Conway Twitty Story (Hardcover)

~ (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
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,143,548 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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 (Ohio USA) - 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...