“I Ain’t Never”
Mel Tillis
Written by Webb Pierce and Mel Tillis
Billboard
#1 (2 weeks)
September 30 – October 7, 1972
Mel Tillis is part of a tradition in country music history that is now just about extinct: the singer-songwriter-comedian.
Call it a relic of the package road show and syndicated television variety show days, but there used to be a big place in the country market for someone who could not only sing and write, but could give an entertaining comedic performance in the barn house tradition.
Mel Tillis was an outstanding songwriter of deep sophistication, penning classics like “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” and “Detroit City.” He was also a merely competent singer who elevated his live shows with brilliant comedic timing and a real sense of showmanship.
“I Ain’t Never” is the best example of all of Mel’s talents coming together for a classic country record. Because he wrote this with Webb Pierce, this is more than just a cover of an older hit. Tillis has perfect comedic timing here, and it gives the record the electricity of his legendary live shows, which are worth the time of a YouTube deep dive.
Longtime readers won’t be surprised by my assertion that for all of Mel’s incredible talents and historic impact, I feel his greatest contribution to country music was Pam Tillis.
But I share that to make my point all the more clear. “I Ain’t Never” by Mel Tillis is better than the Pam Tillis recording from It’s all Relative: Tillis Sings Tillis, and that’s the only song that they’ve both recorded where I would make that assertion.
“I Ain’t Never” gets an A.
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I agree with the “A”. Mel has been so underrated when it comes to talking about country music history. He deserves a bit more attention. Song is not deep but so enjoyable.
There’s been a lot of conversation of country legends whose legacy has been erased or limited to a couple of recurrent radio standards. Mel Tillis has gotta be at or near the top of that list of artists active in the last 50 years. The only title I can directly attribute to him off the top of my head is “Coca-Cola Cowboy”. If I’ve heard any of his other songs played on classic country radio in the last 20 years, I wasn’t aware of it.
But, at least for me, there’s a reason for it. I did a “shallow dive” into his music a few years ago to see what I was missing. Considering how much I love his daughter’s music, I was disappointed by how little his stuff did for me, including this one.
This is one of those classic songs that saw multiple artists find chart success, and multiple versions are essential listening. Consider me Team Tillis here, but Webb Pierce also gives a great version. And I agree that Mel was a very charming performer whose humor was a big part of his persona, but also wrote numerous songs of serious and somber nature. He and Roger Miller are kindred spirits in my mind because of their similarities.