After more than a dozen movies, hundreds of talk show appearances and a fistful of comedy awards, Mel Tillis is set to release his first-ever comedy album tomorrow (Sept. 21).

You Ain’t Gonna Believe This . . . has more than 20 stories recorded from different Mel concerts over the years.

Mel’s stutter was such that he never talked onstage at first, always having someone else introducing his songs and thanking the crowd after he finished. Tourmate and comedian Minnie Pearl eventually insisted Mel speak to the crowd.

“I said, ‘Miss Minnie, I can’t, they’ll laugh at me.’ ‘No, they won’t. They’ll laugh with you.’ And so, from that day on, I talked. And the next thing I know, I’m on the Johnny Carson show.”

We’ll have more with Mel in an upcoming issue of Country Weekly.