"Hello Darlin'" is a song written and recorded by American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
artist
Conway Twitty
Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...
. It was released in March 1970 as the first single and title track from the album ''Hello Darlin''. The song was Twitty's fourth No. 1 song on the ''
Billboard magazine
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...
''
Hot Country Singles chart. The song spent four weeks atop the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart that summer, and was named the No. 1 song of 1970. Aside from being Twitty's standard concert opener, the song became a country standard as well as his signature song. When performing with
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as " You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My M ...
, Twitty would frequently sing the song directly to Loretta. Twitty's recording was added to the
Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
Background and writing
During Twitty's lifetime, two songs became closely associated with him: "
It's Only Make Believe
"It's Only Make Believe" is a song written by drummer Jack Nance and Mississippi-born singer Conway Twitty, while both were touring across Ontario, Canada in 1958. The song was recorded on May 7 for MGM Records; produced by Jim Vienneau, it fe ...
" and "Hello Darlin'." The latter song would become the song Twitty used to open his concerts.
While recording the song in 1969, Twitty felt dissatisfied with the opening line he had written. Record producer
Owen Bradley
William Owen Bradley (October 21, 1915 – January 7, 1998) was an American musician and record producer who, along with Chet Atkins, Bob Ferguson, Bill Porter, and Don Law, was one of the chief architects of the 1950s and 1960s Nashville sou ...
suggested speaking the line: "Hello darlin', nice to see you." The result was a hook that made the song instantly recognizable to fans.
[Oermann, Robert K. "The Conway Twitty Collection," liner notes (booklet included with ''The Conway Twitty Collection'' 4-disc set). MCA Special Products, 1994).]
Content
The song is about a man who runs into an old flame and, after acknowledging to her "You're just as lovely as you used to be," tries to put up his bravado by saying he's getting along fine without her, "except," he admits, "I can't sleep, and I cry all night 'til dawn." He then details his deep sorrow for his mistakes that led to the breakup of their relationship, then – after sharing an embrace "just for old time's sake" – bids her well. Before the two part, he says that if she would forgive him, he'll be waiting for her.
Cover versions
A cover version of "Hello Darlin'" was recorded in 1993 by
George Jones as a track on his 1993 album, ''
High Tech Redneck'', and was considered to be part of Jones' tribute to Twitty (who had died earlier in the year). Jones also recorded a cover version in 1972.
Among the artists recording cover versions were
Lynn Anderson
Lynn Renée Anderson (September 26, 1947 – July 30, 2015) was an American country singer and television personality. Her crossover signature recording, "Rose Garden," was a number one hit in the United States and internationally. She charte ...
,
Bobby Bare
Robert Joseph Bare Sr. (born April 7, 1935) is an American country music singer and songwriter, best known for the songs "Marie Laveau", " Detroit City" and "500 Miles Away from Home". He is the father of Bobby Bare Jr., also a musician.
Early ca ...
,
Wanda Jackson
Wanda LaVonne Jackson (born October 20, 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. Since the 1950s, she has recorded and released music in the genres of rock, country and gospel. She was among the first women to have a career in rock and roll, ...
, Jason Molina, Roly Daniels,
Daniel O'Donnell,
Stu Phillips,
Charlie Rich
Charles Allan Rich (December 14, 1932July 25, 1995) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. His eclectic style of music was often difficult to classify, encompassing the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country music, country, sou ...
,
Scotty McCreery
Scott Cooke McCreery (born October 9, 1993) is an American country music singer. He rose to fame after winning the tenth season of ''American Idol'' on May 25, 2011.
His debut studio album, '' Clear as Day'', was released in October 2011 and w ...
(2012),
Songs: Ohia and
Charley Pride.
Loretta Lynn recorded a cover version of the song on her 1971 album Coal Miner's Daughter. The song was featured at the end of the 2021 movie ''
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin''.
In popular culture
A video clip of Twitty singing "Hello Darlin'" on the television show ''
Hee Haw'' was used at the end of the ''
Family Guy
''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...
'' episode "
Peter's Daughter
The sixth season of ''Family Guy'' first aired on Fox from September 23, 2007, to May 4, 2008. The season includes 12 episodes and was shortened due to creator Seth MacFarlane's participation in the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, ...
". This was also the song that Tyra and Tim danced to in the finale of the TV show
''Friday Night Lights''.
"Privet Radost"
On July 17, 1975, as part of the
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, a
Russian language
Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...
version of the song called "Privet Radost" the song was played by the American astronauts (of the Apollo crew) to Russian cosmonauts (of the Soyuz crew) as "a gesture of goodwill." Twitty worked with a language professor from the
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...
to record the phonetic Russian version of the song.
"Privet Radost" - released as a special edition single in 1975, although it did not chart - is available on ''The Conway Twitty Collection'' box set.
Personnel
*Conway Twitty — lead vocals
*Joe E. Lewis, The
Anita Kerr
Anita Jean Kerr (née Grilli, October 13, 1927 – October 10, 2022) was an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Eur ...
Singers — background vocals
*
Harold Bradley
Harold Ray Bradley (January 2, 1926 – January 31, 2019) was an American guitarist and entrepreneur, who played on many country, rock and pop recordings and produced numerous TV variety shows and movie soundtracks. Having started as a session ...
— electric 6-string bass guitar
*
Grady Martin — electric guitar
*
Larry Butler — piano
*
Ray Edenton
Ray Quarles Edenton (November 3, 1926 – September 21, 2022) was an American guitar player and country music session musician.
Early life
Ray Edenton was born into a musical family on November 3, 1926, and grew up near Mineral, Virginia. His f ...
— acoustic guitar
*
John Hughey
John Hughey (December 27, 1933 – November 18, 2007) was an American musician. He was known for his work as a session pedal steel guitar player for various country music acts, most notably Vince Gill and Conway Twitty. A member of the Steel Guit ...
— steel guitar
*Tommy Markham — drums
*
Bob Moore
Bob Loyce Moore (November 30, 1932 – September 22, 2021) was an American session musician, orchestra leader, and double bassist who was a member of the Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 1960s. He performed on over 17,000 documented record ...
— bass
Chart performance
Certifications
References
{{authority control
1970 singles
1970 songs
Conway Twitty songs
George Jones songs
Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles of the year
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Songs written by Conway Twitty
Song recordings produced by Owen Bradley
Decca Records singles
MCA Records singles