Johnny Tillotson Autographs
Johnny Tillotson (April 20, 1938 – April 1, 2025) was an American singer-songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored nine top-ten hits on the pop, country, and adult contemporary Billboard charts, including "Poetry in Motion", the self-penned "It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin'", "Talk Back Trembling Lips" and "Without You".
Tillotson was the son of Doris and Jack Tillotson, who owned a small service station on the corner of 6th and Pearl in Jacksonville, Florida; his father acted as the station's mechanic. At the age of nine, Johnny was sent to Palatka, Florida, to take care of his grandmother. He returned to Jacksonville each summer to be with his parents when his brother Dan would go to his grandmother. Johnny began to perform at local functions as a child, and by the time he was at Palatka Senior High School he had developed a reputation as a talented singer. Tillotson became a semi-regular on WJXT's McDuff Hayride, hosted by Toby Dowdy, and soon landed his own show on WFGA-TV. In 1957, while Tillotson was studying at the University of Florida, local disc jockey Bob Norris sent a tape of Johnny's singing to the Pet Milk talent contest, and he was chosen as one of six national finalists. This gave Johnny the opportunity to perform in Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM the Grand Ole Opry, which led Lee Rosenberg, a Nashville publisher, to take a tape to Archie Bleyer, owner of the independent Cadence Records. Bleyer signed Tillotson to a three-year contract, and issued his first single, "Dreamy Eyes" / "Well I'm Your Man" in September 1958. Both songs were written by Tillotson, and both made the Billboard Hot 100, "Dreamy Eyes" peaking at No. 63. After graduating in 1959 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and communications, Tillotson moved to New York City to pursue his music career.
From late 1959, a succession of singles – "True True Happiness", "Why Do I Love You So" (recorded October 1959), and a double-sided single covering the R&B hits "Earth Angel" and "Pledging My Love" – all reached the bottom half of the Hot 100. His biggest success came with his sixth single, the up-tempo "Poetry in Motion", written by Paul Kaufman and Mike Anthony, and recorded in Nashville in August 1960 with session musicians including saxophonist Boots Randolph and pianist Floyd Cramer. Released in September 1960, it went to No. 2 on the Hot 100 in the U.S., and No. 1 on the UK's Record Retailer chart in January 1961. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. On Bleyer's advice, Tillotson focused on his recording career, also appearing on television and being featured as a teen idol in magazines. His follow-up record, "Jimmy's Girl", reached No. 25 in the U.S. charts and No. 43 in the UK; after that, "Without You" returned him to the U.S. Top Ten but failed to make the UK Singles Chart. He toured widely with Dick Clark's Cavalcade of Stars.
Read more about Johnny Tillotson on Wikipedia
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Traded items with a signature of Johnny Tillotson
The most expensive item with a signature of Johnny Tillotson (CHET ATKINS Autographed Signed Color Photo To JOHNNY TILLOTSON) was sold in November 2025 for $299.99 while the cheapest item (JOHNNY TILLOTSON Authentic Hand Signed Autograph 4x6 Photo - SINGER) found a new owner for $0.75 in June 2023. The month with the most items sold (5) was March 2025 with an average selling price of $106.99 for an autographed item of Johnny Tillotson. Sold items reached their highest average selling price in March 2025 with $106.99 and the month that saw the lowest prices with $0.99 was November 2021. In average, an autographed item from Johnny Tillotson is worth $27.62.
Most recently, these items with a signature of Johnny Tillotson were sold on eBay - click here for more items.
