Crazy In Love With Conway

After leaving Elvis Presley's band, pianist Floyd Cramer found work in Nashville as a studio musician. He appeared on many of the records that produced "The Nashville Sound," and eventually stepped out of the shadows as a solo performer, recording a number of instrumental singles and albums. 1960's  Last Date became the most popular, named because of its melancholy nature. Conway was performing in Canada when he heard Last Date for the first time, and within a few weeks he had written his own lyrics for it. With no country music connections at the time, he tucked it away in a box with other country songs he had written. Legendary songwriter Boudleaux Bryant also composed lyrics to the melody, resulting in My Last Date (With You) , which went on to become a big hit for Skeeter Davis.  Conway probably believed his version of the song would never see the light of day, but as luck would have it Floyd Cramer played the piano at Conway's next rock & roll session i...

A couple years ago someone in a Conway Facebook group posted a picture of a concert poster that was going up for sale at auction. As I've been known to do on more than one occasion when it comes to Conway, I went into full detective mode. In the photo I could just barely make out the name of the auction house, and a Google search told me it was in Pennsylvania. It was a silent auction held the first Saturday of each month, with bidders writing down their bid on a tag placed at each item. I called and was told that proxy bids could be placed by anyone who couldn't be present the day of the auction, but items had to be picked up in person. They don't ship anything. In the HUGE state of Pennsylvania, what are the chances I would know someone who lives nearby? I could only think of one person I know in the state *period*, a fellow Conway collector in fact, and as luck would have it he told me he drives past this particular town frequently on the weekends. I placed my bid by pho...

The Clown is one of two songs (the other being The Rose ) that made me sit up and take notice of Conway as a little girl in the mid '80s. I guess you could say he held my attention.  The Clown was written by Charlie Chalmers, Sandra Rhodes, Brenda Barnett & Wayne Carson (who also wrote I See The Want To In Your Eyes ) on the banks of a river in Arkansas in the middle of the night. After cutting a demo they realized the song was a perfect fit for Conway. When it arrived at his Twitty City office Conway loved the song, but he also loved the songwriters' voices on the demo, and in typical Conway fashion wanted to help them land a recording contract. When he contacted them they explained that the song was written for him, and the biggest way he could help them out would be to record it. He did just that, and even released it as the lead single from his first album for Elektra Records, Southern Comfort .  Recorded at Nashville’s Sound Stage Studios in late September 1981...

Conway LOVED Christmas. After Twitty City opened in 1982, it became known for the magical fantasy world he created at Christmastime. "Christmas at Twitty City" featured over a quarter million lights and 40 major displays including a live nativity, petting zoo, and Santa's Workshop.  He waited until well into his career to release the obligatory Christmas album, 1983's  Merry Twismas from Conway Twitty & His Little Friends , but instead of simply recording 10 holiday songs he produced an elaborate, one-of-a-kind storybook album for children of all ages, one that is still treasured in millions of homes around the world. It tells the tale of Conway and his beloved mascot the Twitty Bird as they visit Santa in Toyland Towne. It's a project that was years in the making, based on the stories and songs Conway made up for his kids as they were growing up. How many of these facts about the Merry Twismas album did you know? 1) At the time it was the most expensive Chri...

Ten Conway albums have been digitally reissued by Universal Music Group over the past week, all MCA titles from 1975-1987.  With the exception of Borderline , which was released on CD in 1987, and Mr. T , which was repackaged by MCA Special Products as Red Neckin' Love Makin' Night , the other 8 titles have been out of circulation since their original release on vinyl and cassette. The High Priest of Country Music  is a favorite of many because it includes the worldwide smash  Don't Cry Joni , and Cross Winds , seen as a remarkable turning point in Conway's career, features 3 #1 singles, Don't Take It Away , I May Never Get To Heaven , and Happy Birthday Darlin' .  Now and Then is notable in that it includes re-recordings of five of his biggest rock singles from the late '50s, and  Heart & Soul is proof of why Conway is called the King of Country Soul. UMG and Conway's estate are reissuing 10 albums per year until his entire discography is restored ...

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to purchase some items from the collection of a fan that recently passed away. It seems like this is happening more and more often as his "first generation" fans are leaving us. It's sad but I'm also so happy to see loved ones selling these collectibles as opposed to just throwing them away. It's a way for those of us too young to have witnessed much of his career firsthand to live vicariously though another fan's treasures.  This particular seller had some big ticket items that aren't really what I'm focused on right now and many smaller items that I already have, but this is what I ended up adding to my collection... Clock Twitty City Postcard   Sewing Kit   Fan Club Party Pass Summer 1993 Jim Stafford Theatre Brochure - Just last month I wrote about how the site of Conway's last concert is soon to be demolished. This particular pamphlet would've been printed shortly after the fire at Gilley's tha...