Search - Conway Twitty :: Don't Call Him a Cowboy

Back to the basics

Jerry McDaniel | 08/25/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although Conway's previous album, BY HEART, featured more country-oriented material by comparison to the songs found on LOST IN THE FEELING and DREAM MAKER, this DON'T CALL HIM A COWBOY was even more country than BY HEART. I title the review 'back to the basics' because the songs found on the album feature sparse production. There isn't a lot of electric guitars and pop-sounding instrumentation prominently on display.



Another thing is the album is ballad heavy. It has it's share of up-tempo numbers but by and large 97% of the material are ballads. Three songs altogether pick up the pace. The first, "Don't Call Him a Cowboy", became the 50th single of his career to reach a #1 position in the music charts. It's a cute sing-a-long about a guy who tries to impress a woman by dressing up like a cowboy but as Conway explains in a clever sort of way, the clothes don't make the man. I have him on video singing this song and he chuckles during the "...and if he ain't good in the saddle, lord, you won't be satisfied..." line. I've always liked the song from the moment I heard it. It also serves as a put-down on the Urban Cowboy movement that was in it's dying days in country music.



The second up-tempo song is "Whichever One Comes First", track #5. It's not exactly a bonafide up-tempo song like "Don't Call Him a Cowboy" but it has it's up-tempo moments to prevent it from being a ballad. I assume one would refer to that type of delivery as mid-tempo.



Anyway, "Whichever One Comes First" is about a woman who hopes that the man she's met will be the right one and wonders if her affection for him will last forever or just until the next morning.



The third up-tempo song on the album is "Between Her Blue Eyes and Jeans", track number 3 and the second single from the album. This particular song is about a woman with a broken heart...whose out looking for a potential lover. The broken heart is what's between the blue eyes and jeans of the song title. The single reached the Top-5...stalling at #3. There were no other songs issued as singles from the album...just this one and the title track, "Don't Call Him a Cowboy".



The remainder of the album was a steady diet of ballads. "Those Eyes" is a love ballad that tells the story of a man who is hypnotized by the eyes of a woman and how no matter what he could never leave a woman with those kind of eyes. "Green Eyes Crying Those Blue Tears" is not about a woman but about a man's eyes and how the woman's caused him to feel blue and alone when she left him. "Somebody Lied" became a breakthrough hit for Ricky Van Shelton but not many know that Conway was one of the first to record the song. His version appears on here, track number two. The song, for those who don't know, is about a man who has a conversation with a woman over the phone. The woman asks several things of the man...rumors that she'd heard. In an effort to appear strong, the man insists that wherever she heard the things she'd heard, somebody's been lying to her. The song features a twist at the end.



"The Note" is about a man who receives a note from a woman whose no longer in love with him. Apparently the woman's been living a lie and she wrote him off, literally. The song was recorded later by Darryl Singletary and it became a Top-30 hit for him. Two of the more slower ballads, "Except For You" and "Everyone Has Someone They Can't Forget", are okay. The album closes with a unique song about machismo...considering that the album and it's photo depict a macho, cowboy setting, this album closer fits perfectly. "Take It Like a Man", the album closer, is a song about a man whose lived his life playing the part of a tough guy because that's what his father taught him to be. In the song, the macho man struggles with his feelings for a woman who's left him...he wants to get down on his knees and beg her to stay but he's been raised to hide his tears and pain and to take things like a man.



And so, that ends the DON'T CALL HIM A COWBOY album. As mentioned, 7 of the 10 songs are ballads and that's a throwback to a good portion of his 1970's albums where the up-tempo songs weren't as dominant and Conway albums were built on mid-tempo songs and ballads."

Conway, the best friend a song ever had!

Jayco | 05/04/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Conway has put together a great collection of songs in this album. Somebody Lied, The Note,Except For You, these are such beautiful songs,it is great to see this released on cd. Conway was snubbed by the CMA in his lifetime,shame on them, but not by his fans. Conway even had more hits than Elvis( a artist he liked),Elvis started singing Hello Darlin' when he first met Conway. Conway died suddenly in 1993 but his legend lives on.Who else can compare to his record?, hits in a career that spanned five decades. From the 1958 to 1993, number one hits, whose gonna fill his shoes???"

Best album he did

K. Jones | Bonnerdale, AR United States | 04/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am so glad to see this album finally available. I have the original cassette and was told it was out of circulation and was never made into a CD. I wore the cassette out and have looked for it for over 7 yrs. I don't care much for the title song but the rest of the songs are some of his prettiest and best I ever heard and aren't on any other album or CD in circulation. Such as: The Note; Everyone Has Someone; and most of the other songs. I believe the original album and cassettes are and will be true collector items. If anyone has an unopened cassette, please let me know"