# 'Goodbye to the Stuttering Boy!'  RIP Mel Tillis

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-to-the-stuttering-boy-rip-mel-tillis/802093>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 19, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-to-the-stuttering-boy-rip-mel-tillis/802093 "2017-11-19T19:14:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-to-the-stuttering-boy-rip-mel-tillis/802093/1 "2017-11-19T19:14:30Z")

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[Mel Tillis has died](http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/19/entertainment/mel-tillis-country-music-dies/index.html) after battling ‘intestinal issues’ since 2016. The suspected cause of death was respiratory failure. He was 85

The quote in the title is from a routine he did back in the '70s, where he talked about driving a truck for a cookie maker named Harry. He was the Harry Cookie Man. IIRC, the joke was that eating a ‘Harry Cookie’ would kill him.

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**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-to-the-stuttering-boy-rip-mel-tillis/802093/2 "2017-11-19T20:15:18Z")

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Mel was an excellent songwriter. Several artists had hits with Mel’s songs. He became a good singer.

My condolences to his daughter Pam and other family.

R.I.P.

[http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/mel-tillis-longtime-country-singer-songwriter-dead-85-article-1.3643821](http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/mel-tillis-longtime-country-singer-songwriter-dead-85-article-1.3643821)

> [@](#):
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> Tillis, the father of country singer Pam Tillis, recorded more than 60 albums and had more than 30 top 10 country singles, including “Good Woman Blues,” ''Coca Cola Cowboy" and “Southern Rain.” Among the hits he wrote for others were “Detroit City” for Bobby Bare; “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town,” by Rogers and the First Edition; and “Thoughts of a Fool” for George Strait.

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**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2017, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-to-the-stuttering-boy-rip-mel-tillis/802093/3 "2017-11-20T01:52:24Z")

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Mel Tillis released an album in 1975 that was actually titled _M-M-M-Mel_.

My wife was never a country music fan. She first heard of him when she was taking classes in speech therapy and her instructor used his stuttering as an example of how speech uses one part of the brain and singing uses another.

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**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2017, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-to-the-stuttering-boy-rip-mel-tillis/802093/4 "2017-11-20T07:22:31Z")

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I knew Mel in 1959 before he was well known. Nice man.

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**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-to-the-stuttering-boy-rip-mel-tillis/802093/5 "2017-11-20T16:30:28Z")

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One of the ultimate “how on earth did they get away this songs”, [I Got the Hoss.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gQW2OagGw8)