It’s Happening at Chinook Winds in May ...
Mel and Pam Tillis to Perform
by Teresa Simmons
Comedy on the Coast Set for
Holiday Weekend
“It seems like just yesterday that I
Mel Tillis has recorded more than
left Florida headin’for Nashville, Tenn.,
60 albums. He’s had 36 top 10 singles,
in my '49 Mercury with a busted wind
with nine going to No. 1, including
Comedy on the Coast is set for May
shield, a pregnant wife, and $29 in my
Good Woman Blues and Southern Rain.
23-25, featuring a trio of comedians in
pocket. 2002 marks my 46"' year in the
A recent recording, Old Dogs with
a 90-minute show. Cork Proctor will
music business. If I lost it all tomorrow,
Bobby Bare, Wayion Jennings, and
open, with Gary Mule Deer as the
I guess I could say it only cost me $29 Jerry Reed, was released in 1998.
headliner and Jeff Wayne as the
and it ’s been one heck of a ride! ” Mel Tillis
featured act.
Little did Mel know that daughter
Tickets still are available for the Mel
Pamela Yvonne Tillis would one day
Cork Proctor sees the world a little
and Pam Tillis concerts on May 30-31.
make her own mark in country music
differently than the rest of us. Perhaps
history. Pam Tillis has been a formidable
it’s because the energetic 70-year-old
Mel Tillis started performing in the
force in country music since her first
comedian is dyslexic. Or maybe it’s
early '50s with The Westerners while
Arista single hit the charts in 1990.
because his mind fires like a machine
serving as a baker in the U.S. Air Force,
gun that never runs out of bullets.
She’s had 14 top five hits, including six
stationed in Okinawa. In 1956, Webb
that hit No. 1, and five of her albums have
Pierce recorded a song written by Mel
been certified gold or platinum.
Tillis entitled I’m Tired, and it launched
A first-rate songwriter, Pam Tillis
his musical career.
has had her compositions recorded by
In 1957, Nashville was home to only
artists as varied as Chaka Khan, Juice
a dozen or so songwriters at best. Mel
Newton, and Conway Twitty.
Tillis became one of Nashville’s most
She’s written many of her own
successful songwriters in the late ’50s
songs, including the No. 1 hit Mi Vida
and ’60s, penning such hits as Detroit
Loca, It ’s Lonely Out There, In Between
City; Heart Over Mind; Ruby, Don’t
Dances and Spilled Perfume.
Take Your Love to Town; and Strange.
Pam Tillis one of the first women
In 1976, Mel Tillis was inducted
in Nashville to produce her own album,
into the Nashville Songwriters Inter
and she received the CMA “Female
national Hall of Fame and was named
Vocalist of the Year’’ Award in 1994.
the Country Music Association’s (CMA)
She was inducted into the Grand
Entertainer of the Year.
Ole Opry in 2000 and currently can be
Cork Proctor
In September 1999, BMI named
seen in a high-profile ad campaign for
Mel Tillis the Songwriter of the Decade
Easy Spirit’s “Spirit of Country” in
Proctor didn’t try stand-up comedy
for two decades. Most recently, he
Vogue, In Style, and Redbook.
until he was 40. But getting a late start
received the Golden Voice Entertainer
Shows are at 9 p.m. on May 30 and
is nothing new for him. He joined the
Award for 2001 and the 2001 Golden 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on May 31. Tickets
Peace Corps at 66. Last summer, he
R.O.P.E. Songwriter Award
are $25-$45, depending on seat location.
attended an auctioneering school and
he’s going to start welding school soon
to pursue an interest in sculpting. He also
has a grant from the University of Nevada
- Las Vegas to interview old-time
entertainers for the school’s archives.
The entertainment career of come
dian and musician Gary Mule Deer
spans 30 years, including more than 300
television appearances and nearly every
major concert stage in the country.
Early in his career. Mule Deer and
his roommate, Steve Martin, began
writing what became the basis of their
comedy acts for years to come. Martin
became a writer-performer on The
Smothers Brothers Show and Mule
Deer spent a few years with Epic Records.
He's appeared in Annie Hall and
Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke, and
on more than 100 television shows.
Mule Deer began entertaining at
major casinos in Las Vegas, Reno, Lake
Tahoe, and Atlantic City with top
country and pop stars, including Dolly
Parton, Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson,
Frank Sinatra, Reba McEntire, Ray
Charles, Brooks and Dunn, and with
Johnny Mathis for the last four years.
He’s a regular performer on The
Nashville Network. He had a regular
spot on Hee Haw in 1991, where he
introduced two new characters, the
Right Reverend G.C. Mule Deer and
Cactus Jack, Bad Cowboy Poet.
Jeff Wayne has been described as
having a face borrowed from Fred
Flintstone and an attitude like Al Bundy
with a brain.
He's opened for Sheena Easton,
B.B. King, and Jerry Lee Lewis. On
television, he scored with Comic Relief,
Showtime’s Full Frontal Comedy,
Arsenio, ABC's Comedy Festival,
Nashville Now, Evening at the Improv,
Comedy on the Road, and many others.
Wayne just completed his fifth tour
of Europe. He’s built a loyal following
in England, Holland, Germany, Swit
zerland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden.
The act is intended to leave ample
room for improvisation and spon
taneity. Wayne has two CDs out and is
preparing his third.
Doors open at 7:30 p.m.; the show
begins at 8 p.m. A no-host bar will be
available. Tickets, priced at $12, are
available at the box office.
May 2003 □
Siletz News
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