"It's Only Make Believe" is a song written by drummer Jack Nance and Mississippi-born singer

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. ...

, while they were touring across Ontario, Canada, in 1958. Twitty was a relatively unknown rock n' roll singer at the time, and this song was his first hit, reaching No. 1 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

chart in November 1958 for two weeks. The song has been covered by a number of artists, including

Billy Fury Ronald Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), better known by his stage name Billy Fury, was an English musician. An early star of rock and roll, he spent 332 weeks on the UK singles chart. His hit singles include " Wondrous Place", " H ...

Child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

, and

Ronnie McDowell Ronald Dean McDowell Sr. (born March 25, 1950) is an American country music artist. McDowell charted more than 30 top-40 hits on the ''Billboard'' country music charts. Two of his singles – " Older Women" and " You're Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputati ...

, whose recording features contributions from Twitty.

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

had a Top 10 hit with the song in 1970.

Background

The song was written mainly by Jack Nance, a member of Twitty's band, during an intermission in a show they were playing at the Flamingo Lounge in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, in Canada, with Conway Twitty providing the finishing touches to the song. They recorded a demo of the song, and sent it together with "I'll Try" to Twitty's manager, Don Seat.

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

became interested in the songs and arranged for these and other songs to be recorded at the Bradley Studios in Nashville on May 7, 1958. The song was recorded by Twitty with

the Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vo ...

on backing vocals. Musicians who played on the song included

Floyd Cramer Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "whole-step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signatur ...

on piano, Grady Martin on guitar, and Floyd "Lightnin'" Chance on

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

. The song was produced by Jim Vienneau, who suggested that Twitty should keep the growl in his voice when recording. "It's Only Make Believe" was released by

on side B of "I'll Try" on July 14, 1958. The

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

"I'll Try" failed to catch on with the public in the States, and Twitty, believing that the record had failed, went home to work on the farm. However, a DJ in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

took an interest in the B-side "It's Only Make Believe" and it became a hit in the city. It spread nationally and the song hit the ''Billboard'' chart in September, 1958, eventually reaching No. 1, on November 10 and 24. The single topped both U.S. and the UK Singles Chart, and became the only No. 1 pop single of his career. Twitty stated years later, on a segment of 'Pop Goes The Country', that it was a hit in 22 countries, and had sold over 8 million copies. He did not become a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

star until he crossed over in 1966. Though Twitty recorded subsequent versions of "It's Only Make Believe", his original 1958 hit never entered the Country & Western charts. He recorded a 1970

duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...

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 "Hey Loretta", "The Pill (song), The P ...

, on their first collaborative album, '' We Only Make Believe''. Twitty joins in on the last verse in a 1988 uptempo cover by

, which was a No. 8 hit on the country music charts. Additionally, Twitty contributed to an alternative cover by McDowell.

Charts

;Conway Twitty version

All-time charts

Certifications

Glen Campbell version

recorded "It's Only Make Believe" for his album '' The Glen Campbell Goodtime Album'', one of four albums he recorded in 1970. The song was arranged and produced by

Al De Lory Alfred V. De Lory (January 31, 1930 – February 5, 2012) was an American record producer, arranger, conductor and session musician. He was the producer and arranger of a series of worldwide hits by Glen Campbell in the 1960s, including John Har ...

. The song was released as a single by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

backed with "Pave Your Way Into Tomorrow". It became a top ten hit in both the United States and United Kingdom.

Chart performance

Year-end chart

Other versions

The Hollies The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed in Manchester in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Singer Allan Clarke and ...

recorded the song for their 1964 release album Stay With The Hollies *In 1964,

had a top 10 hit with his version in the UK and Ireland, which also went to No. 1 in Singapore. * Brendan O'Brien and The Dixies recorded the song and it reached No. 4 on the Irish chart in 1964. *

had a No. 8 single on the ''Billboard'' country chart in 1988 after recording the song as a duet with Twitty. *The pop band

released the song as a single in 1978, reaching the top ten in the UK Singles Chart. *The rockabilly revival singer Robert Gordon covered the song, which reached No. 99 on the ''Billboard'' Country chart in 1979. *Canadian country music singer Carroll Baker covered the song on her 1991 compilation ''Her Finest Collection''. It was released as the album's first single and peaked at number 28 on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' Country Tracks chart. *R&B singer Sam Moore recorded a version with

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

and

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass music, bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after ta ...

that appeared on Moore's 2006 '' Overnight Sensational'' album. *Horror punk band The Misfits recorded a version that was included on their 2003 album " Project 1950."

References

{{authority control 1958 singles 1970 singles 1987 singles Conway Twitty songs Glen Campbell songs Ronnie McDowell songs Carroll Baker songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles UK singles chart number-one singles Songs written by Conway Twitty MGM Records singles Capitol Records singles Curb Records singles 1958 songs Billy Fury songs Schlager songs Christmas number-one singles in the United Kingdom 1950s ballads