The Ultimate Collection may be missing some big hits — after all, Conway Twitty ruled the country charts throughout the ’70s and ’80s — but it comes surprisingly close to fulfilling the promise of its title. Many of his best-known songs are here — “It’s Only Make Believe,” “Lonely Blue Boy,” “Hello Darlin,” “You’ve Never Been This Far Before,” “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man,” “Linda on My Mind,” “I’d Love to Lay You Down,” “Tight Fittin’ Jeans,” “That’s My Job” — and they date from all eras of his career. A collection that spotlights his prime years in the ’70s is still the better introduction, since it contains nothing but great songs, but this is nevertheless a good sampler of his entire career that would be very useful for neophytes. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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