Conway Twitty: Conway Twitty: Album Producers

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Conway Twitty: Album Producers

Focusing on just the country music side of Conway's career, the producers of Conway Twitty albums are but a few. First off we have Owen Bradley who was a legendary record producer for the Decca/MCA label throughout the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's. Owen recorded artists in what was known as The Quonset Hut. He later bought a barn and converted it into a recording studio in 1961. This became known as Bradley's Barn and it was here that all of Owen's successes would emerge and it was here where Conway Twitty recorded all of his songs during a 12 year period, 1966-1978.

Conway and Owen parted ways in 1978 after the release of several hit recordings, including the Top-10's "Georgia Keeps Pulling On My Ring", "Your Love Had Taken Me That High", "Boogie Grass Band", and a duet with Loretta, "From Seven 'Til Ten".

Conway became a producer of his own albums starting in 1979. He and David Barnes produced the following albums during 1979-1980: "Crosswinds", "Diamond Duet", and "Heart and Soul". Conway then teamed up with Ron Chancey and the two of them produced the following albums during 1980-1981: "Rest Your Love On Me", "Two's a Party", and "Mr. T".

After Conway's move from MCA in 1982 he joined forces with Jimmy Bowen. Conway and Jimmy produced the following albums: "Southern Comfort", "Dream Maker", and "Lost In the Feeling" during 1982-1983. Dee Henry came aboard in 1984 as a co-producer and the three of them would produce the following album together: "By Heart".

Jimmy then headed off and eventually landed at MCA. Ron Treat became co-producer of the albums along side Conway and Dee Henry. The three of them produced Conway's final three Warner Brothers albums during 1985-1986: "Don't Call Hime a Cowboy", "Chasin' Rainbows", and "Fallin' For You For Years". Conway went back to MCA in 1987 and was reunited with Jimmy Bowen. Conway married Dee Henry in 1987. The three of them would produce the remaining MCA albums together, 1987-1990, but then Jimmy left MCA for Capitol Records. Conway and Dee produced the 1991 album together while Don Cook produced Conway's final album, "Final Touches" with Conway and Dee credited as "Associate Producers" of the project.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

1978

this Conway album features the Top-5 title track, "Georgia Keeps Pulling On My Ring" plus it contains the Top-20 Grand Ole Opry tribute song, "The Grandest Lady of Them All"; the album was yet another good showcase in a long list of good albums from Conway...he tackles the Webb Pierce classic, "Honky Tonk Song" plus he gives us his version of Chuck Berry's "Mabelline", which was a Top-10 hit for George Jones and Johnny PayCheck later in 1978; "Let It Ring" is a wonderful song as is "Yours To Hurt Tomorrow", which sounds like a hit song to my ears but it was never released.

1979

This particular album from Conway featured three #1 hits: "Don't Take It Away", "I May Never Get To Heaven", and "Happy Birthday Darlin"; the third release remained #1 for three weeks in late 1979/early 1980; this was the album where Conway debuted his curly hairstyle after having wore a pompadour style throughout his career; in addition to the singles, it featured "Heavy Tears", one of my favorite non-hits of Conway's as well as "Love Coming Down" and a Oak Ridge Boys hit, "I Wish You Could Have Turned My Head".

1982

This is a cassette version of a Conway album called "Number Ones"; the album is GOLD but it's notable for featuring several songs that, while they were major hits, did not reach #1 on any of the weekly music charts; "Boogie Grass Band", a 1978 single contained on here, got as high as #2; "A Bridge That Just Won't Burn" got as high as #2 in the now out of publication, Cashbox; and "I've Never Seen The Likes of You" got as high as #5 in Cashbox; The rest of the songs on the album were chart-toppers.

1983-LP

LOST IN THE FEELING featured 10 country love songs...the pop influence over country music during this era is heard all over the material and it even includes his versions of two pop songs "Three Times a Lady" and "Heartache Tonight"; both songs would become Top-10 hits for Conway and the title track, "Lost in the Feeling", would become a #1 single on the Radio and Records chart; Ricky Skaggs provides distinct, unmistakable harmony on the song and John Hughey takes center stage on the steel guitar; elsewhere on the album we have the sultry "The Best Is Yet To Come" and the blind date story of "First Things First"; a song made popular by Lee Greenwood, "You've Got a Good Love Coming" is one of the songs on the album; a nice up-tempo honky tonk song, "I Think I'm In Love", is perhaps the highlight of the album if that's the style of country you prefer...but it's a good album all around...a song not to over-look is "From a Stranger's Point of View".

1985

this album features 10 songs; CHASIN' RAINBOWS was the lost album released between DON'T CALL HIM A COWBOY and FALLIN' FOR YOU FOR YEARS in the album chronology; the reason I call it a lost album is because the two singles from it, "The Legend and the Man" and "You'll Never Know How Much I Needed You Today", peaked well below Conway's typical standards that he set for himself; one single hit the Top-20 and the other barely reached the Top-30; the album was quickly set aside after the unexpected lack of success with radio; Conway bounced back in 1986 with FALLIN' FOR YOU FOR YEARS, which contained 2 number one hits; highlights from CHASIN' RAINBOWS include "Lay Me Down Carolina", "She Did", "I'm the Man in the Song", and "True, True Love Never Dies".

1987

This was called Conway's comeback album for MCA in 1987...it featured three huge Top-10 hits, one of them reaching #1, the love ballad "Julia" with the famous twinkling piano accompaniment; the other two singles were "I Want To Know You Before We Make Love", and the story song "That's My Job"; there were other songs on here that should have been released as singles: "Lonely Town" is just a nice sing-a-long in spite of it's sad lyrics; "Snake Boots" is a shouter song...it's listed on the front of the cassette so perhaps at that time it was going to be a possible single? It was never released. "Fifteen To Forty Three" and "Not Enough Love To Go 'Round" are other highlights in an album filled with them.

1990

This album is notable for featuring Conway's final Top-10 hits: the #2 "I Couldn't See You Leavin" and the chart-topping title track, "Crazy In Love", which topped Cashbox, becoming Conway's 55th and final #1; This was Conway's first all-original album for the 1990's decade, following the previous releases earlier in 1990 of "Silver Anniversary" and "Greatest Hits, Volume Three"; A third single from "Crazy In Love" was released in early 1991, "One Bridge I Didn't Burn", which reached the Cashbox Top-40.