Hillous Buel "Bew" Butrum (April 21, 1928 – April 27, 2002) was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

player and a record and video producer best known as being a member of

Hank Williams Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An early pioneer of country music, he is regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of the 20th century. W ...

' Drifting Cowboys. Hillous Butrum was born in Lafayette, Tennessee. Butrum found his way to

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

and landed a job at WSM Radio. He eventually wound up a staff musician on the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

, at age 16. From there, he played bass for

' band "The Drifting Cowboys." He would play with the Drifting Cowboys from 1949 until 1950. After the passing of Williams, Butrum joined Hank Snow's band, the Rainbow Ranch Boys, and later played on many

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...

recording sessions. He'd eventually start a music publishing company with Robbins. He established "Butrum Enterprises Publishing Company" and owned Look Records. He produced many early country music

documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...

including "'' Music City USA''". Butrum would tour again, from 1977 to 1984, with the reformed Drifting Cowboys. Later in life, Butrum became active in the "Reunion of Professional Entertainers," and distributed vintage country music videos through Nashville retail stores and his website. Hillous Butrum died in his Nashville home about two weeks after the death of his wife Phyllis (Frost) Butrum. His funeral was held in

Goodlettsville, Tennessee Goodlettsville is a city in Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson and Sumner County, Tennessee, Sumner Counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It was incorporated as a city in 1958 with a population of just over 3,000 residents; in 2020, its popul ...

and was attended by notable music industry figures including Hal Bynum, Merle Kilgore, Bobby Tomberlin, Robbie Wittkowski, Tim Jones, and Don 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butrum, Hillous 1928 births 2002 deaths American country guitarists American male guitarists American country singer-songwriters Record producers from Tennessee People from Lafayette, Tennessee 20th-century American guitarists Singer-songwriters from Tennessee Guitarists from Tennessee 20th-century American singer-songwriters Country musicians from Tennessee 20th-century American male musicians American male singer-songwriters Drifting Cowboys members