Wayne Carson

Wayne Carson Thompson (born May 5, 1942 in Denver , Colorado - † July 20, 2015 ) was an American country musician and a two-time Grammy winner. He was a songwriter, producer, studio technician and multi-instrumentalist (drums, piano, guitar and bass). Two of his most famous compositions are The Letter and the classic Always on My Mind .

Life

Member of pop groups

Eddy Arnold - Somebody Like Me

Thompson began as a rhythm guitarist in the versatile pop group Tommy Burk & the Counts , which received a record deal with the small record label NAT Records . Their repertoire consisted of doo wop , rock 'n' roll and pop music of the time. The end of 1962 they took in the new American Recording Studios by Chips Moman in Memphis (Tennessee) probably the Doo Wop title You'll Feel It Too / Counted Out (NAT # 100) and the single True Love's Gone / Stormy Weather (NAT # 101), the first singles in the NAT Records catalog. Then he formed the band Heat Wave , where he played drums. The lead singer was his wife Melissa Thompson. He next worked as a writer at Earl Barton Music Inc. in Springfield, Missouri , a music publisher founded in March 1955 and specializing in country music. Here his first composition with Turn Around And Look Again appeared , which Roy Clark recorded on February 3, 1965 as the B-side for his single So Much to Remember and released in October 1965. His breakthrough as a writer came a year later, when on April 20, 1966, Somebody Like Me, produced by Chet Atkins, was recorded by Eddy Arnold , which, after being released in September 1966, was number one on the country charts for four weeks . Arnold then took on the title Calling Mary Names , produced on December 16, 1966.

Contact Chips Moman

Box tops - The Letter

Bruce Channel - Keep On

When Thompson himself recorded his composition Little Noise Maker at Chips Moman's American Recording Studios in December 1966, he came into contact with this producer again. Now a long-term collaboration should result, because Moman employed Thompson as a composer in his recording studios. That quickly paid off, because in early 1967 he wrote The Letter , which the Box Tops released in June 1967 and sold four million copies. In terms of sales, it should remain his most successful composition, even if it was part of Blue-Eyed Soul .

Sandy Posey took on the country pop title Shattered as the b-side of What A Woman in Love Won't Do (recorded January 11, 1967), followed by the pop duo Jon & Robin & the In Crowd , who took his title Do It Again a Little Bit Slower in May 1967, reaching number 18 on the pop charts. The Thompson composition Drums followed for the duo in August 1967 and ranked 100th.

In October 1967 he wrote both sides of the single Neon Rainbow / She Knows How for the Box Tops , the undervalued dance record Keep On for Bruce Channel made it to number 12 in the British charts in June 1968. Again for the Box Tops he composed the middle hit Soul Deep (June 1969), for their fourth and final LP Dimensions (September 1969) he contributed with the title Sandman, and ultimately they ended with You Keep Tightening Up on Me (February 1970 ) her short-lived career.

Concentration on country songs

Willie Nelson - Always on My Mind

Thompson had given up the previous mix of pop, blue-eyed soul and soul compositions in 1970 in favor of composing country music . Brenda Lee recorded the original Always on My Mind on September 22, 1971 , a collaboration between John L. Christopher Jr., Mark James and Thompson; it was only ranked 45th in the country charts . Because of this moderate chart presence, the title initially remained relatively unknown. Elvis Presley picked up the song on March 29, 1972 and brought it out as the B-side on his 500,000-unit single Separate Ways , which was released in November 1972.

Only in the version by Willie Nelson did the title gain international fame. The version, recorded on October 11, 1981 in Moman's Nashville studios and produced by the studio owner, was released in March 1982, ranked first on the country charts for two weeks and sold over two million times. She was awarded three Grammys (including "Song of the Year" for the composer).

André Heller brought out a German-language version in June 1983 under the title Wie Mei Herzschlag , which took second place in Austria. The Pet Shop Boys revitalized the song in December 1987 with a synth-pop version that took them to number one on the UK charts and number four in the United States. Other covers are by Floyd Cramer (November 1988) and the Stylistics (July 1991). The title received a BMI Award and, according to Coverinfo, has been covered 94 times.

Further country compositions followed with No Love at All (composed with Johnny Christopher) for Lynn Anderson (August 1970; number 15 in the country charts), or (Don't Let the Sun Set on You In) Tulsa for Waylon Jennings (October 1970). This was followed by Drinkin 'Thing (July 1974; Rank 10) and She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin 'Doubles) (March 1975; Rank 1) for Gary Stewart , Slide Off Of Your Satin Sheets (composed with Donn Tankersley) for Johnny Paycheck (February 1977; rank 7), while Conway Twitty took over the title The Clown (co-authored with Brenda Kay Barnett / Charles Romaine Chalmers / Sandra I. Rhodes) in February 1982 (rank 1).

Statistics and awards

According to BMI , Wayne Carson Thompson has a total of 414 titles protected by copyright, including 11 compositions that have received a BMI Award, making him one of the most important composers. Always on my Mind was recognized at the 1983 Grammy Awards in the categories "Song of the Year" and "Best Country Song". The Country Music Association (CMA) named it in 1982 and 1983 as "Song of the Year". The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) named him “Song of the Year” in 1982 and the Academy of Country Music “Single of the Year”. In 1997 he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame .

List of other compositions

• Who's Julie - Mel Tillis
• Whiskey Trip - Gary Stewart
• No Love at All - BJ Thomas
• Barstool Mountain - Moe Bandy
• Carryin 'On - Tina Turner
• That's the Only Way to Say Good Morning - Ray Price
• A Horse Called Music - Willie Nelson, Randy Travis
• Dog Day Afternoon - Shelby Lynne
• I See The Want-To in Your Eyes - Conway Twitty
• Something's Wrong in California - Waylon Jennings

Web links

• Official Wayne Carson Website
• Songs of Wayne Carson Thompson , accessed September 2, 2010
• Entry with the Nashville Songwriters Foundation - Hall of Fame ( Memento dated June 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
• Wayne Carson in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ tennessean.com: 'Always on My Mind' writer Wayne Carson dies at 72 . 15th July 2015.
2. ^ Joseph Murrells: Million Selling Records. 1985, p. 236
3. ^ Joel Whitburn: The Billboard Book of Top40 Country Hits. 2006, p. 345
4. ↑ BMI entry for Wayne Carson Thompson  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.