Hillous Butrum
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Hillous Buel Butrum (April 21, 1928 – April 27, 2002) was an American country music guitar player and a record and video producer best known as a member of Hank 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 the Grand Ole Opry. From there, he played bass guitar for Hank Williams' legendary band "The Drifting Cowboys." After the passing of Williams, Butrum joined Hank Snow's band and later played on many Marty 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 the music 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, 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.
