Bill Phillips

Born William Clarence Phillips on 28 January 1936 in Canton, North Carolina, USA, he spent his early years surrounded by country music traditions. He mastered the guitar and started performing vocally prior to dropping out of high school for work as an upholsterer. In 1955 Phillips entered the Old Southern Jamboree broadcast on Miami’s WMIL and performed regularly at area clubs, relocating to Nashville two years later. There he signed on with Cedarwood Publishing as a staff songwriter, attracting notice after supplying Webb Pierce with the 1958 Top 10 country single “Falling Back To You.” The achievement led Columbia Records to offer him a contract, and between 1959 and 1960 he scored his initial Top 30 entries, “Sawmill” and “Georgia Town Blues,” both duets with Mel Tillis that also earned him Grand Ole Opry appearances. Phillips moved to Decca Records in 1963; by 1971 he had accumulated twelve additional chart records, the most successful being the 1966 release “Put It Off Until Tomorrow,” which reached number 6 and featured harmony vocals from co-writer Dolly Parton. Further Top 10 singles comprised “The Company You Keep” in 1966 along with “The Words I’m Gonna Have To Eat” and “Little Boy Sad” in 1969, the last of these having earlier been a 1961 pop success for Johnny Burnette. Five lesser-charting sides appeared on United Artists and Soundwaves during the 1970s. Beginning in the early part of that decade he toured regularly within the Kitty Wells–Johnny Wright Show while issuing occasional solo sides. Phillips experienced a stroke in 1995, prompting Wells, Wright and fellow country artists to stage a benefit concert on his behalf.