Conway Twitty Story [Hardcover]

Wilbur Cross (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This unashamed puff piece presents the rags-to-riches story of Harold Jenkins, a Mississippi-born, Arkansas-bred product of the Depression years who grew up listening to the Grand Old Opry on radio and later became a singer himself, picking his stage name from Conway, Ark., and Twitty, Tex. He rose to the top as a star of rock and roll, patterning his style on Elvis Presley, and then, although strongly advised against the move, switched to country music and rose to the top again. Twitty's biography might be easier to take if he weren't presented as a slight bit better than perfect. Photos not seen by PW. (August
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Harold Jenkins had never been to Conway, Arkansas or Twitty, Texas when he picked the show business name that has served him so well. Trivia like that must suffice in a biography of a country celebrity who says, "I don't have many stories to tell because I'm not the social type." Besides standard background information, the book reveals the singer-songwriter to be an image-conscious workaholic who prefers to be known through his music. That may be great for his audiences, but it doesn't make for a very probing life story. Nonetheless, Twitty's legion of fans should appreciate this inside account of a "regular guy" who shucked rock'n'roll stardom for the country music he really wanted to perform. Will Hepfer , SUNY at Buffalo Libs.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 9 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (July 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385231989
• ISBN-13: 978-0385231985
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,109,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Goodbye Darlin'..., June 10, 2003

By 

Jerry McDaniel - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Conway Twitty Story: An Authorized Biography (Paperback)

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...

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very up set, November 12, 2010

By 

1946 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Conway Twitty Story: An Authorized Biography (Paperback)

I paid 79.95 plus postage 86.00 I thought I was getting the hard back copy. No way wiould I paid this kind of money for the soft copy . I worked as a manager at Twitty City, solded these books every day. The soft copy sold for 10.95 the hard back copy 19.95. This is high way robbery.

The only reason I got this book any way. I'm personal manager for Conway's son Michael and we have a fan in Canada who wanted a copy of this book. I DO ALL CONWAY MAIL OUTS. cd'S, PICTURES., SHIRTS ECT. AND HEY EVEREYONE WE SELL IT ALL AT REG PRICE, AT SAME PRICE cONWAY SOLD IT FOR. Do you people not know we're living in a world of hard times for most people. It's one thing to jack the price up 10.00 but 86.00 dollars for a book that sold for 10.00 postage on this book with delivery comfirmation is 4.90 I mail out every day. So tyis book had we had it any one could have got it for 20.00 So folks just wanted you to know what the price of these books sold for. Seller you are nuts trying to sell a new one at 337.00 By the way how are you getting a new one. Conway's childern own the rights to all Conway's conerts item. We'll see what theyhave to say about new items. Can't be.