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Conway Twitty

Born Harold Lloyd Jenkins on 1st September 1933 in Friars Point, Mississippi. The son of a river boat captain, he learned to play guitar by age 5. By the time he reached age 10, he had already formed his own band called 'The Phillips Country Ramblers', and was featured on KFFA in Helena Arkansas.

After High School he was offered a contract to play professional baseball with the Philadelphia Phillies, but  was called up to serve in the army. After his discharge from the Army, he took on Rock and Roll musically, and chose a stage name to perform under, taken from Conway, Arkansas and Twitty, Texas.

After hearing Elvis Presley sing 'Mystery Train' Conway liked the style and wanted to try it for himself. As a rock n' roller, Conway gained monumental success with a ballad he wrote and recorded in 1958. 'It's Only Make Believe' became a million seller!

Seven years later, he returned to making country music and began a remarkable run of hits, (55 number one hits) several of which were as part of an award-winning duo with Loretta Lynn.

Outside of music, Conway was quite a successful business man, owning several publishing companies, half of United Talent, and a major stock holder in the Nashville Sounds Baseball Team.

On 5th June 1993, Conway died of an abdominal aneurysm.

Read 5905 times Last modified on Friday, 07 October 2016 13:19
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