Editing Conway Twitty (section)

==Early life==
Twitty was born Harold Lloyd Jenkins on September 1, 1933, in [[Friars Point, Mississippi]]. The Jenkins family were of [[Welsh people|Welsh]] descent.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Breverton |first=Terry |title=Wales: A Historical Companion |date=2009 |publisher=Amberley |isbn=978-1848683266}}</ref> He was named by his great-uncle, after his favorite [[silent movie]] actor [[Harold Lloyd]]. The Jenkins family moved to [[Helena, Arkansas]], when Jenkins was 10 years old. In Helena, Jenkins performed on radio when he was 10, and he formed his first singing group, the [[Phillips County, Arkansas|Phillips County]] Ramblers when he was 12,<ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=4AoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA7|title=Conway Twitty: Magnolia Stater|magazine=Billboard |page=7 |date=October 20, 1958 }}</ref> and they had their own show on the local radio station [[KFFA (AM)|KFFA]] every Saturday morning.<ref name=bronson>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RVFLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA44 |title=The Billboard Book of Number One Hits |first= Fred |last=Bronson |date= 1997|isbn=9780823076413 |publisher=Billboard Books|page=44}}</ref> He preached at church revivals when he was a teenager.<ref name=bronson />

Twitty was a baseball player with a [[batting average]] of .450 when he graduated from high school, and he was offered a contract with the [[Philadelphia Phillies]].<ref name=bronson /> He worked for a few months for [[International Harvester]] before accepting the Phillies offer.<ref name=bronson />  However, he was drafted into the [[U.S. Army]] and served in the [[Far East]], during which time he organized a group called the Cimmarons to entertain his fellow soldiers.<ref name="Billboard p. 58">{{Cite magazine |date=October 20, 1958 |title=Conway Twitty Magnolia Stater |page=58 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]}}</ref> The Phillies renewed their offer when he returned home, but Twitty had by now become more interested in pursuing a music career.<ref name=bronson />

Soon after hearing [[Elvis Presley]]'s song "[[Mystery Train]]", Jenkins began writing rock & roll material. Elvis was a strong influence and Jenkins tried to sound like him. He formed a band called The Rockhousers and wrote a song called "Rockhouse".<ref name=mcdowell /> He went to the [[Sun Records|Sun Studios]] in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], a few times to record with [[Sam Phillips]], the owner and founder.<ref name=mcdowell /> Although he performed alongside Presley and other rock & roll pioneers throughout this period in a regional club scene situated within a {{convert|300|mi|km|adj=on}} radius of [[Memphis, Tennessee]], Twitty expressed a fundamental ambivalence toward Phillips' [[rhythm and blues]]-based house production style in an interview for [[Tony Palmer (director)|Tony Palmer]]'s ''[[All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music]]'' (1976), noting that the producer's musical instincts subordinated many elements of Twitty's [[bluegrass music]]-influenced style.

None of Jenkins's Sun recordings were released at the time, but [[Roy Orbison]] did record his composition "Rockhouse" (given to Orbison by Phillips without Jenkins's approval), which was issued on SUN 251 (flipside "You're My Baby") in 1956.<ref name=mcdowell />