Conway Twitty Album: “Greatest Hits Vol. 3”

This CD came along in 1990 amidst Conway's 25th, or, Silver Anniversary as a country singer. MCA compiled all the singles from 1987, 1988, and 1989 and added a new one "Fit To Be Tied Down". Conway's career had been one of numerous #1 hits (at the time he had chalked up 54 #1 hits and 22 Top-10's) and in the world of country music, he was the only artist that had debuted on the charts in the 1950's {pop music} still sending singles into the Top-10 as late as 1989! Although "Fit To Be Tied Down" stalled at #21 on the Radio and Records chart, that was far better than any of his peers were able to do. The CD contains his 53rd and 54th #1 hits: "Julia" from 1987 and "She's Got a Single Thing In Mind" from 1989 among his last major Top-10 hits: the #6 "That's My Job", the #2 "I Want To Know You Before We Make Love", "I Wish I Was Still in Your Dreams' hit #4, "Goodbye Time" reached #7, and "Saturday Night Special" reached #6. Also included are two 1989 Top-20 hits: the #19 "House On Old Lonesome Road" and the #19 "Who's Gonna Know?". This CD, naturally, has been replaced in the following years with more comprehensive CDs but if you have "Volume One" from 1972, "Volume Two" from 1976, "The Very Best of Conway Twitty" from 1978, "Number Ones" from 1982, "Classic Conway" from 1983, "Latest Greatest Hits" from 1984, "#1's:The Warner Brothers Years" from 1988, the TV advertised album "The Very Best of Conway Twitty" from 1989, then getting "Volume Three" from 1990 is the next step for completion.

I loved every song on the tape. Some of the songs I had never heard before and I thought they were great!

Conway is still the best friend a song ever had. Over 50 # 1 HITS ! This greatest hits volume 3 is as consistent as the first two. The song about the pawn broker is worth the price alone !

This is the best CD that he ever made and I could not find it in any store. I was so glad to finally be able to find it again.

After many successful years with MCA, Conway left for Warner in 1983 but returned in 1987. This compilation covers the period after his return and contains tracks from three albums (Borderline, Still in your dreams, House on old lonesome road) plus one newly recorded track, Fit to be tied down. This track is not available on any other Conway Twitty album, perhaps because it stalled outside the country top twenty when released as a single, so Conway's committed fans will want this album for that track. The other nine tracks can all is found in his 4-CD boxed set, so if you have that or are thinking of buying it, you may decide to give this a miss. Fit to be tied down is good but not essential.

Most of these songs made the top ten in the country charts including two number ones, but the public were more interested in the new generation of singers so Conway's albums did not sell as well as they once had. This is a shame, because Conway sounded as good as ever - perhaps even better since he gave up smoking in 1985.

Many of the songs here are ballads of the kind that Conway was so good at although there are enough up-tempo songs here to keep things interesting. Saturday night special stands out from the rest, being a little different - it is a great story song about a down-and-out couple finding love in a pawnshop. It is the kind of song that I would expect from Kenny Rogers, but it's nice to hear Conway tackling this type of material. The rest of the songs can be described as typical Conway - excellent.

Unless you have or plan to buy the boxed set, this is a worthy addition to any country music collection. Perhaps these are not the songs that Conway is best remembered but they are just as good as most of his earlier hits.