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Album Review - The High Priest of Country Music (1975)

Legend has it that one of Conway's most famous nicknames, The High Priest of Country Music, was bestowed upon him by comedian Jerry Clower because of the way Conway's female fans worshiped him with an almost religious fervor. (Here's a shocker...we still do!)

I have a little different take on the nickname. While the outlaws of country music were (and still are) glorified thanks to their exploits involving drinking, drugs, and prison, Conway always appeared and conducted himself impeccably, the epitome of a southern gentleman. He oozed class and sophistication. To me, that's what makes him The High Priest of Country Music.

Regardless of how the nickname originated, in the summer of 1975 The High Priest of Country Music became the title of an album. Its cover featured Conway in his trademark stance with spotlights all around him. The High Priest, indeed...

Touch the Hand
Short On Love Too Long
Amanda
Before the Next Teardrop Falls
 I Sure Hate To See Me Go
Don't Cry Joni
It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'
I'll Live In Dreams Of Loving You Again
Sally Was a Good Old Girl
I'm Goin' Crazy & She's Just Goin'

The High Priest of Country Music produced a pair of self-penned #1 hits: Touch the Hand, a classic Conway song complete with risque lyrics and a spoken intro, and Don't Cry Joni, a duet with his daughter Joni. Don't Cry Joni was released as the "B" side of Touch the Hand, and when DJs started flipping the record over, fans fell in love with the song. Before long it was climbing the charts, even reaching number 63 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It ended up becoming his biggest double-sided hit ever and a worldwide smash, selling over 100,000 copies in Mexico alone. The song was so popular north of the border that The High Priest of Country Music became Conway's first gold album in Canada, certified on November 1, 1976.

Conway co-wrote two other songs on this album, I Sure Hate To See Me Go with L.E. White and I'm Goin' Crazy & She's Just Goin' with Twitty Birds bass player Joe Lewis. Covers include Amanda, It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin', Sally Was a Good Old Girl, and with apologies to Freddy Fender, in my opinion the very best version of Before the Next Teardrop Falls. Conway is simply the king of country love songs and this is no exception, regardless of how successful it was for another artist. 

My personal favorite is I'll Live In Dreams of Loving You Again, about a man who's only able to be with the one he loves each night in his dreams. I get chills when his soaring voice sings "until another morning comes to take you from me..."

The song selections and performances on The High Priest of Country Music are befitting of the man and his title. What's your favorite song on the album?

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