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Conway Twitty
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===Rock and roll career=== In 1958, Twitty's fortunes improved when an Ohio radio station had an inspiration, refraining from playing "I'll Try" (an MGM single that went nowhere in terms of sales, radio play, and [[jukebox]] play), instead playing the B-side, "[[It's Only Make Believe]]", a song written between sets by Twitty and drummer Jack Nance when they were in Hamilton, Ontario, playing at the Flamingo Lounge.<ref name="MEMPROJ44">{{Cite press release |title=The Hamilton Memory Project |date=June 10, 2006 |publisher=Hamilton Spectator Newspaper, Souvenir Edition |page=MP44}}</ref> The record took several months to reach and stay at the [[List of Billboard number-one singles of 1958|top spot]] on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' pop music charts in the United States and number 1 in 21 other countries, becoming the first of nine top-40 hits for Twitty. It sold over four million copies and was awarded a [[music recording certification|gold disc]] by the [[RIAA]].<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{Cite book |last=Murrells |first=Joseph |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/108 |title=The Book of Golden Discs |publisher=Barrie and Jenkins |year=1978 |isbn=0-214-20512-6 |edition=2nd |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/108 108] |url-access=registration}}</ref> That same year, country singer Tabby West of ABC-TV's ''[[Ozark Jubilee]]'' heard Twitty and booked him to appear on the show.<ref name="Billboard p. 58"/> When "It's Only Make Believe" was first released, because of vocal similarities, many listeners assumed that the song was actually recorded by [[Elvis Presley]], using "Conway Twitty" as a pseudonym. Twitty would go on to enjoy rock-and-roll success with songs including "[[Danny Boy]]" (Pop number 10) and "[[Lonely Blue Boy (song)|Lonely Blue Boy]]" (Pop number 6). "Lonely Blue Boy", originally titled "Danny", was recorded by Presley for the film ''[[King Creole]]'' but was not used in the soundtrack. This song led to him naming his band the Lonely Blue Boys. They subsequently became the Twitty Birds.<ref name="Larkin"/> As his recording career continued, Twitty's music shifted from rockabilly to [[rock and roll]], and Twitty also recorded some [[rhythm and blues|R&B]] and [[blues]] singles.<ref name=Koda/> By 1965, Twitty had become disillusioned with rock & roll, particularly with the behavior of the fans,<ref name=ellison /> and walked out of a show in the middle of a performance in New Jersey.<ref name=bronson/> He sued his manager to be released from his contract, and moved to perform country music in [[Oklahoma City]].<ref name=ellison>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P1qyHCmpT7EC&pg=PA248 |title=Country Music Culture: From Hard Times to Heaven|first= Curtis W. |last=Ellison |date= 1995|isbn=9781604739343 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi|page=248}}</ref>
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