Biography
Phyllis Spain, a Nashville pop singer originally from Kingston Springs, Tennessee, performed country & western material under the alias Tabby West. She began with a stretch on Nashville's WSM, then traveled with the Jack Gregory Orchestra until marrying bandleader Red Wortham and entering his orchestra shortly afterward. Wortham eventually turned to production and music publishing. When Decca A&R executive Paul Wells needed a country singer modeled on Kitty Wells, Wortham proposed his wife, who recorded her 1953 debut single "I Love You Too Much to Leave You" as Tabby West. The follow-ups "They Accused Me" and "I Love Everybody" attracted little radio play. After issuing one last Decca single, 1954's "Send Somebody Like Joe," the label moved her to its Coral subsidiary, where she worked with producer Owen Bradley on sides such as "My Daddy Left My Mommy Again" and "Forbidden Fruit." A duet with Texas Bill Strength, "You Can't Have My Love," became a minor hit yet could not retain her spot on the Coral roster. Following her divorce from Wortham, she settled in Springfield, Missouri and joined Red Foley's Ozark Jubilee television and touring revue. She reappeared on Capitol in 1958, but singles including "I Can't Stop Loving You" went largely unnoticed, after which she withdrew from performing. The Cowgirlboy label compilation The Hillbilly Sweetheart gathers sixteen tracks from her Decca and Coral years.