Song:Hello Darlin'
Album:Number 1's
Conway Twitty started out as a Rock 'N' Roll singer in the 50s and then switched to country in the 60s and was a big star for several decades. He had a total of 44 number one country hits including Hello Darlin' in 1970. It's probably his signature song. Twitty also had a lot of success recording with Loretta Lynn. He was born Harold Lloyd Jenkins Sept. 1, 1933 in Friars Point, MS. His family moved to Helena, AR when Jenkins was ten years old. He was interested in music and baseball. The Philadelphia Phillies offered him a contract when he graduated from high school. But Jenkins was drafted into the US Army and served in Korea. The baseball offer was still there when he was discharged. But hearing Mystery Train by Elvis Presley convinced Jenkins to go to Sun Records in Memphis. He got the name Conway Twitty from a map, Conway, AR and Twitty, TX. His recordings at Sun were not released. So Twitty signed with MGM Records. It's Only Make Believe was the B side of I'll Try. An Ohio DJ flipped it over and It's Only Make Believe topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1958. A lot of folks thought Conway Twitty was really Elvis. Twitty had some success at MGM but left in 1964. He always wanted to sing country music and signed with Decca Records and producer Owen Bradley. He started having success but Hello Darlin' was Twitty's biggest hit in 1970. Twitty wrote it for Loretta Lynn. It was Bradley's idea to speak "Hello Darlin". Then he started recording with Lynn and they had a lot of success together. By the late 70s, Twitty started to fade and he left MCA for Elektra and then Warner Bros. He had several number one hits in the 80s. This MCA comp is a good intro to Twitty's music and includes It's Only Make Believe and Hello Darlin'. Beware of rerecorded versions of Twitty's music on off labels. In 1982, Twitty opened his own theater Twitty City near Nashville and he performed there until his death. Twitty suffered a heart attack on his tour bus and died on June 5, 1993 at age 59. Here's Conway Twitty performing Hello Darlin' 1971.
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