"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 featured Floyd “Lightnin’” Chance on

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

. It was released on side B of "I'll Try" on July 14, 1958. Known as Harold Lloyd Jenkins until changing his name in 1957, Twitty was a relatively unknown rock n' roll singer at the time. That all changed when side B finally hit the chart in September, then made No. 1 twice, on November 10 and 24. The single topped both U.S. and the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, and became the only No. 1 pop single of his career. Years later, on a segment of 'Pop Goes The Country', Twitty stated it was a hit in 22 countries, and sold over 8 million copies. He did not become a

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, ...

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 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 Ma ...

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

Ronnie McDowell Ronald Dean McDowell Sr. (born March 25, 1950) is an American country music artist, songwriter, and actor. He is best known for his 1977 song "The King Is Gone", a tribute to Elvis Presley, who had recently died. From that single onward, McDowell ...

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

Chart performance

Conway Twitty version

All-time charts

Cover versions

*In 1964,

Billy Fury Ronald Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), better known as Billy Fury, was an English singer, musician, songwriter, and actor. An early star of rock and roll, he equalled the Beatles' record of 24 hits in the 1960s and spent 332 we ...

had a UK No. 10 hit with his version, which also went to No. 1 in Singapore. *

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting '' The Glen Campbell Good ...

's 1970 recording for '' The Glen Campbell Goodtime Album'' became a top ten hit in both the United States and United Kingdom. *

had a No. 8 single on the Billboard country chart in 1988 after recording the song as a duet with Twitty. *The pop band Child released the song as a single in 1978, reaching the top ten in the UK Charts. *Canadian country music singer

Carroll Baker Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is an American former actress. After studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Baker began performing on Broadway in 1954. From there, she was recruited by director Elia Kazan to play the lead in t ...

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 with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Country Tracks chart.

Chart performance

Glen Campbell version

Year-end chart

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

Chart performance

Conway Twitty version

All-time charts

Cover versions

Chart performance

Glen Campbell version

Year-end chart

See also

References