About The Song
Conway Twitty picked up his fifth #1 country single “Fifteen Years Ago” through an interesting turn of events. The song’s author, Raymond Smith, first started writing country songs in his early teens, but by 1969 he was managing a “beautiful music” radio station in the small town of Greenville, Tennessee. He decided to return to writing when he attended a Jack Greene concert. “I stood up on the hill, listening to Jack sing,” remembers Smith, “hearing that steel guitar moan and that pure-bred country, and thought ‘Gosh, that sounds good’ and that’s when I started working on ‘Fifteen Years Ago.’ Most of it was written the following day. I just got inspired by the good melody and the good storyline. Where all that came from, I don’t know.”
Smith paid for his own recording session, and released “Fifteen Years Ago” as a single on Sugar Hill records, an independent label that was new then, and is still around today, now associated mostly with bluegrass artists. Smith’s record performed well in a handful of markets, including Dallas, Philadelphia and Knoxville, Tennessee, where one of the nation’s premier country music stations, 50,000 watt WIVK-AM, played it.
When Conway Twitty performed at a Knoxville nightclub, one of WIVK’s disc jockeys (and friend of Smith’s) approached him and suggested that he listen to Raymond’s recording of “Fifteen Years Ago,” which had failed to chart nationally. The deejay then offered to send a copy to Conway’s office, but Conway insisted that they call the radio station right then and get somebody to bring it down there. Twitty later noted: ”usually when you let something like that go, it never happens. I got the record that night at the club, found a record player and listened to it, and that’s all it took.”
In fact, Twitty was so impressed with “Fifteen Years Ago” that he called Smith at home later that night to tell him how much he liked the song and to ask for permission to record it. Smith didn’t really know what to make of this late-night phone call, but he gave the okay for Conway to record his song, which Twitty did a few weeks later at “Bradley’s Barn,” a state-of-the-art studio that legendary producer Owen Bradley had built twenty miles east of downtown Nashville, in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. Smith attended the session, which found Conway backed up by his usual group of top musicians including guitar ace Grady Martin (a member of Nashville’s celebrated “A-Team” and a 2015 inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame), pianist Larry Butler, steel guitarist John Hughey and background vocalists The Jordanaires. Twitty delivered the goods, as always, and “Fifteen Years Ago” topped Billboard’s “Hot Country Singles” chart on November 21, 1970
Video
Lyrics
I saw a man today, who said he talked to you
Not so long ago, I think a month or two
As my mind raced back in time, I prayed
Oh, Lord, don’t let it show
He thinks I forgot you fifteen years ago
Fifteen years ago and I still feel the same
Why did he have to mention your name?
I’m as broken up inside as if it’s been a week or so
Takes a mighty strong love, to keep a man thinking of a girl
He hasn’t seen since fifteen years ago
I’ve got a lovely wife who thinks the world of me
Promised her my love through all eternity
I’ve tried hard to make her happy, and so far, she doesn’t know
I can’t shake this thing of fifteen years ago
Fifteen years ago and I still feel the same
Why did he have to mention your name?
I’m as broken up inside as if it’s been a week or so
It takes a mighty long time, to get a real love off your mind
I know, I’ve tried since fifteen years ago