Conway Twitty

[Ron Phillipchuk]

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1= Linda on my Mind
2= Diferent styles

Conway Twitty (born Harold Lloyd Jenkins; September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993) was an American country music singer. He also had success in the rock and roll, rock, R&B, and pop genres. From 1971 to 1976, Twitty received a string of Country Music Association awards for duets with Loretta Lynn. Although never a member of the Grand Ole Opry, he was inducted into both the Country Music and Rockabilly Halls of Fame.

Conway Twitty was born Harold Lloyd Jenkins on September 1, 1933 in Friars Point in Coahoma County in northwestern Mississippi. The Jenkins family were of Welsh descent.[1] He was named by his great-uncle, after his favorite silent movie actor, Harold Lloyd. The Jenkins family moved to Helena, Arkansas, when Jenkins was ten years old. In Helena, Jenkins formed his first singing group, the Phillips County Ramblers.

Two years later, Jenkins had his own local radio show every Saturday morning. He also played baseball, his second passion. He received an offer to play with the Philadelphia Phillies after high school, but he was drafted into the United States Army. He served in the Far East and organized a group called The Cimmerons to entertain fellow GIs.

Wayne Hause, a neighbor, suggested that Jenkins could make it in the music industry. Soon after hearing Elvis Presley's song "Mystery Train", Jenkins began writing rock and roll material. He went to the Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, and worked with Sam Phillips, the owner and founder, to get the "right" sound.

Accounts vary of how Harold Jenkins acquired his stage name of Conway Twitty. Allegedly, in 1957, Jenkins decided that his real name was not memorable enough and sought a better show business name. In The Billboard Book of Number One Hits Fred Bronson states that the singer was looking at a road map when he spotted Conway, Arkansas, and Twitty, Texas, and chose the name Conway Twitty.
Another account says that Jenkins met a Richmond, Virginia, man named W. Conway Twitty Jr. through Jenkins' manager in a New York City restaurant. The manager served in the US Army with the real Conway Twitty. Later, the manager suggested to Jenkins that he take the name as his stage name because it had a ring to it. In the mid-1960s, W. Conway Twitty subsequently recorded the song "What's in a Name but Trouble", lamenting the loss of his name to Harold Jenkins.

In 1958 using his new stage name, Conway Twitty's fortunes improved while he was with MGM Records, and an Ohio radio station had an inspiration, refraining from playing "I'll Try" (an MGM single that went nowhere in terms of sales, radio play, and jukebox play), instead playing the B-side, "It's Only Make Believe", a song written between sets by Twitty and drummer Jack Nance when they were in Hamilton, Ontario, playing at the Flamingo Lounge. The record took nearly one year to reach and stay at the top spot on the Billboard pop music charts in the US, as well as No. 1 in 21 other countries, becoming the first of nine top 40 hits for Twitty. It sold over four million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.[5] That same year, country singer Tabby West of ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee heard Twitty and booked him to appear on the show.

When "It's Only Make Believe" was first released, because of voice similarities, many listeners assumed that the song was actually recorded by Elvis Presley, using "Conway Twitty" as a pseudonym. Twitty would go on to enjoy rock and roll success with songs including "Danny Boy" (Pop No. 10) and "Lonely Blue Boy" (Pop No. 6). "Lonely Blue Boy", originally titled "Danny", was recorded by Presley for the film King Creole but was not used in the soundtrack.[citation needed] This song led to him naming his band the Lonely Blue Boys, although they subsequently became the Twitty Birds.

Twitty always wanted to record country music and, beginning in 1965, he did just that. His first few country albums were met with some country DJ's refusing to play them because he was known as a rock 'n' roll singer. However, he finally broke free with his first top five country hit, "The Image of Me", in July 1968, followed by his first number one country song, "Next in Line", in November 1968. Few of his singles beginning in 1968 ranked below the top five.

In 1970, Twitty recorded and released his biggest country hit, "Hello Darlin'", which spent four weeks at the top of the country chart and is one of Twitty's most recognized songs. In 1971 he released his first hit duet with Loretta Lynn, "After the Fire Is Gone". It was a success, and many more followed, including "Lead Me On" (1971), "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man" (1973), "As Soon as I Hang Up the Phone" (1974), "Feelins'" (1975), "I Still Believe in Waltzes", "I Can't Love You Enough", and many others. Together, Conway and Loretta (as they were known in their act), won four consecutive Country Music Association awards for vocal duo (1972–75) and a host of other duo and duet awards from other organizations throughout the 1970s.

In 1973, Twitty released "You've Never Been This Far Before", which was not only No. 1 in country for three weeks that September but also reached No. 22 on the pop charts. Some more conservative disc jockeys refused to play the song, believing that some of the lyrics were too sexually suggestive.

In 1978, Twitty issued the single "The Grandest Lady of Them All" honoring the Grand Ole Opry, but for the first time since 1967, a single of his failed to reach top ten status as some radio stations refused to play a song honoring the property of a competitor (broadcast by WSM-AM). Nevertheless, the single reached the top 20, peaking at No. 16 but it was well below expectations, and this set in motion the changes that were to take place in his career, including a new hairstyle, changing from the slicked-back pompadour style to the curlier style he would keep the rest of his life. However, Twitty's popularity and momentum were unaffected by the song as his next 23 consecutive singles all made it into the top 10, with 13 peaking at No. 1, including "Don't Take It Away", "I May Never Get to Heaven", "Happy Birthday Darlin'" and remakes of major pop hits such as "The Rose" and "Slow Hand".

In 1985, going by all weekly music trade charts, the song "Don't Call Him a Cowboy" became the 50th single of his career to achieve a No. 1 ranking. He would have five more through 1990, giving him a total of 55 No. 1 hits. George Strait eclipsed the feat of 50 No. 1 hits in 2002 with his single "She'll Leave You With a Smile" and then reached No. 1 for the 56th time in 2007 when the single "Wrapped" hit the top on the Media Base 24/7 list.

Throughout much of Twitty's country music career his recording home was Decca Records, later renamed MCA. He signed with the label in late 1965 but left in 1981 when it appeared MCA was marketing and promoting newer acts, plus management at the label had changed and other factors brought on the decision. He joined Elektra/Asylum in 1982. That label merged with its parent company, Warner Bros. Records in 1983. He stayed with Warner Bros. Records through early 1987 but then went back to MCA to finish his career. In 1993, shortly before he died, he recorded a new album, Final Touches.

Twitty also played baseball, his second passion. He received an offer to play with the Philadelphia Phillies after high school, but he was drafted into the United States Army before he could sign the contract. Twitty joined entrepreneur Larry Schmittou and other country music stars, such as Cal Smith, Jerry Reed, Larry Gatlin, and Richard Sterban, in 1977 as investors in the Nashville Sounds, a minor league baseball team of the Double-A Southern League that began play in 1978.  He threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the team's inaugural home opener at Herschel Greer Stadium on April 26, 1978.  Twitty would also host celebrity softball games for charity, frequently going against a team put together by Barbara Mandrell.

Twitty lived for many years in Hendersonville, Tennessee, just north of Nashville, where he built a country music entertainment complex called Twitty City at a cost of over $3.5 million.  Twitty and Twitty City were once featured on the TV series Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. and was also seen in the Nashville episode of the BBC series Entertainment USA, presented by Jonathan King. Opened in 1982, it was a popular tourist stop throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s; it was shut down in 1994 following a year-long tribute show called Final Touches, when fans and peers in the music business dropped by. The complex was auctioned off and bought by the Trinity Broadcasting Network the #1 Faith-based network in the world; now known as Trinity Music City, USA, it is open to the public, with free tours.

Twitty was married four times, to three different women. His first marriage lasted from 1953 to 1954 to Ellen Matthews. He had married because Ellen was pregnant with his son, Michael. His second marriage, and longest, was to Temple "Mickey" Medley. Twitty married Mickey in 1956 and had his three other children by her, Kathy, Joni Lee, and Jimmy Twitty. Mickey and Conway had married, divorced in early 1970, and were remarried again quietly by the end of 1970. By 1984, after 28 years of marriage on and off, the stress of her husband being away so often took its toll on Mickey, and she and Conway divorced. Some believe that the divorce was brought on by the fact that Twitty City was an open tourist complex, and that Mickey felt very uncomfortable with the fans around the mansion. In 1987, Twitty married his 36-year-old office secretary, Delores "Dee" Henry. They were married until Twitty's death.

In 1981, Twitty was exiting his tour bus when he slipped on the steps and fell, hitting his head against the steps. John Hughey, who was Twitty's steel guitar player, found him on the ground. Many people, including family members, said that Twitty suffered an extreme change in personality after the accident. According to daughter Joni, Twitty was not in a right state of mind for several months, saying in an interview that he had picked up a TV remote and began talking into it thinking it was a phone.

On June 4, 1993, Twitty became ill while performing at the Jim Stafford Theatre in Branson, Missouri, and was in pain while he was on his tour bus. He collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. He was rushed into surgery, but died in Springfield, Missouri, at Cox South Hospital, in early hours of the morning the next day, from an abdominal aortic aneurysm, aged 59, two months before the release of his final studio album, Final Touches. Four months after Twitty's death, George Jones included a cover of "Hello Darlin'" on his album High-Tech Redneck.
Twitty was buried at Sumner Memorial Gardens in Gallatin, Tennessee, in a red granite vault, under the name "Harold L. Jenkins". There is space reserved next to him for his wife and son Michael.

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"Linda on My Mind" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Conway Twitty. It was released in January 1975 as the first single and title track from the album Linda on My Mind.

The song was Twitty's 12th number one on the U.S. country singles chart. The single stayed at number one for one week and spent a total of eight weeks on the chart.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr6BBTC2so4

It's Only Make Believe" is a song written by Jack Nance and American country music artist Conway Twitty, and produced by MGM Records' Jim Vienneau, released by Twitty as a single in July 1958. The single topped both U.S.  and the UK Singles Chart,  and was Twitty's only number-one single on the pop charts of either country. On a segment of Pop Goes The Country, Twitty states the single was a hit in 22 different countries and sold over 8 million copies. It is believed that Twitty wrote his part of the song while sitting on a fire escape outside his hotel room, to escape the summer heat, in Hamilton, Ontario. Twitty had come to Canada at the request of another American singer, Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins, due to Hawkins saying to Twitty that Canada was the 'promised land' for music.

Twitty recorded many subsequent versions of "It's Only Make Believe", including a 1970 duet with Loretta Lynn on their very first collaborative album, We Only Make Believe. Twitty joins in on the last verse in a 1988 uptempo cover by Ronnie McDowell, which was a #8 hit on the country music charts. Additionally, Twitty contributed to an alternative cover by McDowell.

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"Hello Darlin'" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Conway Twitty.

It was released in March 1970 as the first single and title track from the album Hello Darlin. The song was Twitty's fourth No. 1 song on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart. The song spent four weeks atop the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart that summer, and was named the No. 1 song of 1970.

Aside from being Twitty's standard concert opener, the song became a country standard as well as his signature song. When performing with Loretta Lynn, Twitty would frequently sing the song directly to Loretta. Twitty's recording was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

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"Don't Cry, Joni" (or "Don't Cry Joni") is a song written by Conway Twitty.

He recorded it with his daughter Joni Twitty and released as a single in 1975. The recording peaked at number 63 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

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The song was covered in April 1982 by country singer Conway Twitty with minor lyric changes to accommodate a heterosexual male singer.

His version, on Elektra Records, topped the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart for two weeks that June, and was his last multi-week number-one song.

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Country singer Conway Twitty recorded a cover version in January 1983.

His version, off his album Dream Maker, was a number one country hit in US and Canada. Conway Twitty's version was his 30th number one single on the US country chart.