I bet you all have heard of Harold Lloyd Jenkins, right? How many of you said no? Well for those who said no, I will give you a few clues to his identity.
1. First of all, with a name like Harold Lloyd you may have deduced that this person is a man. OK, I will give you another clue.
2. He was in the Army.
3. He was a singing star.
4. His stardom was in both rock-and-Roll and then in country music. Some of his recordings were hits in both.
BTW, the difference between rock-and-roll and country ("Hillbilly music") at that time was difficult to tell apart.
5. After he got out of the Army, he heard Elvis's "Mystery Train" and immediately decided to pass on a minor-league baseball contract and instead, pursued a music and recording career.
OK, have you guessed who it is? Well, how about some better clues?
5. His first recordings with Sun Records were never released.
6. After two years of performing and a name change, he landed a five-year contract with MGM.
7. He picked two towns, one in Texas and one in Arkansas, as his new name.
Now, have you guessed who it is yet?
If not, I am sure the names of some of his hits will do the trick.
It's Only Make Believe. (his first big hit)
After the Fire is Gone
All I Have To Offer You is Me
By the Time I Get to Phoenix
You've Never Been This Far Before
Touch The Hand
There Stands the Glass
Skip a Rope
Long Black Train
I Made Her That Way
And lots, lots more.
OK, now tell me, what was your favorite Harold Lloyd Jenkins' song? Hum or sing a few of those songs and have a very great day, you hear?
OK, his name is Conway Twitty. The two towns were Conway Arkansas and Twitty Texas.
Can't help but wonder how he'd have done in baseball. Glad he chose music.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am glad, too. If he had chosen baseball, I would have never heard of him, since I don't watch baseball.
DeleteHe started as r&r, changed to country. Liked a lot of his, and at first couldn't tell him from Elvis. Never knew his real name tho.
ReplyDeleteAnd I liked it when he teamed up with Loretta Lynn and did duets. I love country and bluegrass music.
DeleteI should have know this after the bru-ha-ah when he died and all the press about Twitty City and his first and second wives. It was all in his 'real' name.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea what his real name was until I read about him on the site "This Day In History". He had 40 number one hits and on this day in in 1958 he got his first #1 hit.
DeleteI guess I never listened to Conway Twitty because I don't remember anything he sang, or even what his voice sounded like.
ReplyDeleteHe recorded so many songs, I am sure you remember some of them. The list is way to long to post them all. Google "List of Conway Twitty songs".
DeleteI believe Glen Campbell sang By the Time I get to Phoenix. Conway really pulled in a bunch of people when he came to our town back in the 70's.
ReplyDeleteYes he did, but so did Conway. Here is a list of Conway Twitty songs, check out number 53 on this ling:
Deletehttp://music.famousfix.com/tpx_46682/conway-twitty/songs