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). 

Conway Twitty: Life, Music, Legacy in magazines...

I stumbled upon this magazine for sale on-line several years ago. When Conway passed away in June of 1993 I was 16 at the time and had no access to this magazine although I had heard about it from reading various country music publications at the time at the local grocery store. So, when I found this magazine for sale I bought it...and of course I am glad I did because it's a 75 page magazine looking at Conway's career from the start until his death...filled with a lot of pictures from his personal collection and some pictures that were featured in magazines. It features a lot of comments from Conway himself plus it offers a look at the 40 singles that hit #1 on the Billboard Country chart.


On the other side of the front cover is a picture of Conway taken in the early 1970's. The back of the magazine shows a rock and roll publicity picture of Conway with "It's Only Make Believe" shown off to the left. On the other side of this page is a display of 1982 and 1984 Nashville Sounds souvenir programs. It's a truly remarkable look at Conway's career and looking through the commentaries and pictures and everything else, it does make one wish those days were here again. It details the creation of Twitty-City in 1981, it's grand opening in May 1982, and the success that the attraction enjoyed during it's entire existence as part of various country music tours. Twitty-City was rightfully credited with being a major force in the tourism business during the 1980's and it's Christmas season every year was a lavish display of ornaments and lights. His duet career with Loretta Lynn is covered...featuring several picture of the two on awards shows and in the studio with Owen Bradley. There are a few mistakes in the writing, which are not really eye catching unless you are a person like I am and like to have statistics reported accurately. There is a passage in this magazine where it talks about Conway and his children as singers: Michael, Kathy, and Joni. It mentions "Don't Cry Joni" as a single that reached #11 on the country charts, which is an error. The single reached #1 in Cashbox and the Top-5 in Billboard...so I don't know where the #11 peak came from...the writer must have been looking at an overseas chart or the 1 on their key-pad must have been sticking that day?

There is also the omissions of Conway's solo awards. It has a section spotlighting awards that Conway won but it only shows the ones he and Loretta were given from the CMA, ACM, and Music City News. It doesn't show that Conway was named Male Artist of the Year by Music City News readers or that he was named the Top Male Artist by the ACM or that several of his songs and albums were honored by Music City News readers, either. It only shows the awards he won with Loretta at those various awards organizations...including their Grammy win for "After The Fire Is Gone".

This came from a 1983 magazine promoting his 1983 album, Lost In the Feeling. I also like the way his first several releases on the Elektra/Asylum label in 1982 were also spotlighted at the bottom of the advertisement.



This isn't one of the souvenir program's for the Nashville Sounds, by the way. This is actually a booklet promoting the charity baseball game that Conway and Barbara headlined for quite a few years in Nashville. Pieces of Conway and Barbara's charity event was included on the 1982 TV special, Conway On The Mississippi. The TV special is a wonderful program in my opinion. The rest of the fans thought so, too, because in June of 1983 it was awarded a fan-voted plaque at the Music City News awards as Television Special of the Year. In the special Conway's life is chronicled with the visual help of the Mississippi River and the overall scenery. Several notable peers and friends appeared on the special...including the likes of Ralph Emery, Jerry Lee Lewis, George Lindsey, Tammy Wynette, Dick Clark, Charley Pride, and of course, Loretta Lynn. At the time of the taping, Conway's current hit was "We Did But Now You Don't", which hit #1 on the Radio and Records chart. The special would re-air on The Nashville Network at various times in the 1980's, edited down from it's original 2-hour broadcast in 1982. A DVD release surfaced years later.

Here is a Music Row magazine promoting Conway's annual Christmas season at Twitty-City...