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...

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 had millions of male fans, but it's pretty obvious that he had a special magic with the ladies. He often stated that he chose songs with women in mind - ones that said things women wanted to hear but men had a hard time saying. That philosophy temporarily went out the window with the recording of Tight Fittin' Jeans , the first single off Conway's Mr. T album. "Every once in a while, you've got to do something for the guys," he said.  Sure enough, men loved the toe-tapping song, but women did too. It became a nationwide phenomenon over the summer of 1981, inspiring "tight fittin' jeans" contests across the country as it climbed the charts, landing at #1 on both Billboard and Cashbox in late September. It remained a perennial concert favorite and is consistently one of the top 10 most downloaded/streamed Conway songs on the various digital music services. Cashbox, 9/19/81 Billboard, 9/26/81 A few interesting bits of trivia... 1) Conway...

On November 9th, 10th, and 11th of 1970, country music history was made when Conway & Loretta held their first recording session as a duet at Bradley's Barn. These sessions resulted in the 11 songs that would make up their first album,  We Only Make Believe ,  Lead Me On , the title song and only single from their second album, and lastly a song that some fans may not be aware of,  Four Glass Walls . Four Glass Walls  was written by Sharon Higgins, one of the many women who moved to Music City in the 1960s to pursue a dream. She was quickly signed to an artist development deal with the Wilburn Brothers and achieved great success as a songwriter in 1969 with  Woman of the World (Leave My World Alone) , a #1 hit for Loretta Lynn, earning Higgins the BMI Citation of Achievement. In the fall of 1971 Four Glass Walls became the non-LP "B" side to Lead Me On , Conway & Loretta's second #1 single. For US fans, purchasing the 45 record was the only ...

As we prepare to celebrate America's birthday this weekend, how many of these facts about the patriotic hymn  God Bless America Again  did you know? 1) Written by Bobby Bare and Boyce Hawkins, the song has been covered by countless artists from Tex Ritter to Ray Charles, but Conway and Loretta actually recorded it twice. Doyle Wilburn did the recitation part when it was initially recorded as the title track of Loretta's third gospel album. By the time the record was released in 1972 Conway & Loretta's wildly successful partnership had begun so Doyle's voice was replaced with Conway's. The album doesn't even credit him.  2) In 1976 they recorded the song again for their  United Talent  album, and it became the "B" side of their hit  The Letter . Though it didn't chart it received significant airplay due to its release during the United States Bicentennial. 3) Concert goers in the early days of Conway & Loretta's shows together (1971/72 e...

Conway's specialty was singing about matters of the heart, but a song about the father/son relationship was quite a departure for him, yet it's a subject he took on masterfully in 1987 with the release of  That's My Job , the third single from his  Borderline  album. Written by Gary Burr about his relationship with his own father,  That's My Job  is a classic country music story song starting with a young boy waking from a nightmare about his dad passing away and ending with the father's eventual death many years later. Through the song's many verses is the ongoing theme that the father is always there for his son because that's his job. That's My Job  has become one of Conway's signature songs but someone who wasn't an initial fan was his eldest son, Michael. In an interview with  Savvy Dad  Michael tells the story of Conway showing up at his door late one night (wearing his favorite Mickey Mouse pajamas) with a cassette of the song. Michael exp...

It's been 51 years since Conway's iconic Hello Darlin' topped the charts and it remains one of country music's most well known and beloved masterpieces.  On June 6, 1970, Hello Darlin' hit #1 on Billboard and stayed there for the rest of the month. It went on to become the #1 song of the entire year, setting the stage for the legendary career he would go on to achieve. DID YOU KNOW... 1) Conway wrote Hello Darlin' 10 years prior, in 1960 while he was still recording rock music. Actually, he wrote it twice. The original lyrics were in a notebook filled with hundreds of songs he had written that was in a suitcase that had been stolen from him. He had to rewrite the song from memory. (I wonder if that notebook ever surfaced, and if it did, did anyone realize what they'd found?) 2) While finishing up his 9th country album in 1969 he needed to put down one last song and pulled out Hello Darlin' . He first recorded it by singing that classic first line, but...