Tillman Franks

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 vocal 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...