The same week that “The Clown” brought Conway Twitty his first number one single for Elektra Records, the label released “Slow Hand” as a follow-up after discovering that more than 300 radio stations were already playing it off the “Southern Comfort” album.
Written by Nashville tunesmith Michael Clark and Los Angeles veteran John Bettis, “Slow Hand” first gained national exposure one year earlier, when the Pointer Sisters took it to #2 on the Billboard “Hot 100.” Some associates were concerned when Twitty decided to record the tune so quickly after its pop success, but producer Jimmy Bowen insisted that he wasn’t among the skeptics. “I wanted Conway to ‘push the edge’ – to go for it” said Bowen.
Twitty, however, remembered that Bowen had a much different reaction at the time.
“He thought I’d lost my mind when I did ‘Slow Hand,’” laughed Conway. “Bowen was sitting in the control room with my wife Dee, going ‘What’s he doin? What’s he doin’?’ Dee said, ‘Why don’t you ask him?’ and Jimmy replied, ‘No, no, no – I ain’t messin’ around with nobody that’s had that many number one records. But they’re gonna accuse me of cuttin’ him pop or somethin.’”
Despite objections, Twitty reasoned that most country fans had never heard the Pointer Sisters’ version. He also figured that with its Nashville roots, the song would translate well to country. In fact, Clark and Bettis had pitched “Slow Hand” in Music City before the Pointer Sisters ever heard it, finding just one lone supporter in Del Reeves. But the once-popular Reeves hadn’t had a big record in ten years by that point, and his version of “Slow Hand” faltered at #53.
Twitty’s rendition erased all doubts that the song could be a bona fide country hit. Just two months after his single release of “Slow Hand,” it made an easy climb into the top spot of Billboard’s country singles chart on June 19, 1982.
Earlier that month, on June 6th, Conway made another move that confounded the experts and engendered more than a small amount of snickering in Nashville. He opened “Music Village USA,” more commonly called “Twitty City.” It was built on nine acres of land in suburban Hendersonville, Tennessee at a cost of $3.5 million (a huge sum in 1982). “Twitty City” encountered a couple of zoning obstacles prior to construction, but eventually became the third most-visited tourist attraction in Nashville, drawing upwards of 750,000 visitors per year at its peak. After Conway’s death in 1993, the complex was sold to the Trinity Broadcasting Network.
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Lyric
As the midnight moon was drifting through
The lazy sway of the trees
I saw the look in your eyes looking into the night
Not seeing what you wanted to see
Darling, don’t say a word, I’ve already heard
What your body’s saying to mine
You’re tired of fast moves
You’ve got a slow groove on your mind
You want a man with a slow hand
You want a lover with an easy touch
You want somebody who will spend some time
Not come and go in a heated rush
Baby, believe me, I understand
When it comes to love, you want a slow hand
Moon shadowed ground with no one around
And a blanket of stars in our eyes
We’re drifting free like two lost souls
On the crazy wind of the night
Darling, don’t say a word, I’ve already heard
What your body’s saying to mine
And if you want all night, you know it’s alright
I’ve got time
You’ve got a man with a slow hand
You’ve got a lover with an easy touch
You’ve got somebody who will spend some time
Not come and go in a heated rush
Baby, believe me, I understand
When it comes to love, you want a slow hand
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