Always on My Mind
Always on My Mind is a song from 1970 that was very successful in several versions, including a 1972 version by Elvis Presley . In 1982 a country version by Willie Nelson became a million seller . In 1987, the Pet Shop Boys' dance version of the piece reached number one on the German charts.
Original version
Brenda Lee recorded the piece, written by John L. Christopher Jr., Mark James, and Wayne Carson , for the first time on September 22, 1971 at Bradley's Barn in Mount Juliet, Nashville . This version was released on June 12, 1972 and reached number 45 on the country charts . The piece may have been published by Gwen McCrae earlier that year . The first recording was made by BJ Thomas in 1970. However, it was not pressed.
Cover versions
The first cover version is by Elvis Presley . He picked up the song on March 29, 1972 in the recording studio, which he had taken over in his repertoire on the occasion of the separation from his wife Priscilla . The song was the B-side of Presley's single Separate Ways and reached number 16 on the country charts in November 1972. The single was sold 500,000 times. A version by John Wesley Ryles reached number 20 on the country charts in 1979.
Only in the version by Willie Nelson did the title become famous. The version, recorded on October 11, 1981 in Chip Moman's Nashville studios and produced by the studio owner, was released in March 1982, was number one on the country charts for two weeks and sold over two million times. The single reached number 5 on the Billboard Pop Charts and stayed there for 23 weeks. Nelson received a Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal Performance in Country. In this version, the title was also awarded a Grammy for the best country song in the same year and was named "Song of the Year". The CMA also voted him “Song of the Year” and “Single of the Year”.
The Pet Shop Boys released a dance version of the song in December 1987 and thus took first place in the German and British charts (as a Christmas number one hit ) and number four in the USA. Other covers are by Floyd Cramer (November 1988) and the Stylistics (July 1991). The title received a BMI award and has been covered more than 120 times. André Heller brought out an Austrian version in 1983: Wia mei Herzschlag belongs to me .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Whitburn, Joel: The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits. 1944-2006 . 2nd Edition. New York, NY: Billboard Books, 2006, p. 272
- ^ Whitburn, Joel: The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits. 1944-2006 . 2nd Edition. New York, NY: Billboard Books, 2006, p. 303
- ^ Joel Whitburn: The Billboard Book of Top40 Country Hits , 2006, p. 345
- ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1994, p. 426
- ↑ Tom Roland: The Billboard Book Of Number One Country Hits . New York City / New York: Billboard Books; London: Guinness Publishing Ltd., 1991, pp. 319f
- ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1994, p. 459
- ↑ COVER.INFO