- Hillous Butrum
Hillous Buel Butrum (
April 21 ,1928 –April 27 ,2002 ) was an Americancountry music guitar player and a record and video producer best known as a member ofHank Williams Drifting Cowboys .Hillous was born in rural
Lafayette, Tennessee and began his musical career at the age of 16. Butrum found his way to Nashville and landed a job at WSM Radio and eventually wound up a staff musician on theGrand Ole Opry . From there, he played bass guitar forHank Williams ' legendary band "The Drifting Cowboys." After the passing of Williams, Butrum joined Hank Snow's band and later played on manyMarty Robbins recording sessions.He established "Butrum Enterprises Publishing Company" and owned
Look Records . He produced many early country music documentaries including "Music City USA ". He was a pioneer of themusic video long before its birth in the 1980s.Hillous Butrum died in his Nashville home about two weeks after the death of his wife. His funeral was held in
Goodlettsville, Tennessee and was attended by notable music industry figures including Hal Bynum,Merle Kilgore , Bobby Tomberlin, Robbie Wittkowski,Tim Jones , andDon Helms . He was interred in the Underwood Cemetery in his hometown of Lafayette.The day before Butrum's death, he agreed to an exclusive interview with "Country Music Source" magazine detailing his long and inspiring music career. The interview was scheduled for April 29, 2002. In lieu of the interview, "Country Music Source" printed a memoriam for Butrum.
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