Conway Twitty: Classic Conway

Classic Conway is one of those various "best of" collections that record labels liked to issue on artists from time to time. Today, artist's have way more control over their album releases and you don't see as many compilation's being released year after year from record label's. The buying public, for the most part, looks down on greatest hits and best-of albums now-a-days because they feel it's a way for a record label to make money with previously released material. In the past, this wasn't the normal point of view, and so independent and small record labels could get away with releasing compilation albums and greatest hits albums on major label artist's and the fans didn't seem to mind it...most of the time these best-of collections featured an eye-catching album cover, which would really be what drew sales, if any, since the material was already available on previous albums. You don't see that many completists today, either. A completist is someone wants to own just about every release that was put out on a specific artist, regardless of the fact that they are duplicating their inventory with multiple copies of songs they already have. A completist would want Classic Conway to add to their collection...and as I was referring to earlier, it features an eye-catching picture of Conway performing on stage.



The album features 10 songs and not all of them were major Top-10 singles, either. Due to the album not being called "greatest hits", it doesn't contain only Top-10 singles. Here is a list of the songs highlighted on this album...released by MCA during Conway's stay on Warner Brothers. A lot of the songs on this collection were still recurrent's on the radio when this album was issued. A recurrent is a song that is still being played even though it's reached it's popularity peak on the weekly music charts.

1. Tight Fittin' Jeans; 1981
2. I Can't Believe She Gives It All To Me; 1977
3. Play, Guitar Play; 1977
4. The Grandest Lady of Them All; 1978
5. We Had It All; 1981**
6. Georgia Keeps Pulling On My Ring; 1978
7. Your Love Had Taken Me That High; 1978
8. Over Thirty But Not Over The Hill; 1981**
9. I Am The Dreamer, You Are the Dream; 1980
10. Red Neckin' Love Makin' Night; 1981

**-tracks number 5 and 8 were released as singles by MCA in 1983 and 1982 and they were on the charts competing with the contemporary singles he was releasing on Warner Brothers. "We Had It All" reached the Top-50 and "Over Thirty" hit the Top-70. I imagine radio stations in 1983 were sent copies of the single in the mail and they played "We Had It All" and loved it and kept on playing it even though it wasn't his official single. I do not know what Conway or Warner Brothers had to say about it...since Conway was known to only focus on whatever song and album he had out at the time. "We Had It All" received some hefty airplay considering it wasn't Conway's official single. It almost became a Top-40 hit as a result...I happen to think radio played this song in protest of "The Rose". Although "The Rose" was a #1 single in early 1983 for Conway, critic's didn't particularly like the idea of Conway doing remakes of contemporary pop songs.

"Slow Hand" became one of Conway's biggest hit singles of 1982, defying the grumblings from a lot of music critics wondering if Conway had lost his mind recording the song. The song had been a pop hit for The Pointer Sisters just a few months prior to Conway recording his version. Conway's version was a #1 single for two weeks. In spite of this success with that pop remake, "The Rose" in particular, drew the biggest complaints from critics as well as from radio stations that didn't want to play a country version of a pop song...and this was Conway's second such release when you consider "Slow Hand".

So, I think radio played "We Had It All" as a song they preferred...which could explain why it hit the mid 40's on the charts...most unofficial singles don't get the kind of airplay to really climb the charts but that single did. Not long after this, Conway released back-to-back singles of pop remakes: "Heartache Tonight" and "Three Times a Lady". Those two singles, however, would be the last. He never again released his versions of pop songs to radio...although a few of his future albums would contain his take on contemporary pop songs.

Conway Twitty Ultimate Collection

A Conway Twitty collection from 1999 emerged on a subsidiary label of MCA's called Hip-O Records. Ultimate Collection set about collecting hit singles from Conway's career that were considered his signature songs for the most part. The year that this collection was released, 1999, is the year Conway was finally enshrined in the Country Music Hall of Fame. This honor came 6 years after he passed away.

A lot of this material has appeared on countless other Conway compilations through the years but the appearance of original recordings is what sets this collection apart from others that were on the market that year. A lot of times smaller record labels and overseas imports tend to use the re-recordings Conway did in 1982 of his biggest hit songs...it's rare to come across a collection that features the original hit recordings. The project features an exhaustive essay/liner notes by Colin Escott and there are 18 songs included. I have the cassette version and 11 songs fill up side one and seven songs fill up side two.

Another thing about this collection is the later picture of Conway...taken I believe in 1992...which is used on the front of the CD. Usually record labels when putting together a compilation album use a familiar picture of the artist but not this time. As far as I know this was the first time this particular picture of Conway graced an album cover.



The songs that appear on the Ultimate Collection are as follows:

1. It's Only Make Believe; 1958
2. Lonely Blue Boy; 1960
3. Hello Darlin; 1970
4. Next In Line; 1968
5. After The Fire Is Gone; 1971 with Loretta Lynn
6. You've Never Been This Far Before; 1973
7. Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man; 1973 with Loretta Lynn
8. Linda On My Mind; 1975
9. Play, Guitar Play; 1977
10. I'd Love To Lay You Down; 1980
11. Tight Fittin' Jeans; 1981
12. Slow Hand; 1982
13. I Don't Know a Thing About Love; 1984
14. Desperado Love; 1986
15. Julia; 1987
16. That's My Job; 1987
17. Crazy In Love; 1990
18. Rainy Night in Georgia; 1993 with Sam Moore

A similar picture appears on the compilation CD, 20 Greatest Hits that MCA issued in 1993. This was among the several compilation albums that were issued following Conway's death. This particular collection was originally issued in 1987 to celebrate Conway's return to MCA after his four year stay at the Warner Brothers company, 1982-1986. MCA re-issued this in 1990 on CD and then re-released it again in 1993 but the interesting thing is the liner notes from 1987 were kept intact, which was okay, because you get to read commentary from a writer during that exact time-period, but because the original liner notes were kept there wasn't any indication that Conway had recently passed away. Another indication of this being an album re-issued after his passing away aside from the dated liner notes is the material abruptly ends in 1981...at that time it was Conway's final year on MCA prior to him going back in 1987.



The songs on that release are:

1. Hello Darlin'; 1970
2. Fifteen Years Ago; 1970
3. I Can't See Me Without You; 1972
4. Lost Her Love On Our Last Date; 1972
5. Baby's Gone; 1973
6. You've Never Been This Far Before; 1973
7. I'm Not Through Loving You Yet; 1974
8. Linda On My Mind; 1975
9. There's a Honky Tonk Angel; 1974
10. I Can't Believe She Gives It All To Me; 1976
11. I See The Want To In Your Eyes; 1974
12. Don't Cry, Joni; 1975 with Joni {his daughter}
13. Georgia Keeps Pulling On My Ring; 1978
14. I've Already Loved You In My Mind; 1977
15. Don't Take It Away; 1979
16. I May Never Get To Heaven; 1979
17. I'd Love To Lay You Down; 1980
18. Rest Your Love On Me; 1981
19. Tight Fittin' Jeans; 1981
20. Red Neckin' Love Makin' Night; 1981

The songs were listed based upon their recording dates. This is why several of the songs are out of order chronologically. For example, "I Can't Believe She Gives It All To Me" was a #1 hit for Conway in early 1977 but he had recorded the song at a session in 1974, according to the information, January 4, 1974 to be exact. "I'm Not Through Loving You Yet" was recorded on the same day as "You've Never Been This Far Before", April 4, 1973. As far as year of release is concerned, "I'm Not Through Loving You Yet" wasn't issued until nearly a year later, in 1974. So, there are a lot of instances where the songs that were being heard on the radio from Conway could have been recorded a year or two prior to their release. I do not know if that was as common back then as it is now...to sit on a song for at least 2 years before it gets released to radio as was the case with "Linda On My Mind", which was a huge hit for Conway in 1975 but it was recorded on June 19, 1973. "Red Neckin' Love Makin' Night", the CD's closer, was a #1 in early 1982 but it was released in late 1981...having been recorded in October 1980, a day after "Tight Fittin' Jeans" was recorded. As you can tell I'm fascinated by numbers.

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...

Conway Twitty: Early Years and King of Hits!

This is one of two VHS home video's that were issued in the early 1990's on Conway Twitty from the people associated with Willie Nelson. Willie, in fact, appears on the two video's at the beginning offering commentary about Conway and some background information for newcomer's to Conway's career. The Early Years focuses on material picked at random from the early to mid 1970's and material from the 1980's. Throughout the video, an off-screen narrator is heard between the songs. Each group of songs are fit under a banner like "Heart Throb" and "Hit Songwriter", etc etc. The performance of "Linda on My Mind" comes from an early 1980's appearance on Pop! Goes the Country. It's an acoustic performance...sitting in front of the host, Tom T Hall. The rest of the songs, pretty much, are selected from the era's in which they were recorded.

The play-list on this home video is as follows:

1. Linda On My Mind {1981)
2. To See My Angel Cry {1970}
3. Pickin' Wild Mountain Berries- with Loretta Lynn
4. God Bless America, Again- with Loretta Lynn
5. Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man- with Loretta Lynn {1985 awards show}
6. This Time I've Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me {1976}
7. The Games That Daddies Play {1976}
8. That's When She Started To Stop Loving You {1970}
9. Georgia Keeps Pulling On My Ring {1978}
10. Don't Call Him a Cowboy {1985}
11. Somebody's Needin' Somebody {1984}
12. Goodbye Time {1988}


On this particular home video, Willie Nelson appears in the beginning telling us about Conway's famous #1 hits... "over 50 and growing". Throughout the video a scroll of number one songs fly up the screen between song performances. When it comes to the song about ready to appear next, the title comes up onto the screen closer and fades into the performance. The graphics carry a baseball design...using the term "hitting one out of the ball park" to describe a #1 song. Conway's interest in baseball is highlighted as well. There is a minor problem with this certain video. I have a copy as you see in the picture and it lists "Rest Your Love On Me" as one of the songs in the list but it isn't on my video. It goes from "Tight Fittin' Jeans" to "The Clown"...even though it shows "Rest Your Love On Me" in between those two songs on the video song list, it isn't on the video. For those who want to see him perform that song, track down the various DVD's called "Country Legends Live" and search for it. Anyway, here is the video list...

1. It's Only Make Believe {early 1970's}
2. I'd Love To Lay You Down {1980}
3. Hello Darlin' {1981; performed acoustically on Pop! Goes the Country}
4. I See The Want To In Your Eyes {1974}
5. Touch the Hand {1975}
6. You've Never Been This Far Before {1974}
7. I Can't Believe She Gives It All To Me {1977}
8. Don't Take It Away {1979}
9. Tight Fittin' Jeans {1982}
10. The Clown {1982}
11. Slow Hand {1982}

Rest Your Love...on Conway...

Oh my...today we're spotlighting one of my favorite Conway albums. This one came along in 1980 and it features 10 love songs...the singles for this album, ironically, are featured well within the album. Usually one of the singles is the first song or one of the first three songs but not on this one. This is a ballad heavy album, too. The very first single taken from this album was track number nine...yes...you read that correctly...the song, "A Bridge That Just Won't Burn", hit in the fall of 1980 and reached the Top-5, going as high as #2 in some publications in early 1981.

The title track was written by Barry Gibb, leader of the Bee Gee's. It's a wonderful song...and rather lengthy...given the long musical solo's by the electric guitar player. The single hit #1 in the spring of 1981 on the heels of "A Bridge That Just Won't Burn", which had reached the Top-5 in January of 1981. During this particular point in Conway's career he was all over the radio not only with that song, and "Rest Your Love On Me", but several duet recordings with Loretta were still actively played from 1979 and 1980...as well as "I'd Love To Lay You Down", his huge #1 from 1980.

"A Bridge That Just Won't Burn" and "Rest Your Love On Me" were the only two singles released from this album. The rest of the album is filled with love songs...and only two of them were on the heartbreak side: "A Bridge That Just Won't Burn" and "You'll Be Back Every Night in My Dreams". This album featured a tag-along single...something rare but not unprecedented. "I Am The Dreamer, You Are the Dream" was featured as a B-side tag-along in 1981 for most of the chart run of "Rest Your Love On Me". A tag-along as far as I know is what you call a song that gets airplay and publicity benefiting from it's association with the A-side of a single, which gets the official publicity and promotions from a record label. So, for several weeks it was shown as "Rest Your Love On Me/I Am the Dreamer You Are the Dream" on the national charts.

Earlier I mentioned that this was a ballad heavy album...not only is the title track well over 3 minutes in length but "For All The Right Reasons" has a similar running time and it's a much shorter song, lyrically. If you were to write the lyrics down to that song on a sheet of paper you will see that it's a short song but the music interludes make it longer. These songs have a very intimate and personal feel...almost like this was an album recorded exclusively for the women...although women were who made up his audience for the most part. Listen to the way he performs the songs "Hero For a Day", a ballad about a man who tells a woman all that he thinks she's wanting in life. "We're Gonna Try It Tonight" is one of those conversational songs which features a lyric that goes like "...we're gonna lay love down and keep it warm 'til morning light so when the fire ignites hold on tight...".

"Once Is Not Enough Kind of Love" is track number two while the opening song is "I Still Believe In Waltzes", which would become a Top-10 hit for him and Loretta in 1981 when they recorded the song for their Two's A Party album. The album closes with "When The Feelin's Right", a song about male-female relationships and how to tell when a woman's feeling that feeling and what to do as a result.

For those not familiar with Conway or his style of songs I must interject this bit of commentary. He became famous for picking songs that he felt women would love to hear and he also used to say that he wanted to pick songs that said things men wanted to say to women but didn't know how to express their feelings or weren't articulate enough to do so. So, a lot of Conway's songs were about relationships...both good and bad...heartbreak and heartache...love, lust, and regret and agony. All of the emotions that go along with love were featured in Conway's songs. The more positive a song was the bigger it became a hit...or, for those who don't know that much about Conway, you'll perhaps be more inclined to say the songs that were the most sexy were the biggest hits since he gained a reputation for what critics call bedroom ballads. One of the nick-names tagged to him was Master of the Bedroom Ballad...other nick-names were Heartland Heart Throb...Mr T...The High Priest of Country Music...and The Best Friend a Song Ever Had. Jerry Clower dubbed Conway the high priest because of all the women that piled into venue's to watch Conway perform on stage...and how in his eyes it reminded him of religious revivals where the church is filled to the brim with worshipers.

1. I Still Believe In Waltzes
2. Once Is Not Enough Kind of Love
3. Hero For a Day
4. I Am The Dreamer You Are the Dream
5. Rest Your Love On Me
6. For All The Right Reasons
7. We're Gonna Try It Tonight
8. You'll Be Back Every Night in My Dreams
9. A Bridge That Just Won't Burn
10. When The Feelin's Right

Conway Twitty in your Dreams

We go back 21 years to 1988 when this particular Conway Twitty album was brand new. The single that was on the radio and in the stores prior to the album's release, "Goodbye Time", was unlike anything Conway had recorded to that point. It featured the piano as the main instrument and the vocal performance was one of a kind. This is just one example of how Conway put everything he had into a song...hearing it was like listening to a drama unfold in front of your ears. It was a story about a man and woman breaking up although the man doesn't want it to happen but if she won't change her mind given everything he's attempted at trying to convince her to stay then for the two of them it's goodbye time. As far as chart data is concerned, the single reached the Top-10 in the spring/early summer of 1988.

The summer of 1988 saw the release and success of "Saturday Night Special"...according to what I've read, the single created a controversy due to the way the pawnbroker in the song was depicted plus there was objections surrounding the song's overall violent under-tone, after all, the song is about a pistol. The single reached the Top-10, but barely...in the Cashbox chart it peaked at #6. The song is about a man and a woman who visit a pawnshop and fall in love while meeting there. She was there to sell her wedding ring and he was there to buy a pistol. The broker in the song offers a small amount for the ring...and the man uses the pistol he just bought to intimidate the broker into giving the woman a more higher value for the ring. They leave the shop and head off to Texas to presumably get married.

The third and final single from this album arrived late in 1988 and climbed up into the Top-5 in early 1989. The title of the album, Still in Your Dreams serves as part of the title of the opening song, "I Wish I Was Still In Your Dreams". The song is another dramatic reading of a man who see's a woman after a long separation. When I hear the song I always think of Times Square in New York...picturing a man seeing a woman sitting at a table inside a cafe. The song doesn't say what caused the couple to break-up only that the man wishes he was still in her dreams. Vince Gill provides the soaring harmony on this song as well as on all the songs.

Aside from the singles, the album contains a mix of songs, most of them on the heartbreak side and some not. "Throwing Good Love After Bad" is a song about a man trying to find the right woman. It has a slow ballad feel much like "Goodbye Time" and "I Don't Remember Going Crazy", which is track number seven. "Your Loving Side" is an up-tempo poppish song with a narrative passage while the album's closer, "When You're Cool The Sun Shines All The Time", is a rip-roaring rocker/blues song. If the clip is still available you can see Conway perform this song during a TV appearance that's been uploaded onto You Tube. Look up his name and the song title and the clip will pop up after the search.

"Jenny's Souvenirs" is a sad song about a married couple with a clever twist. My vote for song that could have been a hit single but yet wasn't released as one goes to "They Only Come Out at Night". The entire song...the sound...the style in which it's delivered...screams 'hit song' in my ears but it wasn't issued. I think there was a policy at MCA during the mid to late 1980's that only three songs were issued as commercial singles from albums and that's it...unless Conway only wanted three per album.

Conway rarely did re-makes of his previous songs...there were a few exceptions, though; back in 1976 he re-recorded five of his rock and roll songs for a project called Now and Then which featured five newly recorded songs on side two. He recorded several duets with Loretta of previous solo songs...both he and Loretta together recorded versions of "It's Only Make Believe", "I Changed My Mind", "I've Already Loved You In My Mind", "I'm So Used To Loving You", "Working Girl"...Conway had also recorded solo versions of "The Letter" and "I Still Believe In Waltzes", two singles that became huge hits for him and Loretta. Another occasion where Conway re-recorded some of his former hits came along in 1982 when he put together the mammoth two-part collection called Conway Twitty Classics, Volume One and Conway Twitty Classics, Volume Two. The project featured 20 re-recordings of a lot of his huge hits from the 1970's. The songs have been released several times by Sony Music on a wide variety of compilation CD's featuring Conway. Chances are a lot of the CD's currently on the market released by labels other than MCA which feature Conway are likely to feature his 1982 re-recordings than the original recordings. What does all of this mean when it comes to this 1988 album you may ask. Well, on this album, it features a song Conway originally recorded in the mid 1960's, "If You Were Mine To Lose", which he also wrote. So, we're treated to an updated version of that song on this album.

1. I Wish I Was Still in Your Dreams
2. Your Loving Side
3. Goodbye Time
4. If You Were Mine To Lose
5. Throwing Good Love After Bad
6. Saturday Night Special
7. I Don't Remember Going Crazy
8. They Only Comes Out at Night
9. Jenny's Souvenirs
10. When You're Cool The Sun Shines All The Time

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.

Conway Twitty's Fallin' For You

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

Conway Twitty cassettes

This Conway Twitty cassette was released in 1989. It's called House On Old Lonesome Road and it featured the Top-20 title track and the smash hit, "She's Got a Single Thing In Mind", which became the #3 song of the entire year and his 54th #1 hit. There was a third single, "Who's Gonna Know", which became a chart hit in early 1990...it was the first major release from Conway since 1967 to not enter the Top-40 of the country chart. It peaked in the Top-60...charting below #55. In an incredible display of chart discrepancy, the weekly Cashbox chart ranked the single at #19, making it a Top-20 hit...but Billboard ranked it in the Top-60. The rest of the album is a sampling of material that we've come to know from Conway...with a few surprises. "Child With Child" easily stands out as a song typically not associated with Conway's choice of material. It's a very topical song dealing with teenage pregnancy. There's another song on here, "Play Ruby Play", which makes long-time fans think of "Play Guitar Play" due to the similar title. That's where the similarities end, though, as "Play Ruby Play" is a kind of dance song...it has a roadhouse feel to it. One of my favorites is "Private Part of My Heart", track number six. It just has that feel to it...and it should have been released as a single in hindsight. The album closes with "Too White To Sing the Blues" which breaks up the overall theme of the album, which includes mostly somber songs dealing with various forms of heartache and heartbreak. "Take Me Home To Mama" is a 'boy meets girl/introduce me to your mother' song. It, too, is an up-tempo song. All in all it is a good album but it lacks a few monster hits and because of this it allowed the album to slip by and go out of print rather quickly. The main song, "She's Got a Single Thing in Mind", was being bought as a 45 RPM single...so a lot of people are not as familiar with this album.

This particular album on Conway was released in 1975. It's called The High Priest of Country Music and it contains two major hit singles. "Touch the Hand" and "Don't Cry Joni" appeared on this album...each song went to #1, specifically "Don't Cry Joni" hit #1 in Record World, a now out of print weekly chart publication, one of Billboard's main competitors. The single featured his daughter, Joni, playing the part of the girl who requests the boy wait until she's of-age so the two can be married. At the time, she's 15 and he's 22. The boy, named Jimmy, which happens to be the name of one of Conway's sons, moves off but Joni remains vigilant waiting for Jimmy's return. Well, five years pass and Jimmy returns, knowing Joni is 20, and anticipates marrying her but reality deals him a crushing jolt. "Touch the Hand" is an aching love ballad about a man trying to convince the woman not to leave him. The name of the album came from Jerry Clower, a label mate and a legendary southern comedian. Clower nick-named Conway "the high priest of country music". It is on this album that Conway performs his version of "Before The Next Teardrop Falls", a monster hit for Freddy Fender. Conway also gives us his versions of "Sally Was a Good Ol' Girl", "It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin", and "Amanda". The album was certified GOLD in Canada.

This project was released in 1983, called Lost in the Feeling. It features the #1 title track, a song that also features Ricky Skaggs as the harmony singer and several steel guitar solo's by John Hughey. The rest of the album is stocked with country-pop pretty much. "You've Got a Good Love Coming" is a Lee Greenwood smash hit...Conway's version is pretty much in the same arrangement. "First Things First" is a cute song about a blind date and how amorous the woman happens to be. "The Best Is Yet To Come" is a love song detailing the minute by minute account of a night together and the morning after. The album's second single, "Heartache Tonight", is a fabulous display of Conway's vocals. The song originates from The Eagles...they are the act who had a hit with the song first. Conway's version hit the Top-10 in the fall of 1983. "From a Strangers Point of View" is one of the few songs on the album that doesn't contain a pop over-tone with the others being "We're So Close" and the rollicking, up-tempo "I Think I'm in Love". The album's third single, "Three Times a Lady", became a Top-10 hit in early 1984...it had been a previous pop hit for The Commodores.

Not many country songs had quite touched the subject matter that a Conway Twitty song was known to touch and this album, well, this particular single, was touching forbidden places in the minds of music critics and radio DJ's. Pardon my shocked expression...I was acting like someone from the early 1970's upon hearing the song for the very first time. There were several radio stations that banned the song. You have to remember that it was 1973 when this album was released and not many, if any, country songs were accused of being naughty. I do not believe the song is naughty or dirty and once you hear Conway explain the lyrics of the song you, too, won't think the song is as naughty as some would lead you to believe. "You've Never Been This Far Before" became one of Conway's biggest hits...remaining a #1 single for multiple weeks and crossing over to the Top-30 on the pop chart, in spite of it's ban from several stations. The song is basically about a one night stand concerning a woman who's cheating on her husband with another man and she's nervous because she's never been that far before. The song's concept wasn't controversial...it was the choice of lyrics in a certain point in the song. Casual fans refer to this as the "bum, bum, bum song" because Conway says that phrase throughout the song to emphasize the sound of a heartbeat pounding harder as the married woman gets closer and closer to the other man. It's quite a song and one of Conway's signature #1 hits. The other material on the album, like much of the albums released in this era in country music, featured mostly cover songs. "Born To Lose", "Seasons of My Heart", and "Above and Beyond" had previously been recorded by others...George Jones and Buck Owens to name a few. "Baby's Gone", the other single from the album, hit #1 and it told the story of a man who comes home to find his wife has left him. It's a standard country music storyline but what sells the song is Conway's vocal performance. "I Love You More in Memory", "Til the Pain Outwears the Shame", and "The Easy Way Out" are good showcases for Conway's vocals but the drawing power remains "You've Never Been This Far Before". This was certified a GOLD album.

Conway Twitty: Borderline

Borderline is the name of the 1987 Conway Twitty album that was also known as his comeback album for MCA Records, following his four year run with the Warner Brothers company. This particular album featured a whole assortment of country songs designed to go hand in hand with the sound of country music at the time. Conway, more than any other artist of his generation, was always recording songs that were modern...he rarely recorded songs that sounded as if they were written in the past. This isn't to say that he never recorded his fair share of traditional sounding country music because he did...but for the most part, a lot of the songs that became singles all carried the contemporary country sound.

This album was unique in that the title track, "Borderline", was never issued as a single. He had previously issued albums in the past whose title's were not issued as singles such as quite a few of his Warner Brothers releases, but pretty much it's an unwritten rule that albums are named either for the lead-off single or a song that'll eventually become a single at radio. Anyway, this 10-song collection was a perfect comeback to MCA...the first single from the album, the bouncy "Julia", was a major hit single during mid 1987. It's highlighted by the twinkling piano accompaniment. The song became his fifty-third #1 hit.

"Lonely Town", not a single, is a great song...and if one listens to it, you would wonder why it was never issued as a single. "I Want To Know You Before We Make Love" was the album's second single and it is the most dramatic...with a fascinating climax. It, too, was a monster hit in late 1987. "Borderline", the title track, is a bouncy dance-friendly song...followed by the dramatic "Not Enough Love To Go 'Round". The last five songs feature more mid-tempo material than straight ballads. "Snake Boots" features a high-octane performance complete with loud, rock-like instrumentation. "I'm For Awhile" is a song about loyalty while "Fifteen To Forty-Three" is a song about looking back into one's history. "Everybody Needs a Hero", much like "Snake Boots", is an up-tempo rocker song. The album closes with a poignant ballad, "That's My Job", which has a running time of 4:51 by most counts. It's just a tad shy of being five minutes long...incredible running time for a country song since the standard country song was 3 and a half minutes or shorter, very few ran longer than 3 minutes. The song was released as a single in late 1987 and amazingly it became a Top-10 hit in early 1988...in spite of it's length. It became one of his most-requested songs, too. It's the story of a father and son and how the son moves away to start his own life but consistently asks his father's advice and help along the way.



That's me and my cassette copy of Borderline. As I found out it is a very rare album...by that I mean it's out of print. I lucked out and found a cassette copy that appeared at a local record store one day several years ago and I grabbed it. These are clickable thumbnail images...you can click them to get a bigger image.

This is a little bit more rare...this is a double collection...featuring one album on each side of the cassette. MCA released these sort of collections in the early 1980's...this one came along in 1983...it features the Heart and Soul and Rest Your Love On Me albums on one cassette...



My grandfather bought a Conway Twitty cassette in the late 1980's...at the time I didn't know how rare and obscure the collection was becoming but now I know how quickly it went out of print...so here I am with my Chasin' Rainbows cassette. Conway released this in 1985 and I wrote a blog entry about the album already. I have the vinyl album, too, along with the cassette that my grandfather let me have.



I have a lot of Conway's cassette's and vinyl albums and here's one more...the cassette copy of his 1983 album Lost in the Feeling.

Conway Twitty: Album Producers

Focusing on just the country music side of Conway's career, the producers of Conway Twitty albums are but a few. First off we have Owen Bradley who was a legendary record producer for the Decca/MCA label throughout the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's. Owen recorded artists in what was known as The Quonset Hut. He later bought a barn and converted it into a recording studio in 1961. This became known as Bradley's Barn and it was here that all of Owen's successes would emerge and it was here where Conway Twitty recorded all of his songs during a 12 year period, 1966-1978.



Conway and Owen parted ways in 1978 after the release of several hit recordings, including the Top-10's "Georgia Keeps Pulling On My Ring", "Your Love Had Taken Me That High", "Boogie Grass Band", and a duet with Loretta, "From Seven 'Til Ten".

Conway became a producer of his own albums starting in 1979. He and David Barnes produced the following albums during 1979-1980: "Crosswinds", "Diamond Duet", and "Heart and Soul". Conway then teamed up with Ron Chancey and the two of them produced the following albums during 1980-1981: "Rest Your Love On Me", "Two's a Party", and "Mr. T".

After Conway's move from MCA in 1982 he joined forces with Jimmy Bowen. Conway and Jimmy produced the following albums: "Southern Comfort", "Dream Maker", and "Lost In the Feeling" during 1982-1983. Dee Henry came aboard in 1984 as a co-producer and the three of them would produce the following album together: "By Heart".

Jimmy then headed off and eventually landed at MCA. Ron Treat became co-producer of the albums along side Conway and Dee Henry. The three of them produced Conway's final three Warner Brothers albums during 1985-1986: "Don't Call Hime a Cowboy", "Chasin' Rainbows", and "Fallin' For You For Years". Conway went back to MCA in 1987 and was reunited with Jimmy Bowen. Conway married Dee Henry in 1987. The three of them would produce the remaining MCA albums together, 1987-1990, but then Jimmy left MCA for Capitol Records. Conway and Dee produced the 1991 album together while Don Cook produced Conway's final album, "Final Touches" with Conway and Dee credited as "Associate Producers" of the project.

Conway Twitty: The MCA Years

In an earlier entry I examined Conway's Warner Brothers years. I won't examine Conway's MCA years in quite the same in-depth manner because MCA was the label Conway recorded for throughout his country career, with the exception of the 4 year Warner Brothers stint.

Conway signed with MCA, known at the time as Decca, in 1965. He was primarily known for his pop and rock material of the late 1950's and early 1960's and it was Harlan Howard, a legendary country songwriter, who became instrumental in Conway's switch from pop to country music. Conway had a slow start in country music due to the obvious reason...a former rock and pop singer wants to "go country". MCA continued to release singles on Conway in spite of their low chart placings...the material issued 1966 and 1967 included "Guess My Eyes Were Bigger Than My Heart", which actually became a Top-20 country hit in 1966 following a series of singles that didn't enter the charts; some others were the Top-40 country hits "I Don't Want To Be With Me" and "Don't Put Your Hurt In My Heart" and a song that didn't get as much airplay, "Funny, But I'm Not Laughing", which peaked outside of the Top-40.

As I mentioned, the label stuck with Conway and in 1968 after three full years as a country artist he had his very first Top-10 country hit, "The Image of Me". After this song hit, every single that MCA released on Conway for the next ten years reached the Top-10, thirty-two of those singles reached the #1 spot in the various weekly country charts. Conway was red-hot in country music during the 1970's and he continued this dominance throughout much of the 1980's, prompting Billboard Magazine to declare Conway the #1 Country artist of the 1970's and the #2 Country artist of the 1980's, all based on the success of his songs on the charts. His sales were extremely high for a country artist and he was one of the few artist's in country music to regularly sell hundreds of thousands of albums, as well as singles, year after year during the 1970's and half of the 1980's...

Conway shared pretty much all of the 1970's and early 1980's with Loretta Lynn in a string of duet recordings...their success as a duo was rewarded at the annual awards programs for a period of years during the 1970's. The two won various Vocal Duo and Vocal Duet awards from all of the awards organizations plus the two of them toured together quite a bit. In an interesting bit of marketing, Owen Bradley, the record producer, along with Conway and Loretta, insisted that there only be one duet single and one duet album a year. This was put into effect because Owen, Conway, or Loretta wanted their duet material to compete with their solo material. So, usually, the duet's would be released during the peak time of either two's solo single...so that by the time the duet recording was catching on and being played, the solo recording's from Conway and Loretta were falling back down the charts.

Conway had mentioned years later that they fought MCA because the label wanted to cash-in on the extreme success that the duo could potentially bring in but neither artist, nor Owen Bradley, wanted the duet's to over-shadow the solo work. Looking back it was a smart move because the songs that Conway and Loretta released separately from their duet recordings are popular, as were the duets they recorded. Another worry was publicity...Conway and Loretta didn't want to be known as a duet act...this, actually, was the impetus for everyone agreeing that there wouldn't be no more than one album and single a year.

Conway and Loretta...on the cover of their 1973 album, "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man"


In 1978 Conway released a series of singles that didn't reach #1 and he felt this was a perfect time to change some things in his career. He had become even more of a producer in the studio...being given permission to do a lot of things in the studio that other record producers probably wouldn't allow. Conway, actually, became his own producer...leaving Owen Bradley after a long and successful run. Conway and co-producer, David Barnes, helmed the 1979 album, Crosswinds which featured another change: Conway's hair! He had dropped the familiar slick back look for the curlier style. At the time of this album's release, Conway hadn't had a #1 single for almost two years...which may have felt like forever for an artist known for having #1 hits. Conway had released a series of singles in 1978 that peaked at various places in the Top-10 but none of the singles hit #1. At the time, Conway's last #1 was in mid 1977, "I've Already Loved You In My Mind", it was his thirty-fourth #1 single.

After the almost two year drought from the top, "Don't Take It Away" soared Conway back up to #1 in 1979...making that his 35th #1 single. He continued to rack up #1 singles and the occasional Top-10 for MCA through 1981. His departure from MCA occurred, according to Conway, because the company had become too much business-driven instead of artistic-driven. In his words he felt the label wasn't really pushing his records at radio or promoting him heavily as they did in the past because the label had became too big. Anyway, he went to Elektra Records in 1982...a smaller label compared to MCA at the time. Asylum Records was a part of Elektra at the time, so Conway's records were on the Elektra/Asylum label. Then, as labels are prone to do, Asylum split from Elektra in 1983 and Warner Brothers merged with Elektra. Conway found himself on another "big, cumbersome" label once more. After spending a few more years on Warner Brothers, and gathering 11 number one hits in a little over four years, including his 50th, "Don't Call Him a Cowboy" in 1985, Conway returned to MCA in 1987. Conway would have three more #1 hits during the 1987-1990 time span, 1987's "Julia", 1989's "She's Got a Single Thing in Mind", and 1990's "Crazy In Love". This would become his 55th and final #1 hit. Sprinkled throughout the 1987-1990 time line were five additional Top-10 hits...and in early 1991 he scored another Top-10 hit, "I Couldn't See You Leavin". This single would be his last to reach the Top-10. It was the 75th single to enter the country Top-10 for Conway in a country music career that spanned 26 years up to that point, 1965-1991. As many of you know, Conway passed away in 1993 during his 28th year as a country music singer and his 36th year as a recording artist when you add in the 1957-1964 rock/pop career.

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}