Conway Twitty

Conway Twitty (September 1, 1933 - June 5, 1993) was one of the United States' most successful country-music artists of the twentieth century. He had the most singles (55) reach Number 1 on various national music charts. Most commonly thought of as a country music singer, he also enjoyed success in early Rock and Roll, R&B, and Pop music.

Born Harold Lloyd Jenkins in Friars Point, Mississippi, the Jenkins family moved to Helena, Arkansas (now known as Helena-West Helena, Arkansas) when he was 10. There he formed his first music group. Following high school he was drafted into the Army. After his discharge from the Army, Twitty again pursued a music career. After hearing Elvis Presley's "Mystery Train," he began writing original rock 'n' roll material. He then headed for the Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee to work on his sound. In 1957, he changed his stage name to Conway Twitty. Instead of playing rockabilly like some of his fellow musicians, he scored his first hit with a teen ballad, "It's Only Make Believe."

Eight years and three gold records later, he began his country career with MCA/Decca in 1965, and by the early 1970s, he had scored four straight No. 1 hits, including "Hello Darlin'." In 1971, he released his first hit duet with Loretta Lynn. Together, they won four consecutive CMA awards for vocal duo. In 1982, Twitty moved to Warner Bros. (then Elektra) and reached No. 1 with remakes of the Pointer Sisters' "Slow Hand" and Bette Midler's "The Rose." In 1987, he returned to MCA, where he co-produced his albums with his wife, Dee Henry. The hits continued.

Twitty became ill while performing in Branson, Missouri, and he died on June 5, 1993. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999.

Early career

Conway Twitty was born Harold Lloyd Jenkins on September 1, 1933 in Friars Point, Mississippi. Jenkins was named by his great uncle after his favorite silent movie actor, Harold Lloyd. Twittty's father, a riverboat pilot, taught him his first guitar chords when he was four years old. He heard the sounds of gospel music from a black church in town, and every Saturday night the family gathered around the radio to listen to Grand Ole Opry. When he was 10, his family moved to Helena, Arkansas, and there he established his first band, the Phillips County Ramblers. Two years later, he had his own local radio show every Saturday morning. While in Arkansas, Twitty indulged his second passion—baseball. He received an offer to play with the Philadelphia Phillies after high school, but joined the Army instead.

After his discharge from the Army, Jenkins again pursued a music career. After hearing Elvis Presley's song, "Mystery Train," he began writing rock 'n' roll material. As a matter of course, he headed for the Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee and worked with Sam Phillips, owner and founder of Sun Studios, to get the "right" sound. He also worked with talented artists like Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and many others.

Harold Jenkins felt that his real name was not marketable, and he changed his show-business name in 1957. (Harold Lloyd Jenkins would always remain his legal name, however). Looking at a road map, he spotted Conway, Arkansas and Twitty, Texas. Thus, he went with the professional name of "Conway Twitty," but instead of playing rockabilly, he tried his hand at rock and roll.

Twitty's fortunes changed 1958, while he was with MGM Records. An Ohio radio station did not play "I'll Try," an MGM single that went basically nowhere in terms of sales, radio play, and jukebox play, instead playing the "B side" of the single. The B side was a song called "It's Only Make Believe." It was popular in Ohio, and was gradually becoming popular throughout the country, as well. "It's Only Make Believe" was recorded in 1958 and became the first of nine Top-40 hits for Twitty, selling eight million copies. The song was written by Conway and drummer, Jack Nance.

For a brief period in Twitty's career, some believed that he was Elvis Presley recording under a different name. This was largely the case with "It's Only Make Believe." The record took nearly one year in all to reach and stay at the top spot of the charts. The song went on to sell over eight million records and to No. 1 on the Billboard pop music charts in the U.S. as well as No. 1 in 21 different nations.

Twitty would go on to enjoy rock-n-roll success with a hard rock song like, "Danny Boy" and "Lonely Blue Boy." "Lonely Blue Boy" was orginially titled "Danny" and was recorded by Presley for the film King Creole, but was never used in the film soundtrack.

Career In country music

Conway Twitty always wanted to record country music, and in 1965 he did just that. His first few country albums were met with country DJs refusing to play them because he was well known as a rock-n-roll singer. He finally broke free with his first number one country song, "Next In Line" in 1968.

In 1970, Conway recorded and released "Hello Darlin," which was a huge hit.

Following three gold records in eight years, Twitty began his country career with MCA/Decca in 1965, and by the early 1970s, he had scored four straight No. 1 hits including "Hello Darlin'." His growling, personalized, and occasionally raunchy style was a big hit with his fans. In 1971, he released his first hit duet with Loretta Lynn, "After the Fire Is Gone," followed by "Lead Me On" in 1971, "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man" in 1973, and "As Soon As I Hang Up the Phone" in 1974. Together, they won four consecutive CMA awards for vocal duo, but Twitty never won a single CMA.

In 1973, Twitty released "You've Never Been This Far Before," which was number one for three weeks that September. Some disc jockeys refused to play the song because of its suggestive lyrics.

While Twitty has been known to cover songs – most notably "Slow Hand" which was a major pop hit for the Pointer Sisters—his own songs have not been covered that often. However, three notable covers include George Jones' rendition of "Hello Darlin," Blake Shelton's "Goodbye Time," and Elvis Presley's version of "There's A Honky Tonk Angel."

Twitty is often noted for being "The Best Friend a Song Ever Had," and to his fans, the statement rings true years after his passing. A story from Tennessee illustrates the power of Conway's music. A man had left his house, his wife and children and had been absent for quite some time. When asked if she thought he was going to come back the woman replied "I know he'll be back, he didn't take his Conway records." A few days later the man returned saying he needed a break, but his wife's faith in her husband's love of Conway Twitty music illustrates the devotion of his fans.

Private Life

Twitty married three times. After his death, his widow, Dee Henry Jenkins, and his four grown children from the previous marriages, Michael, Joni, Kathy, and Jimmy Jenkins engaged in a publicly visible dispute over the estate. His will had not been updated to account for the third marriage, but Tennessee law reserves one third of any estate to the widow. A public auction of much property and memorabilia was held due to the fact that the widow refused to accept the appraised value so therefore, she demanded that everything be sold so she could get a higher amount and, in fact, get more money.

Twitty lived for many years in Hendersonville, Tennessee, just north of Nashville, where he built a country music entertainment complex called Twitty City. Its lavish displays of Christmas lights were a famous local sight. It has since been sold to the Trinity Broadcasting Network and converted to a Christian music venue in 1990.

In the case Harold L. Jenkins (a.k.a. Conway Twitty) v. Commissioner, 47 T.C.M. (CCH) 238 n.14, Twitty sued to allow his repayment of investors in his bankrupted Twitty Burger fast food chain to be deductible as a business expense. The opinion closed with the following poem:

Twitty Burger went belly up

But Conway remained true
He repaid his investors, one and all
It was the moral thing to do.
'His fans would not have liked it
It could have hurt his fame
Had any investors sued him
Like Merle Haggard or Sonny James.
'When it was time to file taxes
Conway thought what he would do
Was deduct those payments as a business expense
Under section one-sixty-two.
'In order to allow these deductions
Goes the argument of the Commissioner
The payments must be ordinary and necessary
To a business of the petitioner.
'Had Conway not repaid the investors
His career would have been under cloud,
Under the unique facts of this case

Held: The deductions are allowed.

The IRS responded by allowing the judgment to stand while implying that if a similar case arose in the future their opinion would differ:

Harold Jenkins and Conway Twitty

They are both the same
But one was born
The other achieved fame.
The man is talented
And has many a friend
They opened a restaurant
His name he did lend.
They are two different things
Making burgers and song
The business went sour
It didn't take long.
He repaid his friends
Why did he act
Was it business or friendship
Which is fact?
Business the court held
It's deductible they feel
We disagree with the answer

But let's not appeal.

Death

In 1993, Twitty became ill while performing in Branson, Missouri, and was in pain while he was on the tour bus. He died of an abdominal aneurysm. Shortly before he died, he had recorded an appropriately titled new album, "Final Touches."

Legacy

From a Deep South gospel choir to Sun Studios in Memphis, then on to the birth of rock and roll, later rising to the top of the country charts, culminating with his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Conway Twitty built an astounding musical legacy that spanned five decades. However, the best measure of his legacy is how he touched everyone he knew and who heard his innovative, compelling music that spoke to the heart. Whatever the style—rock and roll, R&B, rockabilly, or his beloved country music—Twitty invested himself fully in it and made the music his own. This is his enduring legacy for listeners and fellow musicians, alike.

• By the end of his tenure at MCA in 1981, he had accumulated 32 No. 1 hits, while another 15 had reached the Top 5. He moved to Warner Bros. Records in 1982, where he had another 11 No. 1 hits. By 1987, Twitty was back at MCA where he continued to score top 10 hits until 1991.
• Twitty was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and his pioneering contribution has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, as well.
• In 2003, Twitty was ranked # 8 in CMT's 40 Greatest Men in Country Music.
• Twitty won four consecutive CMA Duo awards with Loretta Lynn (1971-1974).
• Bye Bye Birdie, the 1960 Tony Award-winning musical, focused on "Conrad Birdie," a hip-thrusting, rock-and-roll superstar from Allentown, Pennsylvania, whose name was a play on Conway Twitty. The original Broadway production was a success, and revivals followed. The show became a popular choice for high school and college productions. It also spawned a 1981 sequel, Bring Back Birdie, starring Chita Rivera. There was a successful 1963 film version of Bye Bye Birdie.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Kingsbury, Paul (Ed.) The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music, Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0195176087
• Twitty, Conway. Conway Twitty: Greatest Hits (Audio CD), Platinum Disc Corporation, 2004. ISBN 978-6308646751
• Stambler, Irwin, & Landon, Grelun. Country Music: The Encylopedia, St. Martin's Griffin, 2000. ISBN 978-0312264871
• McCloud, Barry. Definitive Country: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Country Music, Perigee Trade, 1995. ISBN 978-0399521447

External links

• Official Conway Twitty Website
• Conway Twitty Photo Galleries
• Conway Twitty at the All Music Guide
• Conway Twitty's rock and roll years

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