Life and career Conway Twitty

1 life , career

1.1 life
1.2 stage name
1.3 pop , rock-and-roll success
1.4 country music career
1.5 baseball
1.6 twitty city
1.7 personal life
1.8 death

life , career
early life

twitty born harold lloyd jenkins on september 1, 1933, in friars point, in coahoma county, in northwestern mississippi. jenkins family of welsh descent. named great-uncle, after favorite silent movie actor, harold lloyd. jenkins family moved helena, arkansas, when jenkins ten years old. in helena, jenkins formed first singing group, phillips county ramblers.

two years later, jenkins had own local radio show every saturday morning. played baseball, second passion. received offer play philadelphia phillies after high school, drafted united states army. served in far east , organized group called cimmerons entertain fellow soldiers.

wayne hause, neighbor, suggested jenkins make in music industry. after hearing elvis presley s song mystery train , jenkins began writing rock , roll material. went sun studios in memphis, tennessee, , worked sam phillips, owner , founder, right sound.

stage name

accounts vary of how jenkins acquired stage name of conway twitty. allegedly, in 1957, jenkins decided real name not memorable enough , sought better show business name. in billboard book of number 1 hits fred bronson states singer looking @ road map when spotted conway, arkansas, , twitty, texas, , chose name conway twitty.

another account says jenkins met richmond, virginia, man named w. conway twitty jr. through jenkins manager in new york city restaurant. manager served in u.s. army real conway twitty. later, manager suggested jenkins take name stage name because had ring it. in mid-1960s, w. conway twitty recorded song s in name trouble , lamenting loss of name jenkins.

pop , rock-and-roll success

in 1958 using new stage name, twitty s fortunes improved while mgm records, , ohio radio station had inspiration, refraining playing ll try (an mgm single went in terms of sales, radio play, , jukebox play), instead playing b-side, s make believe , song written between sets twitty , drummer jack nance when in hamilton, ontario, playing @ flamingo lounge. record took 1 year reach , stay @ top spot on billboard pop music charts in united states , number 1 in 21 other countries, becoming first of 9 top-40 hits twitty. sold on 4 million copies , awarded gold disc riaa. same year, country singer tabby west of abc-tv s ozark jubilee heard twitty , booked him appear on show.

when s make believe first released, because of vocal similarities, many listeners assumed song recorded elvis presley, using conway twitty pseudonym. twitty go on enjoy rock-and-roll success songs including danny boy (pop number 10) , lonely blue boy (pop number 6). lonely blue boy , titled danny , recorded presley film king creole not used in soundtrack. song led him naming band lonely blue boys. subsequently became twitty birds.

country music career

twitty wanted record country music, and, beginning in 1965, did that. disc jockeys on country-music radio stations refused play first few country albums, because known rock-and-roll singer. however, had first top 5 country hit, image of me , in july 1968, followed first number 1 country song, next in line , in november 1968. few of singles beginning in 1968 ranked below top five.

in 1970, twitty recorded , released biggest country hit, hello darlin , spent 4 weeks @ top of country chart , 1 of twitty s recognized songs. in 1971 released first hit duet loretta lynn, after fire gone . success, , many more followed, including lead me on (1971), louisiana woman, mississippi man (1973), hang phone (1974), feelins (1975), still believe in waltzes , can t love enough , , many others. together, conway , loretta (as known in act), won 4 consecutive country music association awards vocal duo (1972–75) , host of other duo , duet awards other organizations throughout 1970s.

in 1973, twitty released ve never been far before , number 1 in country 3 weeks september , reached number 22 on pop charts. more conservative disc jockeys refused play song, believing of lyrics sexually suggestive.

in 1978, twitty issued single grandest lady of them honoring grand ole opry, first time since 1967, single of failed reach top ten, radio stations refused play song honoring property of competitor (broadcast wsm-am). nevertheless, single reached top 20, peaking @ number 16, below expectations, , set in motion changes take place in career, including new hairstyle, changing slicked-back pompadour style curlier style keep rest of life. however, twitty s popularity , momentum unaffected song, next 23 consecutive singles made top 10, 13 peaking @ number 1, including don t take away , may never heaven , happy birthday darlin , remakes of major pop hits such rose , slow hand .

in 1985, going weekly music trade charts, song don t call him cowboy became 50th single of career achieve number-1 ranking. have 5 more through 1990, giving him total of 55 number 1 hits. george strait matched feat of 50 number-1 hits in 2002 single ll leave smile , reached number 1 56th time in 2007, when single wrapped hit top on media base 24/7 list.

throughout of twitty s country music career recording home decca records, later renamed mca. signed label in late 1965 left in 1981, when appeared mca marketing , promoting newer acts; management @ label had changed, in addition other factors brought on decision. joined elektra/asylum in 1982. label merged parent company, warner bros. records in 1983. stayed warner bros. through 1987 went mca finish career. in 1993, shortly before died, recorded new album, final touches.

baseball

twitty played baseball, second passion. received offer play philadelphia phillies after high school, drafted united states army before sign contract. twitty joined entrepreneur larry schmittou , other country music stars, such cal smith, jerry reed, larry gatlin, , richard sterban, in 1977 investors in nashville sounds, minor league baseball team of double-a southern league, began playing in 1978. twitty threw out ceremonial first pitch @ team s inaugural home opener, @ herschel greer stadium, on april 26, 1978. twitty host celebrity softball games charity, playing against team put barbara mandrell.

twitty city

twitty lived many years in hendersonville, tennessee, north of nashville, built country music entertainment complex called twitty city @ cost of on $3.5 million. twitty , twitty city once featured on tv series lifestyles of rich , famous. , seen in nashville episode of bbc series entertainment usa, presented jonathan king. opened in 1982, popular tourist stop throughout 1980s , 1990s; shut down in 1994 following year-long tribute show called final touches, when fans , peers in music business dropped by. complex auctioned off , bought trinity broadcasting network #1 faith-based network in world; known trinity music city, usa, no longer open public.

personal life

twitty married 4 times, 3 different women. first marriage, ellen matthews, lasted 1953 1954. had married because ellen pregnant son, michael. second, , longest, marriage temple mickey medley. married in 1956 , had 3 children: kathy, joni lee, , jimmy twitty. couple divorced in 1970, remarried quietly end of 1970. 1984, after 28 years of marriage on , off, stress of twitty s frequent absences took toll on mickey, , , conway divorced. believe divorce brought on fact twitty city open tourist complex, , mickey felt uncomfortable fans around mansion. in 1987, twitty married 36-year-old office secretary, delores dee henry. married until twitty s death.

in 1981, twitty exiting tour bus when slipped on steps , fell, hitting head against steps. john hughey, twitty s steel guitar player, found him on ground. many people, including family members, said twitty underwent change in personality after accident. according daughter joni, twitty not in right state of mind several months, saying in interview had picked tv remote , began talking it, thinking phone.

death

on june 4, 1993, twitty became ill while performing @ jim stafford theatre in branson, missouri, , in pain while on tour bus. collapsed , rushed hospital. rushed surgery died of abdominal aortic aneurysm, in hours of morning next day, @ cox south hospital, in springfield, missouri, @ age of 59. last studio album, final touches, released 2 months later. 4 months after twitty s death, george jones included cover version of hello darlin on album high-tech redneck.

twitty buried @ sumner memorial gardens in gallatin, tennessee, in red granite vault, under name harold l. jenkins . there spaces reserved next him wife , son michael.