Last Date, From Instrumental to #1 Country Hit

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 in Nashville. Conway took the opportunity to tell him about the lyrics he had written. Cramer invited Conway over to the piano and asked to hear it. Not surprisingly, he thought it was beautiful.

Once Conway started performing his version in concert he received such overwhelming response from the fans that he decided to record it. Released as the first single from the I Can't Stop Loving You album in the spring of 1972, (Lost Her Love) On Our Last Date went on to hit #1 on the Billboard, Record World, and RPM charts. It stalled at #2 in Cashbox.

In 1982 Emmylou Harris took Conway's version of the song to the top of the charts yet again, this time titled (Lost HIS Love) On Our Last Date.

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