Tillis recovers from surgery

Me and Pepper

This disc, which features Tillis riding his horse Pepper on the cover, contains its share of highlights. One in particular, "Lying Time Again," smartly rhymes its title with a popular hit by substituting "lying" for "crying." Tillis' full-bodied vocals bring out the lyric's pathos when he moans, "Lord, the stories never end/And it's lying time again." With "This Is Me," Tillis distances himself from all the prior losers in a woman's life. ...

Your Body is an Outlaw

The reissue is the least satisfying of three out at the same time. Its title is clumsy, at best, and its lyric isn't much better. "Your body is an outlaw/Stealin' from my soul." Tillis is pictured on the back cover aiming a rifle, supposedly to support the album's outlaw image. But despite having "outlaw" in its title, this is not Tillis' attempt to ride the country outlaw movement bandwagon. Nevertheless, both the title track, which features daughter Pam on ...

Southern Rain

Collector's Choice Music released three previously out-of-print Mel Tillis Elektra Records albums at the same time. "Southern Rain," "Your Body Is an Outlaw" and "Me and Pepper" all date back to Tillis' 1979-82 period and contain plenty of fine Tillis singing. The finest CD in this trio is "Southern Rain." Although its title track also represents Tillis' last number one country hit, it's not the disc's best song. ...