Profile
Name:
BARBARA
Channel Views:
9,157
Joined:
Sep 28, 2009
Subscribers:
123
About Me:
Early life
Conway Twitty was born Harold Jenkins on September 1, 1933 in Friars Point, Mississippi. 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 10 years of age, and it was in Helena that he put together his first singing group, the Phillips County Ramblers.[citation needed]
Two years later, he had his own local radio show every Saturday morning. Jenkins also practiced his second passion, baseball. He received an offer to play with the Philadelphia Phillies after high school, but he was drafted into the US Army. He served in the Far East and organized a group called The Cimmerons to entertain fellow GIs.[1]
After his military discharge, Jenkins again pursued a music career. After hearing Elvis Presley's song, "Mystery Train", he began writing rock and roll material. 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.[citation needed]
Stage name origin
Accounts of how Jenkins acquired his stage name vary. As one account would have it, Jenkins felt that his real name wasn't marketable, and he changed his show business name in 1957. Looking at a road map, he spotted Conway, Arkansas and Twitty, Texas. Thus, he went with the professional name of Conway Twitty.[citation needed]
Alternatively, 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. W. Conway Twitty subsequently recorded the song, "What's in A Name But Trouble" in the mid-1960s, lamenting the loss of his name to Jenkins.
There were also rumors he had lovers in Conway, Arkansas, as well as Twitty, Texas and his stage name was a constant reminder of their love. Whatever the truth of the matter, Harold Jenkins retained his legal name.
Pop and rock and roll success
Twitty's fortunes changed in 1958, while he was with MGM Records, under the name Conrad. An Ohio radio station did not play "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.[2] The record took nearly one year to reach and stay at the top spot on the Billboard pop music charts in the U.S., as well as No. 1 in 21 other countries. It became the first of nine Top 40 hits for Twitty. That same year, country singer Tabby West of ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee heard Twitty and he was booked to appear on the show.[1]
For a brief period, some believed he was Elvis Presley recording under a different name. This was largely the case with "It's Only Make Believe". 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]
In 1960, he appeared in three feature films, College Confidential, Sex Kittens Go to College and Platinum High School.
Death
Twitty became ill while performing in Branson, Missouri, and was in pain while he was on the tour bus. He died in Springfield, Missouri, at Cox South Hospital from an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Since his death, his son Michael and grandson Tre have been carrying on the legacy of Twitty's music. His most recent chart appearance on the country charts was a duet with Anita Cochran, "I Want to Hear A Cheating Song" (2004) which was made possible due to the availability of the original multi-track session tapes of his version the song, recorded in the early 80's. As a result, Twitty's isolated vocal track was able to be electronically lifted off the session master, flown over to a digital multi-track and digitally re-assembled into the performance we hear today.
Similarly to the electronic duets of Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves, Hank Williams Jr. and Hank Williams Sr. or Nat and Natalie, Anita Cochran then went in and added her vocal to the already-produced backing tracks along with Twitty's reconstructed vocal.
Country:
United States
Albums:
Subscribers
(130)
Channel Comments
|
ConditionOfAnonymity
(7 months ago)
kids, this is how it's done, no crap, no pop so/called country music. just plain true Country Music by The Mr. Conway Twitty, The Legend. We lost a great legendary Singer/Songwriter, you are sadly missed, CT. love this channel, God bless you.
|
|
sarahsrecords
(9 months ago)
Ladies & gentlemen MR. Conway Twitty !!!
|
|
reed1051
(10 months ago)
Oh my God, this is so fantastic, there will never be another artist like Conway Twitty, I miss hearing about him, But Michael sounds like an exact copy of his voice. I love this channell, thank you for creating it. Marilyn Reed
|
|
9988776698
(11 months ago)
IM A FAN MISS HIM ADD ME PLZ
|
|
Hanna43797
(11 months ago)
Just came by to visit Conway..... thanks for sharing this page...
|
|
jim09667
(1 year ago)
best ever
|
|
|
pamalamcd1
(1 year ago)
4 famous Jenkins, born to 4 sisters... he is one of the famous...Loved HJ! Always! Pami
|
|
lindalovesal
(1 year ago)
Barb do you have falling for you for years I can't seem to find it thanks.
|
|
|
ConditionOfAnonymity
(1 year ago)
hey BARBARA, WOW!!! great site, I've alway loved Conway's music. I like your layout also. Conway has 55 number one hits, and it seems to me that Trashville let him down, and so has country music radio. I just can't seem to understand how they have left their true roots in legendary singers/songwriters like Conway, Vern and many others. it's sad.
|
|
gwezeeboy
(1 year ago)
This is a nice channel, especially with my hero all over your desktop. Stop by sometime and listen to the conway songs that i sang there. merry christmas
|