LOS ANGELES (Universal Music) - Elvis had 13. So did
George Jones.
Reba McEntire had 21,
Garth Brooks 18,
Loretta Lynn 16. And, incredibly, Conway Twitty had 41 (sharing five of them with Loretta) - more No1 singles than any country artist in history.
Now the Country Music Hall of Famer's all-time greatest hits, including four of his No1 duets with Lynn, each digitally remastered, have been brought together on 25 #1S (UTV/Hip-O/MCA Nashville/UMe), released August 24th, 2004. The biggest single-CD compilation to ever span Twitty's chart-topping from 1958 to 1986, 25 #1S embraces each of the handful of record labels for which he recorded.
Twitty's first No1 was also his only pop No1, "It's Only Make Believe," which featured Elvis Presley's backup group The Jordanaires. It was also the first of many No 1s which he wrote or co-wrote, including eight on 25 #1S. But it would be 10 years before he had another No1 and it would not be pop. Though signed to Decca in 1965, it took three more years before he nabbed his first country No 1, "Next In Line." He would score eight more in the next four years, including "Hello Darlin'" and "I Can't Stop Loving You" and two duets with Loretta - the Grammy-winning "After The Fire Is Gone" and "Lead Me On."
The two other Twitty-Lynn collaborations on 25 #1S are "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man" and "As Soon As I Hang Up The Phone."
In the early '70s the increased suggestiveness in much of his material, such as on "You've Never Been This Far Before," which spent three weeks at No 1 despite being banned by several radio stations, made Twitty perhaps country's first adult contemporary star. Among his other best-known #1s from this era are "Linda On My Mind," "There's A Honky Tonk Angel (Who'll Take Me Back In)," "I See The Want In Your Eyes," "Touch The Hand," "After All The Good Is Gone," "Play, Guitar, Play," "Don't Take It Away" and "Happy Birthday Darlin'."
As the '80s dawned, Twitty continued to score with "I'd Love To Lay You Down," the dance floor fantasy "Tight Fittin' Jeans," the Barry Gibb-penned "Rest Your Love On Me" and the boogie-in' "Red Neckin' Love Makin' Night." After exiting MCA (which had absorbed Decca), he reached No1 with his satin-sheet-smooth remake of the Pointer Sisters' "Slow Hand," "The Clown," the Harlan Howard-written "I Don't Know A Thing About Love (The Moon Song)" and his final No 1, 1986's "Desperado Love."
In 1993, just short of his 60th birthday, Twitty died unexpectedly. He left behind a phenomenal catalog of music - and a record of #1s unlikely to ever be surpassed.
