Changing music climates were underway in country music during the mid 1980's after the pop-country sounds of the Urban Cowboy craze had died down. Alabama, George Strait, Reba McEntire, Ricky Skaggs, and Randy Travis were just five of the country music acts who were ruling the charts with red-hot consistency during the 1980's...and so were well-established artists such as George Jones, Merle Haggard, Ronnie Milsap, and of course, Conway Twitty. Conway, in fact, was named the runner-up male country artist of the entire 1980's...he was the #1 artist the previous decade.This particular album featured 10 songs, two of which became his fifty-first and fifty-second #1 hits: "Desperado Love" and the title, "Fallin' For You For Years". The music on this specific album was totally different from the sound heard on his previous releases.
Where as several of his previous releases up to this point carried a somber over-tone containing some terrific slow ballads and heartache songs, most notably his 1985 album, Chasin' Rainbows, as well as several others from the early to mid 1980's, this Fallin' For You For Years album from 1986 contained a lot of energetic, loud, and dramatic music by comparison.
First of all is the opening track, "A Thing of the Past", containing an intro that jumps from the speakers...it's this music sound and this style of song that set the stage for the remainder of the decade. When I speak of loud I am of course referring to the volume of the instrumentation...it has this jumping from the speakers sound...very different from his previous albums and something many of his contemporaries in the business had yet to adapt to their material. The vocal masterpiece of the album is the title track, "Fallin' For You For Years", which shows off Conway's range...which was remarkable...looking at Conway and hearing him sing on this album, I bet you wouldn't be able to tell he was hitting 53 that year. His voice, his choice of songs, and his demeanor never hinted his age...and those were some of the keys to his success year after year, decade after decade.
Ironically, though, the title track which hit #1 in early 1987 and was a vocal powerhouse isn't the most popular from the album. That distinction falls on "Desperado Love" which was another big hit for Conway...this time in mid 1986 as the first single from this album. This particular song has a bouncy feel that marries a western image to a story of a man who wants to have a woman, no matter if she belongs to someone else. The rest of the album features more big ballads like "Steady As She Goes", "You're The Best I Never Had", and the clever "Riverboat Gamblers". The album's closer, "Only the Shadows Know", is loosely based on the catch-phrase from the radio program, The Shadow. "If I Didn't Love You" is known more for being a hit for Steve Wariner but Conway performs it well. "Jennifer Johnson and Me" carries a nostalgic feel, as does the album's lead-off song, "A Thing of the Past". Those two songs, in addition to the title track, "Fallin' For You For Years", and "You're The Best I Never Had", each have a common theme: in each song Conway sings about years and the past.
The title track deals with the years that have gone by for a man who's been in love with someone for years. "A Thing of the Past" deals with a man who takes a look at his life while flying away from his past and how his former relationship is now a thing of the past as he compares the relationship to things from years gone by: cars that ran on regular fuel; war love letters; bell bottom pants; drive-in movies; etc etc. "You're the Best I Never Had" tells the story of a man thinking about a woman from years ago that he dated. "Jennifer Johnson and Me" is another memory trip as a small black and white portrait in a sport coat pocket triggers the thoughts of the past. "You Can't Say I Haven't Tried" is a song about a woman who wants to go off and find herself in spite of the fact that her boyfriend wants her to stay.
1. A Thing of the Past
2. Desperado Love
3. Steady as She Goes
4. Fallin' For You For Years
5. Riverboat Gamblers
6. Jennifer Johnson and Me
7. You're The Best I Never Had
8. You Can't Say I Haven't Tried
9. If I Didn't Love You
10. Only the Shadows Know
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