time he was at PalatkaSenior High School he had developed a reputation as a talented singer. He became a regular on the Toby Dowdy regional TV show in Jacksonville, and then had his own TV show on WFGA-TV. In 1957, while Tillotson was studying at the University of Florida, a local disc jockey, Bob Norris sent a tape of Johnny’s singing to the Pet Milk talent contest, where he was chosen as one of the six National finalists. This gave Johnny the opportunity to perform in Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM the Grand Ole Opry, which led Lee Rosenberg, a Nashville publisher, to take a tape to Archie Bleyer, owner of the independent Cadence Records. Bleyer signed Tillotson to a three-year contract, and issued his first single, ”Dreamy Eyes” / ”Well I’m Your Man” in September 1958. Both songs had been written by Tillotson, and both made the Billboard Hot 100, ”Dreamy Eyes” peaking at # 63. After graduating in 1959 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Communications, Tillotson moved to New York City to pursue his music career.

 From late 1959, a succession of singles – ”True True Happiness,” ”Why Do I Love You So,” and a double-sided single covering the R&B hits ”Earth Angel” and ”Pledging My Love” – all reached the bottom half of the Hot 100. His biggest success came with his sixth single, the up-tempo ”Poetry in Motion”, written by Paul Kaufman and Mike Anthony, and recorded in Nashville with session musicians including saxophonist Boots Randolph and pianist Floyd Cramer, Released in September 1960, it went to # 2 on the Hot 100 in the US, and # 1 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1961. On Bleyer’s advice, Tillotson focused primarily on his recording career, but also appeared on television and began to be featured as a teen idol in magazines. His follow-up record, ”Jimmy’s Girl,” reached # 25 in the US charts and # 43 in the UK; after that, ”Without You” returned him to the US Top Ten but failed to make the UK charts. He also toured widely as part of Dick Clark’s Cavalcade Of Stars.

Early in 1962, Tillotson recorded a song he had written himself, ”It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin’,” inspired by the terminal illness of his father. It became one of his biggest hits, reaching # 3 in the US pop chart and becoming the first of his records to make the country music charts, where it peaked at # 4. It earned him his first Grammy nomination, for Best Country & Western Recording, and was later recorded by over 100 performers including Elvis Presley and Billy Joe Royal, whose version was a country hit in 1988.  Read more at the english Wikepedia.

Johnny Tillotson – Why Do I Love You So 1959

 

 Johnny Tillotson – Poetry in Motion 1960

 

Johnny Tillotson – It Keeps Right On a Hurtin 1962

 

Johnny Tillotson – Cutie Pie  Bonuslåt