40 Years of The Clown

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, it was Conway's idea to close The Clown with an appropriate calliope sound. Producer Jimmy Bowen didn’t want it to come off as too hokey and told Conway to be careful with it. He ended up satisfied, later saying, “It wasn’t too far out – but it was enough.”

Once the single was in the can, Bowen faced a crisis during the mastering process. While in California, he telephoned Nashville to make an edit in the record, but the plant misunderstood where he wanted the edit made. When he checked in again, they told him that his 4:30 single had been cut to two minutes!

The mistaken pressing was tossed and remade. The corrected version debuted on Billboard’s country singles chart at #46 on January 30, 1982 and eleven weeks later, The Clown cruised into the #1 slot on April 17, 1982. It also hit #1 in Cashbox and Record World. In Radio & Records it topped the charts for three weeks and was named the 1982 country music song of the year, making it one of the biggest hits of Conway's legendary career.

TRIVIA: The Clown is the last song Conway would ever perform on TNN's flagship show Nashville Now during his final appearance on February 8, 1993.