Monday, December 17, 2018

It's a Conway Christmas #MewsicMovesMe

Over the past 2 weeks I've presented 10 of my all-time favorite Christmas songs for the Mewsic Moves Me blog hop, but I saved the best for last.

My Conway Christmas display. Yes, that's a Conway doll. I have several.

Conway LOVED Christmas. (Seriously, he was the perfect man in every way.) After his home/tourist attraction Twitty City opened in 1982, it became known for the magical fantasy world he created at Christmastime. "Christmas at Twitty City" featured over a quarter million lights and 40 major displays including a live nativity.

He waited until well into his career to release the obligatory Christmas album (1983's Merry Twismas), but instead of simply recording 10 holiday songs he produced an elaborate, one-of-a-kind storybook album for children of all ages, one that is still treasured in millions of homes around the world. It tells the tale of Conway and his beloved mascot the Twitty Bird as they visit Santa in Toyland Towne. At the time it was the most expensive Christmas album ever produced and took over 9 months of studio time to record. The album is a musical adventure, and when it was reissued a few years ago, his granddaughter Christi, who was only 11 when he passed away, became the voice of the Twitty Bird.

The entire album is on YouTube...



A few of my favorite songs on the album...



My treasured autographed White Christmas single...


I'm not a huge fan of Silent Night, but his voice on the song gives me chills...





I've been fortunate to collect a bunch of the publicity shots Conway did for A Twismas Story. I think they're so cute.




I love that this album is still so popular today, and that a new generation of children are getting to enjoy it. I hope it inspires them to one day delve deeper into the music of one of the greatest legends the world has ever known.

9 comments:

XmasDolly said...

An absolute wonderful country Christmas! What a way to spend a nice evening listening to these tunes. Thanks for sharing! Hugs.

Mickey's Musings said...

You really know how to celebrate Christmas :)
Purrs Georgia,Julie and JJ

Cathy Kennedy said...

Melissa,

Conway Twitty is certainly an interesting talent starting in the industry as an earlier rocker before crossing over to country. I've enjoyed your features all year of your beloved favorite mewsician. I would not know these things about Conway had it not been from your exposure. I really enjoyed his 'Silent Night' cover. This is my favorite Christmas song of all time and it's really hard to not like any version. Most artists keep a very reverent tone to this classic which I appreciate and love.

I liked reading the backstory of Twitty's Christmas album. I wanted to listen to the video but it's so hard for me to follow talking with my muffled hearing. How you cool you have an autographed singe of "White Christmas". I know how much you must cherish it. Where you present when he signed it or did you order?

Thanks for hitting the dance floor with the 4M gang. Christmas is just around the corner! Have a blessed, joyful holiday season, dear friend!

csuhpat1 said...

Great songs and a great story. Thanks for sharing both with us.

pilch92 said...

Great choices. I had no idea about his Christmas village, that is cool.

Mark's Mews (Marley, Lori, Loki, and Binq) said...

Everyone has different tastes. TBT likes Carols AND funny ones. But it was very nice to listen to a version of a song we don't often hear here.

Patricia T said...

Sweet! Glad you’ve been able to collect so many things.

The Menagerie Mom said...

This post is so fun and festive, and I love it!

Three Chatty Cats said...

Wow, you have some wonderful Conway stuff!