40 Fun Facts About Earl Thomas Conley

Earl Thomas Conley's 1986 R&B duet earned him a rare country booking on which syndicated dance show?

Soul Train had Conley on to sing his crossover duet, and he is widely cited as the only country artist ever to appear on the show.

Which country star, co-writer of 'All Over Me' with Earl Thomas Conley, called him his all-time favorite singer?

Blake Shelton broke the news of Conley's death in 2019, calling him his hero and friend. Their song, written with Michael Pyle, was a top twenty country hit for Shelton in 2002.

In Earl Thomas Conley's 'What I'd Say', the narrator rehearses imaginary conversations with which absent person?

The woman who left him never hears the speech: the song ends with her having to wait until they meet to find out. It became Conley's seventeenth country number one.

Which Eagles member first recorded the song Earl Thomas Conley released in 1989 as 'You Must Not Be Drinking Enough'?

Don Henley cut it in 1984 as 'You're Not Drinking Enough' on his solo album Building the Perfect Beast, with soul singer Sam Moore on harmony.

Which Dukes of Hazzard actor co-wrote Earl Thomas Conley's 1991 top ten country single 'Shadow of a Doubt'?

Tom Wopat, who played Luke Duke, wrote it with Robert Byrne and released a string of country singles of his own. Conley's recording reached number eight.

Earl Thomas Conley's 1991 duet 'Brotherly Love' stalled at number two behind 'Shameless', a hit for which superstar?

Garth Brooks held the top spot with his cover of a Billy Joel song from Ropin' the Wind. The duet became the last top ten hit for both of its singers.

Which singer joined Earl Thomas Conley on the 1988 number one duet 'We Believe in Happy Endings'?

Emmylou Harris scored her final country number one with the duet, and the pair earned a Grammy nomination for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.

Earl Thomas Conley's 1986 crossover duet partner Anita sang with which Grammy-winning family group from Oakland?

The Pointer Sisters won their first Grammy for a country song, 'Fairytale', which Anita co-wrote, and were the first Black female group to perform at the Grand Ole Opry.

Only Ronnie Milsap and which band scored more number one country singles in the 1980s than Earl Thomas Conley?

Alabama and Milsap were the only acts ahead of him: Conley's 18 chart-toppers were the third most by any artist in any genre that decade.

Which country star took the Earl Thomas Conley song 'This Time I've Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me' to number one?

Conway Twitty topped the chart with it in 1975, years before Conley had a hit of his own. Conley later recorded the song himself.

Which Kentucky-born singer, who died in 1989, is heard with Earl Thomas Conley on the duet 'Brotherly Love'?

Keith Whitley and Conley recorded it in 1987, but it sat unreleased until 1991, when it appeared on albums by both men and earned a Grammy nomination.

Earl Thomas Conley's 'What I'd Say' topped the country chart in the United States and which other nation?

Canada's RPM country chart also put the single on top. In the US it was the third single from its album and spent fourteen weeks on the chart.

Which branch of the US military did Earl Thomas Conley join after turning down a scholarship?

The Army is where Conley's singing talent first showed, and after his discharge he began commuting to Nashville to chase a music career.

Which major label released seven of Earl Thomas Conley's ten studio albums, ending with 1991's Yours Truly?

RCA Records signed Conley once his independent single had hit number one, then dropped him in 1992 as his sales fell.

Before enlisting, Earl Thomas Conley turned down a scholarship to study which subject?

Art was his first talent: an older sister encouraged his drawing, and in later life he painted his two daughters on a jewelry box he made as a gift.

What style of music did Earl Thomas Conley sing in a trio with his aunt and uncle before chasing country stardom?

Gospel gave Conley his first stage: the family trio made its debut at the Palace Theater in his Ohio hometown.

Which 1983 Earl Thomas Conley number one, written by Walt Aldridge and Tom Brasfield, earned him a Grammy nomination?

Holding Her and Loving You became one of Conley's best-known songs, and Clay Walker put a live version of it back on the country chart in 1998.

Which Ohio River city, the birthplace of Earl Thomas Conley, has a riverside park nearby named in his honor?

Portsmouth was a steelworking town when Conley was born there in 1941, and he later put in a spell at a steel mill himself before music paid.

Which self-written single became Earl Thomas Conley's first country number one in the summer of 1981?

Fire and Smoke reached the top in July 1981 on a small independent label, and the major-label deal that followed produced seventeen more chart-toppers.

Which California country singer covered Earl Thomas Conley's 'What I'd Say' on the 2001 album Alright Guy?

Gary Allan put it on the platinum-selling album that also gave him 'Man to Man', his first number one.

Which country singer covered Earl Thomas Conley's 'What I'd Say' on her 2016 album Letting Go...Slow?

Lorrie Morgan set it beside songs by Patsy Cline, Bobbie Gentry and Bob Dylan on an album that mixed covers with new material.

Which guitarist and producer, son of a bluegrass banjo legend, co-wrote Earl Thomas Conley's 'Chance of Lovin' You'?

Randy Scruggs, son of Earl Scruggs, shared the writing on five of Conley's number ones, starting with 'Your Love's on the Line' in 1983.

Which Thom Schuyler song gave Earl Thomas Conley his eighteenth and final country number one in 1989?

Love Out Loud closed a run that began in 1981. Its follow-up single stalled at number 26, and Conley never topped the chart again.

In which nation was Earl Thomas Conley stationed for two years when country music first caught his interest?

West Germany hosted him for two years of service. Back home in Ohio, he started making regular trips to Nashville to pitch his songs.

Robert Byrne, co-writer of Earl Thomas Conley's 'What I'd Say', worked mainly at FAME Studios in which music town?

Muscle Shoals writer Byrne supplied four of Conley's number ones, and he later co-produced the band Shenandoah's records with FAME founder Rick Hall.

Earl Thomas Conley left home at 14 after his father lost a job in which industry?

The railroad laid his father off as steam engines were phased out, and the teenager was taken in by his older sister Joyce in another Ohio town.

Which 1988 Earl Thomas Conley album produced four number one singles, including 'What I'd Say'?

The Heart of It All sent four straight singles to the top, with 'What I'd Say' the third of them, released in October 1988.

Earl Thomas Conley's record of four number one singles from one album fell to Diamonds & Dirt, by which singer?

Rodney Crowell sent all five singles from his 1988 album to the top. Conley had set the mark with Don't Make It Easy for Me in 1984.

Which 1984 single became the record fourth number one from Earl Thomas Conley's album Don't Make It Easy for Me?

Angel in Disguise came with a David Hogan video in which Conley daydreams about a string of glamorous women, who then turn up to visit him.

In which Southern city did Earl Thomas Conley settle after leaving Nashville, and meet the producer who signed him?

Huntsville, the Rocket City, is where he met the producer who took him to GRT Records in 1974, though none of his four singles there became hits.

Which 1985 release was the only Earl Thomas Conley album to top Billboard's country albums chart?

Greatest Hits reached number one with two new songs added, and both of those went to the top of the singles chart as well.

Earl Thomas Conley's only live album, released in 2005, was recorded at which famous honky-tonk?

Billy Bob's Texas, a Fort Worth club billed as the world's largest honky-tonk, has issued a long series of live albums, and Conley's joined it in 2005.

Which 1986 Earl Thomas Conley duet with an R&B star, the title track of his sixth album, peaked at number two?

Too Many Times was the only one of the album's four singles that missed the top: the three that followed all went to number one.

Which self-written 1980 single gave Earl Thomas Conley his first top ten hit on the Billboard country chart?

Silent Treatment reached number seven, and it can be heard again in the opening moments of his 'Once in a Blue Moon' video six years later.

Which 1970s country singer had a hit with 'Smokey Mountain Memories', co-written by Earl Thomas Conley?

Mel Street's hit was Conley's first real success as a writer, years before his own records sold, and Conley put the song on a single of his own in 1982.

Which singer-songwriter wrote Earl Thomas Conley's 1990 single 'Bring Back Your Love to Me', then cut it himself?

John Hiatt wrote it, but Conley got there first: his single came out early in 1990 and reached number 11 before Hiatt's own version appeared on Stolen Moments that June.

Which small independent label released Earl Thomas Conley's debut album Blue Pearl and his first number one single?

Sunbird Records was run by Conley's producer, and its small roster also included Freddie Hart and Delbert McClinton.

Which jazz fusion guitarist co-wrote Earl Thomas Conley's 1982 top ten country hit 'Heavenly Bodies'?

Lee Ritenour wrote it with Elaine Lifton and Gloria Nissenson, making it one of the few early Conley singles that he had no hand in writing.

Which Tulsa-born singer shared the 1984 top ten duet 'All Tangled Up in Love' with Earl Thomas Conley?

Gus Hardin, born Carolyn Ann Blankenship, released the duet as the first single from her album Wall of Tears, and it peaked at number eight.

Which honky-tonk singer released 'Brotherly Love' in 1989, two years before Earl Thomas Conley's duet version appeared?

Moe Bandy took his version only to number 53. The duet, taped in 1987 but shelved, climbed to number two when it finally appeared.