The Conway Twitty Story: An Authorized Biography

Rating:
Summary: Goodbye Darlin'...
Review: Throughout Conway's country career, he purposely avoided the media for fear of over-exposing himself. the media, on the other hand, took this shunning as an insult and even though it was a friendly two-way street between Conway and the press, there was a distance between the two.For starters, the media (tabloids mostly) loves to dig up dirt and gossip on artists that appear "all-American" or "flawless". Conway (whose real name was Harold Jenkins) handled his career like an actor you might say. "Conway" was an image to Harold and whenever you heard him in an interview he'd always talk about "Conway Twitty" as if it were a product and not a real person and that's how, he'd say, he was able to endure all those years and have 55 #1 hits.I loved the book. I loved that it didn't dwell on his controversies with certain adult-oriented songs that at the time were called "porn-country" by many critics and DJs in the '70s. They are tame by today's standards (speaking of "You've Never Been This Far Before", a 3 week #1; "Linda on My Mind"; "I'd Love to Lay You Down"; "I've Already Loved You In My Mind"; and a few others.) If you're someone who discovered Conway Twitty and you want to know about him, this book is essential. The book arrived in 1986 and so there's a ton more hits and history after 1985 that isn't included but don't let that discourage you from buying it. The book ends during the time period of the summer of '85 when "Don't Call Him a Cowboy" had became his 50th #1 hit. For a career as media-shy as Conway's i didn't expect a full-blown soul bearing confessional or anything like that and so i wasn't disappointed at the positive feel of the story. The book DOES go in detail a bit too much when the authors write about the CMA and the late '70s when MCA forced Owen Bradley out in favor of a New York or L.A. hot shot. Conway even gives substantial quotes and stories of some of his hits sprinkled throughout the book. There is a few errors in the book during the story portion (the last pages are filled with a singles discography and chart peaks!). the only time the book gets negative or really serious is when his children are quoted as saying their likes and dis-likes over having a famous father. i loved Conway's music and i loved how he ran his career...he gave us everything he had in song...he didn't have to be on millions of magazine covers or on talk-shows every other month to please his fans...