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.
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 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}
