Was the manager and bass player for Country Music legend
Johnny Horton from
1955 until November 5, 1960, when Johnny was tragically killed in a car
accident in Milano, Texas. Johnny and Tillman were returning to
Shreveport, Louisiana after a concert at the "Skyline Club" in Austin,
Texas, along with guitarist Tommy Tomlinson, when a drunk driver
crossed the line on a bridge in Milano and hit Johnny head-on. Franks
was in the front passenger seat next to Johnny, who was driving, and
was critically injured but survived. Tomlinson, who was in the back
seat, was also badly injured, and eventually had to have his leg
amputated because of the injury received in the crash.
