Remember When Conway Twitty Covered a Song by The Commodores?

Conway Twitty will likely always be remembered in music history as one of the most versatile artists of all time. Twitty enjoyed a decades-long solo career, along with his long tenure as a duo with Loretta Lynn. Twitty also had hits on both country and pop radio, including one song that was first a hit for The Commodores.

In 1983, Twitty released “Three Times A Lady”. The song, written by Lionel Richie, was first released by The Commodores in 1978. It is part of Natural High, The Commodores’ sixth studio album. “Three Times A Lady” is The Commodores’ first song to reach No.1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, Adult Contemporary, and R&B charts.

Five years later, Twitty put his own spin on “Three Times A Lady”. His version appears on Lost In The Feeling, Twitty’s 46th record. Interestingly, “Three Times A Lady” isn’t Twitty’s only cover on Lost In The Feeling. “Heartache Tonight” by The Eagles and Van Stephenson’s “You’ve Got A Good Love Coming” are also on the same record.

The Story Behind “Three Times A Lady” by The Commodores and Conway Twitty

Richie later reveals that it was his own family, especially his parents’ enduring marriage, which became the inspiration for “Three Times A Lady”

“When I wrote ‘Three Times A Lady’, the inspiration came from—and this is the joke of the family… my father,” Richie tells Billboard. “He’s a very warm and huggy guy anyway. But one day he decided to get up and make a toast to my mom, about how he felt about her. It was just out of the blue — I don’t think it was a birthday. 

“I always say when a man makes a statement in the middle of nothing, there’s no special occasion, he’s guilty for something,” Richie continues with a laugh. “My sister and I looked at my dad and said, ‘Dad, are you OK?’ He said, ‘She’s a great lady. She’s a great mother, and she’s a great friend.’ And I thought that was a great little toast. So I wrote basically this waltz — it wasn’t considered an R&B song. Well, it now becomes a hit around the world. It’s our first Commodores smash record.”

Twitty was in the middle of a long string of hits when he released “Three Times A Lady”. He followed this song with “Somebody’s Needin’ Somebody”, “I Don’t Know A Thing About Love (The Moon Song)”, “Ain’t She Somethin’ Else”, and “Don’t Call Him A Cowboy”. They were all No. 1 songs for Twitty.

Photo by David Redfern/Redferns

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