98 Country Classic Flashback to Feature Conway Twitty

Each Wednesday at 8 a.m. I join Cindy and Doug for Country Classic Flashback.  We take a trip down memory lane to highlight a country legend.  This week we feature Conway Twitty.

Conway was born on September 1, 1933 in Friars Point, Mississippi.  His real name is Harold Lloyd Jenkins.  Prior to his singing career, he was an extremely talented baseball player who was scouted by the Philadelphia Phillies.  He was then drafted in to the Armed Services during the Korean War.

He started out as a rockabilly/pop performer, which prompted him to change his name.  It's a combination of Conway, Arkansas and Twitty, Texas.  While he was a pop artist, his true passion was with country music.

He crossed over but DJ's were skeptical of him.  He finally broke the Top 10 with his 1968 single The Image of Me.  His follow up single Next In Line became the first of his forty #1 hits.

Conway teamed up with Loretta Lynn for several duets including Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man  and After the Fire is Gone.  The two won a Grammy and four CMA Awards for their duets.

He was inducted into both the Country Music and Rockabilly Hall of Fame but was never a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

In June of 1993, he became ill while performing in Branson, Missouri.  He died from an abdominal aneurysm at 59.

Country Classic  Flashback is brought to you by Midwest Machinery on East Highway 23 in Sauk Rapids with eight other locations in Central Minnesota.

For more of your favorite classic country hits, tune in to the Classic Country Show each Sunday from 9 a.m to 1 p.m.