Conway Twitty: Birthday Remembrance and RIAA...

Conway Twitty remains a popular country music artist all these years after his untimely death in 1993. Born September 1, 1933 as Harold Lloyd Jenkins he decided to use the stage name, Conway Twitty, during his rock and roll years in the mid '50s just prior to his breakthrough single in 1958, "It's Only Make Believe", becoming a massive hit across the United States and overseas. Conway's many fans routinely post about him on social media and share images and recollections of their concert going or their experiences visiting Twitty City in Hendersonville, Tennessee during the 12 years it was in business (1982-1994). The tourist complex had remained opened to the public following Conway's death in 1993 and it remained open, as a public memorial for fans/friends of Conway to visit, until a legal battle forced it's closure the following year...much of the goings-on that took place back then can be looked up online using search words like 'Conway Twitty Estate Sale' or 'Conway Twitty Estate 1994'. There has never been and there never will be another recording artist like Conway Twitty...and while there are so many more fans of Conway out there that can properly document his entire career with much more specificity I've chosen to keep this blog open for anyone to stop by and read my contributions, in text form, about Conway's career. The last blog entry I wrote was back in 2015...here we are on September 1, 2021...on what would have been Conway's 88th birthday. One of the things that happened, seemingly out of the blue, were some recent sales certifications by the RIAA pertaining to a trio of Conway recordings. 

The RIAA certified the single releases "I'd Just Love to Lay You Down", "Tight Fittin' Jeans", and "That's My Job" as having gone Gold. Sales for those three singles, after an initial audit, shown that each had sold at least the required 500,000 copies. These certifications are based on a combination of vinyl, and later, online sales. "I'd Just Love to Lay You Down" was originally released in 1980; "Tight Fittin' Jeans" was originally released in 1981; and "That's My Job" was originally released in 1987. All three of those single releases hit long before the creation of digital downloads and the internet as we know it. I'd suspect the majority of those songs had the bulk of their sales on vinyl and as a lot of people online have also said the record company simply didn't submit any audit paperwork for the RIAA. I believe this same thing holds true for dozens upon dozens of other legendary recording artists down through the decades who don't have a large collection of Gold or Platinum records hanging on their wall. Record companies never contacting the RIAA to audit the sales of singles or albums leads to nobody knowing if a song or album has reached Gold status or higher. 

Anyway, the later creation of online music stores and digital downloads increased the purchase availability of songs from earlier decades...and that's how three single releases that were released more than 30 years ago are suddenly certified Gold. It's my belief that these particular songs were Gold status for decades but went overlooked. Think of how huge a hit "Slow Hand" happened to be for Conway...two weeks it spent at number one in 1982. How many feel that particular Conway recording has sold more than 500,000 copies within the last 39 years? It probably has...but it hasn't been certified yet. According to information posted on Conway social media there is to be another audit of Conway's record sales in 2022...and it's very likely several of his single releases and possibly album releases from the 1980s, in particular, will get their long overdue certifications. 

"I'd Just Love to Lay You Down" is from the 1980 album, Heart and Soul. 

"Tight Fittin' Jeans" is from the 1981 album, Mr. T

"That's My Job" is from the 1987 album, Borderline (see photo above).