Tommy Hill, 72; Co-Wrote Classic Country Music Hits

Tommy Hill, 72, who wrote the country music classics “Slowly” and “Teddy Bear” and played a key role in the success of independent Starday Records, died Thursday in Nashville. He had suffered from heart and liver problems.

A native of Falls City, Texas, Hill was a respected fiddler and guitarist who recorded for Decca and other labels but never scored a hit of his own. As a songwriter, his greatest success was as co-writer of “Slowly,” which stayed atop the Billboard country chart for 17 weeks in 1954. He also wrote “Teddy Bear,” a No. 1 hit for Red Sovine in 1976.

Hill partnered with Starday owner Don Pierce in 1959, engineering and producing records for Dottie West, Merle Kilgore, Lonzo and Oscar, and other artists. In the 1960s, Hill and guitarist Pete Drake formed an independent company, Stop Records. Hill formed Gusto Records in 1972.