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How Willie Nelson gave us a soulful country version of "You Were Always on My Mind"

When it comes to covers, performers and listeners realise: there's nothing cooler than Nelson's soulful country version! It's his track, albeit written by other people.....

The story behind the song "You Were Always on My Mind."

"You've always been in my thoughts." - A soulful composition that became a trademark of first Elvis Presley and then Willie Nelson. It is a beautifully written apology for love "gone downhill". Specifically, the song sings:

"Maybe I didn't relate to you.
As good as I should have been.
Maybe I didn't love you
As fully as I could..."

Maybe for Elvis, this song was just a simple "one of many."but for Willie... It was a big hit when it was released, and now it's great classic! And every time it comes to a cover, performers and listeners realise: there's nothing cooler than Nelson's soulful country version! It's his track, albeit written by other people.....

In search of a bridge

Wayne Carson
Wayne Carson

"You Were Always on My Mind" was a collaborative effort. It started with. Wayne Carson - songwriter and 1967 hit "The Letter" by The Box Tops in particular - wrote two verses. But at first Wayne decided to leave his creation without bridge - a moment that contrasts with the rest of the song and then brings you back to the verse or chorus. So: at the end of 1971, Carson went into the studio to work on a song, but the producer Chips Moman listened to it and said he couldn't do without the bridge. So Wayne went to work, but nothing was coming out.....

Carson was sitting at the piano in his office when the singer, songwriter and guitarist approached him Johnny Christopher. The two already knew each other, as they had written "No Love at All" together in the summer of 1970, one of the top country hits of the 20th century that made Lynn Anderson proud! The track intrigued Christopher, so he offered to help write the bridge. The two men didn't make much progress, but luckily for them a third genius of the pen came to the rescue - the Mark Jamesbest known for "Suspicious Minds" (Elvis Presley). And oh miracle - soon they had a bridge! From Carson's memoirs:

"The three of us sat there in the same room and finally wrote those two lines - the bridge. We exhaled with relief and thought, "Damn, a hit, we've got a hit!"

"Halloween Gift."

Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley

At first, many people thought the song was written specifically for Elvis Presley, who had a family problems at the time, but that wasn't the case. The King of Rock 'n' Roll recorded "You Were Always on My Mind" 29 March 1972, but it was not released until November of that year. And before it did, the artist was overtaken by hotties Gwen McCrae and Brenda Lee, whose studio endeavours turned in varying degrees of chart success...

The Elvis version was finally released for Halloween 1972 as the A side of the single (the B side went to "Separate Ways"). "You Were Always on My Mind" did well in the charts, as thousands of people across America assumed that this soulful ode was about Presley's troubled relationship with Priscilla. But it wasn't, and the track only became a real hit. 10 years later.

The song gets to Nelson

Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson

It was a decade before the song hit the charts again, when the Willie Nelson released it as a single on 6 March 1982. Johnny Christopher brought "You Were Always on My Mind" to him and Merle Haggardto see if anyone was interested in recording her. And while Haggard was indifferent, Nelson was literally stunned.

As a result heartfelt version Nelson spent 21 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, and reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song won three Grammy Awards, and Willie's album of the same name was Album of the Year!

Lastly: some interesting facts

Pet Shop Boys: Chris Lowe (left) and Neil Tennant. Photo: Ian Hooton
Pet Shop Boys
  • One of the co-writers of the song, Christopher, also worked with Nelson on the album "Always on My Mind", playing guitar and singing backing vocals on several tracks.
  • B.B. King once said that "You Were Always on My Mind" was his favourite song.
  • At the very least more than 300 times the song has been covered. Among the performers are Chris de Burgh, Julio Iglesias, Pet Shop Boys and others.

  • In 2004. Levi's jeans used Nelson's version in the advert where the girl threw all the guy's stuff out the window and he has to retrieve his jeans from a tree.

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