On the same show with Mel Tillis was Tom T. Hall. Tom was surfing the crest of his fame at the time and it must've made him seasick. He wobbled and bobbled, slurred his words, couldn't focus his eyes, and needed assistance walking. Some suspected he might've pigged out on too much liquid stupid.
He was in good enough shape to spot a Deputy's wife and ask her if she'd like to come in and look at the trailer is was waiting in. She quickly consented and studied the place for near an hour.
When they finally emerged from the trailer, it was time for Tom T to perform. He had to be walked to the stage by two Deputies like a drunk being escorted out of a barroom. Then he was lifted on to the stage. There, he staggered to center stage, mumbled some greetings and went into his first song. Sadly, he couldn't remember the words. Nor those to the second, or third songs. By then, the crowd had had enough and booed him off the stage.
I guess the high-point of Tom T's act, was before he even got on stage. That was all the Deputies waiting for the trailer peruser wife's husband, a Deputy working the event, to bust in the trailer and open up a can of Whoop Az. Never happened. Another Deputy explained why later. "I know his wife. He was probably glad to get rid of her sorry az for an hour or so."
Also, knowing the woman, it sounded reasonable to me.
PS-I saw Tom T later, in Tennessee. He was doing a free charity concert for our Sheriff's Department there. Country music stars regularly do that up in Tennessee. The same day we had Tom T we had George Jones, Jerry Lee Lewis, and David Allen Coe who all performed free. And Tom T, that day, was in much better shape. His act was first class.
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