Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Conway Twitty: The Awards

Conway won his fair share of awards down through the years. It is always noted that he never won a solo award from the CMA and this is sadly true but he did win a boatload of awards from other organizations. He won Male Artist from the ACM several times and in the fan-voted Music City News he was named Top Male Artist for a period of years in the 1970's. His album with Loretta, "Feelins", won ACM Album of the Year. His two most popular #1 hits, "Hello Darlin" and "You've Never Been This Far Before", both won honors at the Music City News awards in 1970 and 1974 respectively. His only CMA wins were shared with Loretta. The two of them won Vocal Duo of the Year in 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1975. Conway's 1975 album, The High Priest of Country Music was certified Gold in Canada.

The radio station awards were phenomenal...a lot of DJ's and program directors handed out awards to artist's who were popular on their radio station. In addition to radio station awards, Conway was the recipient of several publisher awards from BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC. Conway had his own publishing company, Twitty Bird Music. In 1983 the voters of Music City News awarded Conway's 1982 TV special, Conway On The Mississippi as "TV Special of the Year".

The riverboat program was a nice look into the area where Conway was born and it featured quite a few guest stars: Charley Pride, Barbara Mandrell, Ralph Emery, Tammy Wynette, Dick Clark, Jerry Lee Lewis, George Lindsey, and of course Loretta Lynn. The program ran 2 hours but later it was edited down when The Nashville Network started airing the show annually.

The Jukebox operators of America named Conway a "Legend of the Jukebox" in 1989 and shortly afterward Radio and Records named Conway their #1 Country Male Artist during the publication's first 15 years in print. Music City News named Conway a "Living Legend" in 1988. The ultimate honor came in 1999, six years after Conway passed away. The CMA inducted Conway into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

One of the achievements that gets over-looked is Conway's sales. His singles and albums were commercially successful throughout the bulk of his career. I believe he was among the top sellers of country music for MCA during the 1970's and 1980's...clearly he had the most RIAA certified Gold and Platinum awards of the country division of MCA Records through the early 1980's. MCA was called Decca Records for several decades but I'm used to calling it MCA...so that is the name I apply in the following segment...

The Gold Albums are as follows:

1. Hello Darlin'; 1970 MCA
2. We Only Make Believe; 1971 MCA with Loretta
3. Lead Me On; 1971 MCA with Loretta
4. Greatest Hits, Volume One; 1972 MCA
5. You've Never Been This Far Before; 1973 MCA
6. The High Priest of Country Music; 1975 MCA {Canadian RIAA}
7. Greatest Hits, Volume Two; 1976 MCA
8. The Very Best of Conway Twitty; 1978 MCA
9. 20 Certified Hits; 1978 {Canadian RIAA}
10. The Very Best of Loretta and Conway; 1979 MCA
11. Number Ones; 1982 MCA
12. The Best of Conway and Loretta 1987 Heartland Music
13. The Very Best of Conway Twitty 1989 Heartland Music

The Platinum Albums are as follows:

1. The Very Best of Conway Twitty; 1978 MCA
2. 20 Certified Hits; 1978 {Canadian RIAA}

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