“Rest Your Love On Me”
Written by Barry Gibb
“I am the Dreamer (You are the Dream)”
Written by Russ Allison, Dallas Cody, and David C. Hall
Conway Twitty
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
May 2, 1981
Conway Twitty followed his No. 1 classic “I’d Love to Lay You Down” with the top ten “I’ve Never Seen the Likes of You.” He then launched his next album, Rest Your Love On Me, with the top five hit “A Bridge That Just Won’t Burn.” He returned to the top with a double-sided hit featuring two cuts from that album, including the title track.
“Rest Your Love On Me” was a Bee Gees original that served as the B-side of their No. 1 pop hit “Too Much Heaven.” It received a limited single release when Andy Gibb & Olivia Newton-John covered it for Gibb’s After Dark album, shortly after they performed it together on the Concert for UNICEF.
Twitty nails the chorus of “Rest Your Love On Me,” but he struggles mightily in the verses, where he sounds like he’s straining to do the signature Gibb falsetto. He needed a stronger co-producer on this track to make the transition from disco ballad to country love song work more effectively.
“I am the Dreamer (You are the Dream)” is straight ahead country in its verses, and Twitty sounds much more in his element. This time, however, it’s the chorus that derails him, which sounds like a zero calorie take on the Statler Brothers. He sings with more passion by the time he’s singing the chorus for the third and last time, and it helps him to stand out over the monotonous harmonies.
Taken together, the two records make for a surprisingly anemic double-sided hit, with both efforts being a few steps below Twitty’s usual level of excellence. Still, the record managed to kick off a string of eight consecutive No. 1 hits for Twitty, so we’ll get to hear some stronger material from him soon.
“Rest Your Love On Me” gets a C.
“I am the Dreamer (You are the Dream)” gets a B-.
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Sometimes, it’s like we’re listening to completely different songs. He never attempts a falsetto at all in this song. Perhaps you meant vibrato, which he does use and I don’t think struggles with at all. I’m guessing is just something you don’t like and clouds your judgment of the song.
The earlier versions of the song have a falsetto that Twitty was incapable of replicating. Whatever he was trying to do in the verses there, he missed by a country mile.
Conway Twitty is one of my favorite artists from this era. It’s just not up to his usual standard, from my POV.
Ignorance is bliss. I am unfamiliar with the Bee Gees original and am consequently not burdened with comparing the performances. I am also such an absolute nut for Conway Twitty’s singing – from his “It’s Only Make Believe” days to his duet with Sam Moore on ‘Rainy Night in Georgia” – that I would be hard pressed to ever fault or criticize his signature singing style. He can growl and bump his way through any lyric and still make it rumble and roar, from vibrato to falsetto , from rock & roll to country music, from gospel to bedroom seductions.
My ears hear Conway fully in his vocal groove in both these performances. Historically, critics faulted him for the sameness of his style and sound. Upon the release of his 4- disc MCA boxed Set “The Conway Twitty Collection.” I remember one critic wondering who would want to ever actually listen to four discs of Conway Twitty music.
My hand is still raised!
Ha! I have that box set!
I’m not a big fan of the Bee Gees, but my own bias is certainly in the mix here. If Olivia Newton-John has sung a song, that’s going to be a tough bar for any other artist to clear, especially if she sang it in that late seventies/early eighties era!