Search - Conway Twitty :: Greatest Hits 2

9 #1 hits and a classic 1976 remake

Jerry McDaniel | 02/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"All of these songs were very popular, which is a no brainer when you learn that 9 of them were #1 hits...the 1976 remake of "It's Only Make Believe" was a #1 in 1958 so technically all 10 songs hit #1. The album's only new song was "The Games That Daddies Play". A fan either had to buy the 45 RPM single or buy this 10-song collection for that hit (which many bought this collection, seeing that it hit the Gold sales mark in 1982). The songs represent the years of 1972-1976. The album kicks off with what was his most controversial hit up to that point, "You've Never Been This Far Before", a 3 week #1 hit in 1973 and a pop cross-over, hitting #22!. The album obviously leaves off a few #1 hits since Conway was and still is the #1 Hit King and there just wasn't any room for "I Can't Stop Loving You", "There's a Honky Tonk Angel", "I See The Want To In Your Eyes", "Touch the Hand", and "I've Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me". All of those hit #1 in that same 1972-1976 time-frame that's highlighted on this album...such an envious problem isn't it? Of the 9 #1 hits on here, i like them all. Some may be put off by "Last Date" because it's not really a commercial sounding single. it has a more intimate feel to it as did a TON of Conway's songs, but some that don't like love ballads about teenage years like "Last Date" and "Don't Cry Joni" will cringe at the sentimentalities. i happen to LOVE the two songs...but that's me."

A Cheapo Release With Some Punch

Jerry McDaniel | 07/17/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When this MCA Special Products release of an original 1976 vinyl LP came out in 1986, it was typical of most CDs thrown onto the market in those early days of digital recording - minimal tracks and absolutely nothing in the way of liner notes or discography.



Those are the negatives, and ordinarily that alone would reduce this to a 3- or even 2-star volume in my estimation. But not when you look at the positives, beginning with the fact that the original album was produced by the legendary Owen Bradley. Then you look at the contents which include the only non-hit in the mix, his 1976 remake of his first big MGM Pop hit, It's Only Make Believe, back in 1958. Here Conway follows the original arrangement so almost perfectly, even to the point of the background singers, that you have to listen to the original to discern the differences.



All the other nine were among his huge Country hits at Decca/MCA, including three of his 41 # 1 hits that did not make it onto the excellent CD, 25 Number Ones (You've Never Been This Far Before in 1973 (when it also reached # 22 Pop Hot 100), Linda On My Mind in 1975 (also a # 61 Hot 100 cross-over), and After All The Good Is Gone in 1976 are each # 1's that appear in that great MCA release).



The three you get here are: (Lost Her Love) On Our Last Date in 1972, when it also got to # 112 on the Pop Hot 100 "bubble under" charts; She Needs Someone To Hold Her (When She Cries) in late 1972/early 1973; and The Games That Daddies Play in 1976. As for the rest, they may not have been # 1 hits, but they still ranked right near the top, as Baby's Gone got to # 2 in spring 1973, I'm Not Through Loving You Yet made it to # 3 in June 1974, and Don't Cry Joni, with guest vocal by Joni Lee, reached # 4 in Late summer 1975 (and # 63 Hot 100).



The sound quality is excellent and, at the prices being asked, it's a great adjunct to the 25 Number Ones album. I simply couldn't go below 4 stars."

Conway's golden era

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 04/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Conway was one of the biggest stars of country music during the seventies and this set shows why. It contains some of his career-best songs.Conway originally recorded It's only make believe in the fifties and had a major pop hit with it, reaching number one in the UK and staying there for a month. Conway later re-recorded the song and that re-recording appears here. All the other tracks here are his original hits.You've never been this far before and Linda on my mind are among Conway's most important country songs ever. Lost her love on our last date is another variation on the Floyd Cramer instrumental, Last date. Skeeter Davis recorded a different vocal version in the sixties, titled My last date with you. Baby's gone, I'm not through loving you yet, The games that daddies play, Don't cry Joni (featuring his daughter), After all the good is gone and She needs someone to hold her when she cries are no mere makeweights in this collection - every one of them is a Conway classic.All the tracks except Don't cry Joni are included in the career-spanning boxed set, while seven of the ten were number one hits in the Billboard charts and thus made it to his double-CD of number one hits - the three exceptions being Don't cry Joni, Baby's gone and I'm not through loving you yet. Don't cry Joni, a top five country hit and one of the few major hits not included in that box, can be found on plenty of other compilations, but some of them are re-recordings. (Conway re-recorded every one of these songs and some others in 1982.)This compilation is somewhat short by today's standards but it is still a great introduction to Conway's music."