Conway Twitty Millennium Collection

Well, this particular CD came along in 1999. It's part of a series of titles that various record labels were releasing at the turn of the century. Conway is showcased on this release, plus he's featured on a second volume showcasing 12 more songs, and he's featured in a collection of duets with Loretta all under The Millennium Collection banner. This particular CD in my hand is the first release...it features 12 songs that Conway recorded between the years of 1958-1990. This 32 year span is a bit mis-leading since there's only 12 songs...but it's 1970's heavy; of the 12 songs, 8 of them were recorded during the 1970's. The back of the CD features an early 1970's picture of Conway taken during the photo sessions for his album You've Never Been This Far Before. When you open up the CD you'll see a fold-out cover tucked away. You'll also see a 1990 picture of Conway taken during the photo sessions for the 1990 album, Crazy In Love. The picture used on the front comes from 1981...it was used as a publicity picture for a period of years. Within the fold-out cover there's a picture of Conway and his guitar taken in the late '70s prior to his hair-style change. It looks to be from 1977 or 1978. There is also a picture of Conway that was used on the 1980 album, Rest Your Love On Me.

The songs gracing this CD are as follows:

1. It's Only Make Believe; 1958
2. Hello Darlin; 1970
3. After The Fire Is Gone-duet with Loretta; 1971
4. I Can't Stop Loving You; 1972
5. You've Never Been This Far Before; 1973
6. There's a Honky Tonk Angel; 1974
7. Linda On My Mind; 1975
8. Touch the Hand; 1975
9. After All The Good Is Gone; 1976
10. Tight Fittin' Jeans; 1981
11. Rest Your Love On Me; 1980
12. Crazy In Love; 1990

The CD goes in chronological order pretty much until track #10 and #11. "Rest Your Love On Me" was a hit in early 1981 while "Tight Fittin' Jeans" was a hit in the summer of 1981. So, those two songs should have been flip-flopped when the CD was being put together. Colin Escott wrote the liner notes. He makes a minor error...he mentions that Conway left MCA in 1980 when in reality he left the label in mid 1981...joining Elektra/Asylum in 1982 before they were bought out by Warner Brothers in 1983.

The Volume Two collection features liner notes written by Rich Kienzle. He makes a slight error...he mentions the duet with Loretta, "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man" being their second #1 when it's actually their third, following 1971's "Lead Me On" and "After the Fire Is Gone". The CD features several pictures of Conway...the front side features a picture taken of Conway in 1987 for the Borderline album. The back of the CD shows a publicity picture of Conway from 1970. Inside you'll see a picture of Conway that was used on the 1990 Silver Anniversary collection plus a small picture of Conway and Loretta and a big picture of Conway from 1978. The first volume focused mostly on 1970's material, which this volume also focuses on but there's more of an even field this time around with this CD boasting 5 hit songs from the 1980's:

1. Next In Line; 1968
2. Fifteen Years Ago; 1970
3. Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man-duet with Loretta; 1973
4. I See The Want To In Your Eyes; 1974
5. Play, Guitar Play; 1977
6. Don't Take It Away; 1979
7. Happy Birthday Darlin; 1979
8. A Bridge That Just Won't Burn; 1980
9. Red Neckin' Love Makin' Night; 1981
10. Julia; 1987
11. That's My Job; 1988
12. She's Got a Single Thing in Mind; 1989

**-the single, "Happy Birthday Darlin" hit #1 in late 1979, in fact it was the last single to reach #1 in 1979 and it remained #1 on into 1980 as Billboard at the time froze all of their charts during the last week of the year because of the holiday's. "That's My Job" was released as a single late in 1987 and reached it's peak in early 1988.

The Conway and Loretta hits collection featured 12 songs...each of their singles were featured on this collection as they had exactly 12 hit singles together during a ten year period, 1971-1981. So, those wanting only the hits and nothing else from Conway and Loretta's duet career look no further than this:

1. After the Fire Is Gone; 1971
2. Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man; 1973
3. Lead Me On; 1971
4. As Soon As I Hang Up The Phone; 1974
5. Feelins'; 1975
6. The Letter; 1976
7. I Can't Love You Enough; 1977
8. From Seven 'Til Ten; 1978
9. You Know Just What I'd Do; 1979
10. It's True Love; 1980
11. Lovin' What Your Lovin' Does To Me; 1981
12. I Still Believe In Waltzes; 1981

The pictures of Conway and Loretta featured on the front and back of the CD as well as in the fold-out cover come from the 1970's. The liner notes were written by Todd Everett.