BLUES MASTER TILMAN
Photo: Roman Sobus
W
ith a hat tipped over his brow and a rasp in his voice that sings as easily as his plainspoken wisdom, Smiley Tillman looks and sounds like a bluesman. Born in a Georgia cotton field and playing his music across the country, from Florida, to New York, to Chicago, you might say he’ s a quintessential bluesman. He’ s played for 60 years and is finally being recognized with a“ Blues Master” award from the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame at Buddy Guy’ s Legend’ s this month. But according to Smiley, his love of music has never been about fame or awards.“ I appreciate it, I don’ t take this lightly but I’ ve never been arrogant or cocky when it comes to music,” he said in a phone interview
By Rosalind Cummings-Yeates
Smiley Tilman
before his show.“ I love this music and you just go to work and do the best you can do. I’ m just thankful God gave me a gift that people like.”
If you’ ve ever seen Smiley Tillman perform, you know that the audience responds with much more appreciation than just liking his show. Clutching his guitar and switching smoothly from classic blues to soul blues, he jokes and banters with his fans without ever missing a beat. His rich vocals purr over the grittiness of“ Born Under a Bad Sign” and then caresses the soulful melodies of“ Turning Point,” while all eyes and ears follow him. A master performer as well as musician, this spry septuagenarian learned his skills the old school way.” My mom was musical and I’ d sing with her around the house,” recalled Smiley of his childhood in rural Georgia.“ When I got older, I saw Little Richard, B. B. King and I liked how they played. I also liked that they had all the pretty ladies looking at them.”
After learning to play a second-hand guitar, Moses, as he was called then, starting playing around his town. At 16, his family had moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and a lot of his classmates were from Nassau, Bahamas. The influence of his Caribbean friends turned out to be significant because when he was 16, he wasn’ t recruited to play the blues or soul that he grew up with but calypso.“ I got a group together and a guy from Miami took us on tour,” he said.“ It was fun, we played New York, Montreal, the Catskills.” It was the late ' 50s and calypso, popularized by the newly discovered Harry Belafonte, was a pop sensation in the U. S.‘ I was determined that I wouldn’ t go back to Ft. Lauderdale until I was a star,” said Smiley.“ I was going to stay out of town until I had something to brag about,” he explained.
He landed in Chicago in 1962 at the height of the blues renaissance and never looked back.“ I called a friend who had moved here from Montreal and I had a job in two weeks. I became a real bluesman.” Indeed, Smiley was living in the fabled Sutherland Hotel, mixing with the era’ s blues musicians and African American celebrities.“ They had a lounge where everybody would hang out. I lived on the third floor. Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, Redd Foxx were all there,” he said. The Sutherland, located at 46th and Drexel, had a long history of hosting jazz greats like Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane. By the‘ 60s, some of the glamor had faded but it was still a hotbed for music, as Smiley discovered.
Falling deep into the blues scene, Smiley began hanging out at The Trocadero, where Von Freeman, Lonnie Brooks and Jimmy Johnson were regulars.“ They had Blue Mondays,” where three bands would play through the course of the day. Guys like Junior Wells and James Cotton played and I paid attention.” Playing at small clubs scattered around the South Side, Smiley established himself as an all around bluesman who could play guitar, sing and entertain audiences with his big personality.“ I kept playing and I kept getting calls for jobs and 60 years later, I’ m still doing it.”
During those 60 years, Smiley actually took time off to help raise his five kids and work for a local school district. He took up full-time playing again after he retired and formed the Smiley Tillman Band in 2007. Playing with legends like Eddy Clearwater, Lonnie Brooks, Jimmy Johnson, and Zora Young, the group works constantly playing at local blues spots including House of Blues, Legends and breweries like Lagunitas and 18th Street Brewery.“ I appreciate the people who help keep the blues out there,” he said.“ My favorites are people like Albert King, B. B. King, Little Milton and Albert Collins. These guys laid the tracks down for us to walk on.”
Smiley Tilman will be honored at the 5th Annual Chicago Blues Hall of Fame Sunday, October 15 at 2pm at Buddy Guy’ s Legends, 700 S. Wabash. This year’ s ceremony is dedicated to the late Michael Packer, the show’ s legendary host. Other honorees include Pervis Spann,, Eddie C. Campbell, Holle Thee Maxwell, John Primer and Carl Weathersby.
18 illinoisentertainer. com october 2017