Conway Twitty
Born 1934 Died June 5, 1993
Born Harold Jenkins, he grew up in Friars Point, Mississippi. His father, a riverboat pilot, was teaching him guitar chords by the age of 4. "The only music we heard was country music," Twitty said. "we'd all get together on Saturday night at my grandma's house and listen to the Grand Ole Opry. I didn't know there was another station."
He began his career writing rockabilly songs and took them directly to Sun Records, which served as home to Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. But he didn't have a hit until he recorded "It's Only Make Believe" for MGM. In 1958, that song went to the top of the charts selling 8 million copies and hitting number one in 22 countries-- and made Twitty, not Harold Jenkins, a teen sensation. That's because Twitty had changed his name with the help of his manager, Don Seat. They sat down with a map, and after a few tries, stuck a pin in Conway,
Arkansas, and Twitty, Texas, to produce a name as memoriable as Elvis Presley.
Conway Twitty's musical career spanned some 40 Years and earned him more Number one records than any other artist in any genre of music.
Twitty's voice and music knew no boundaries, he successfully crossed over from rock'n'roll to country in the 1960s. Surviving the changing tastes in the country market that often overlooked established country acts for newer and younger singers. His music, was recorded on every format from 78 rpms to CDs, also encompassed rockabilly, Dixieland, blues, R&B and gospel. Twitty had a song somewhere on the charts for five decades, including 55 No. 1 hits. He's the only singer in the history of American music, including Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, to have more than 50 number one hits.
"It's Only Make Believe," Hello Darlin'," You've Never Been This Far Before" and "Linda On My Mind" are just a few of Twitty songs that have become
country music standards.
Many people did not realized he wrote many of his own songs.
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