Introduction
In the spring of 1958, Conway Twitty walked into a Nashville recording studio with no idea that he was about to create the song that would change his life.
“It’s Only Make Believe” had begun almost casually. Twitty and drummer Jack Nance worked on the song during an intermission at a show in Canada, putting the pieces together between performances. There was no grand plan surrounding it—just two musicians capturing an idea before the moment passed.
When Twitty recorded the song in May, it was initially placed on the B-side of a single, while “I’ll Try” was chosen as the A-side. Everyone seemed to believe the other song had the better chance.
But the record business has always had a way of surprising people.
When “I’ll Try” failed to gain momentum, Twitty assumed the single had been a disappointment. He returned home and went back to working on the farm, unaware that something extraordinary was beginning to happen.
Then a disc jockey in Ohio flipped the record over.
He started playing “It’s Only Make Believe,” and listeners responded immediately. The song began climbing the charts, gaining attention week after week until it reached No. 1.
Even Twitty’s distinctive vocal style almost never sounded the way millions of listeners would eventually remember it. During the recording session, he had nearly softened the rough growl in his voice. Instead, that unusual sound remained—and became one of the defining characteristics of the performance.
What looked like a carefully planned breakthrough was actually built from a series of unexpected moments: a song written between sets, a B-side that nobody expected to become the hit, a singer who thought the record had failed, and one curious DJ who decided to turn the record over.
Sometimes, music history isn’t made according to plan.
Sometimes, everything changes simply because someone hears the song on the other side.
And for Conway Twitty, that unexpected flip of a record helped transform an uncertain young artist into a star.
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