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 US charts and No. 43 in the UK; after that, "Without You" returned him to the US Top Ten but failed to make the UK Singles Chart. He toured widely with Dick Clark's Cavalcade of Stars. Early in 1962, Tillotson recorded a song he wrote, "It Keeps Right on A-Hurtin'", inspired by the terminal illness of his father. It became one of his biggest hits, reaching No. 3 in the US pop chart, and was the first of his records to make the country music chart where it peaked at No. 4. It earned his first Grammy nomination for him, for Best Country & Western Recording, and was covered by over 100 performers including Elvis Presley and Billy Joe Royal, whose version was a country hit in 1988. Tillotson then recorded an album, It Keeps Right on A-Hurtin''', on which he covered country standards including Hank Locklin's "Send Me the Pillow You Dream On" and Hank Williams' "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)," which also became hit singles. He continued to record country-flavored and pop songs in 1963, and "You Can Never Stop Me Loving You" and the follow-up, the Willie Nelson song "Funny How Time Slips Away", both made the Hot 100. With the demise of the Cadence label, he formed a production company and moved to MGM Records, starting with his version of the recent country charted No. 1 song by Ernest Ashworth, "Talk Back Trembling Lips", reached No. 7 in January 1964 on Billboards Hot 100. He earned his second Grammy nomination for "Heartaches by the Number", nominated for Best Vocal Performance of 1965, which reached No. 4 on the Easy Listening chart. He also sang the theme song for the 1965 Sally Field television comedy Gidget. While his fortunes waned with changing musical tastes in the late 1960s, he continued to record before moving to California in 1968. Besides concert and recording he appeared in several films. He appeared in the 1963 British music film Just for Fun; 1966 camp comedy The Fat Spy starring