"Always on My Mind" is an American country music song by Johnny Christopher, Mark James and Wayne Carson, recorded first by Gwen McCrae (as "You Were Always On My Mind") and Brenda Lee in 1972.
Allmusic lists over 300 recorded releases of the song in versions by dozens of performers. While Brenda Lee's version had stalled at #45 on the country charts in 1972, other performers would reach the top 20 in the United States and elsewhere with their own versions: Elvis Presley in 1972; John Wesley Ryles in 1979; Willie Nelson's Grammy Award winning version in 1982; Pet Shop Boys in 1987.
Willie Nelson version
The song was recorded by Willie Nelson and released in the spring of 1982. The song raced to number one on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles chart that May, spending two weeks atop and total of 21 weeks on the chart. The song also did very well on Top 40 radio, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and staying on this chart for 23 weeks. In the year end charts, this version was Billboard's number one country song for 1982. This version also charted in a number of other countries.
Nelson's version would result in three wins at the 25th Grammy Awards in February 1983: songwriters Christopher, James and Carson won Song of the Year and Best Country Song; in addition, Nelson won for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.
This version also won Country Music Association awards in two consecutive years: 1982 Song of the Year and 1983 Song of the Year for songwriters Christopher, James and Carson; 1982 Single of the Year for Nelson, and; contributed to Nelson winning 1982 Album of the Year for the album "Always on My Mind".
Willie Nelson performed the number with Johnny Cash on the 1998 release of VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson. The song was also featured on a December 2009 ASPCA commercial.
On July 10, 1991, this version was certified platinum by RIAA. In 2008, the single was inducted to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Nelson's version was prominently featured, in its entirety, in a season two (2013) episode of the HBO television series The Newsroom.
No comments:
Post a Comment