From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Always on My Mind" is an American
song by Johnny Christopher,
and , recorded first by
(as "You Were Always On My Mind") and
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:
in 1979; 's
winning version in 1982;
Wayne Carson said that he wrote most of the song in 10 minutes at his kitchen table in Springfield, Missouri, and completed the song in studio with the assistance of Johnny and Mark.[]
Carson, who had the song about a year and one day, was finishing a recording session. Producer
asked about recording "that mind" song, but added it would need a bridge. Wayne went upstairs to the studio's old piano, trying to work out a bridge, when Johnny and Mark walked in the door, and he asked for their help to complete his song.[]
The trio felt that the song was finished and at first could not come up with anything to add, but Wayne explained that Moman was insisting that a bridge be added. So between them, the two-line "Tell me..." bridge was written.[]
The song was passed to one of Elvis's bodyguards, who gave Presley the cut from the studio. Moman did not produce Presley's recording, but did record the Willie Nelson version years later.[]
"" / "Always on My Mind"
recorded his version of "Always on My Mind" on March 29, 1972, a few weeks after his February separation from wife . The song received immense fame and critical appreciation and is considered one of the standout songs of the '70s for Elvis. The song was released as the B-side of the "" single, which reached Gold status in the U.S for sales of over a million copies. It was listed as a double sided hit reaching number 16 on 's Hot Country Singles chart in November 1972. In the UK "Always on My Mind" was the hit song and "Separate Ways" was the B-side. It was voted the #1 song of Presley's recording career in a poll conducted by
recorded March 27-29, 1972, RCA’s Studio C., Hollywood
Elvis Presley, vocals
, bass guitar
and the Stamps, back-up vocals
later overdubs:
, percussion
unknown strings and horns
1972 Weekly Chart
Canadian RPM Country Tracks
Dutch Top 40
French Singles Chart
Ireland ()
Swiss Singles Chart
(Official Charts Company)
"Liberated Woman"
"You Are Always on My Mind"
"Perfect Strangers"
reached number 20 on the US country charts with his rendition, entitled "You Are Always on My Mind", from the album Let the Night Begin.
A review in
praised the "brightly mixed vocals" and "powerful production".
1979 Weekly Chart
Canadian RPM Country Tracks
"Heartaches of a Fool"
"Always on My Mind"
Audio sample
recorded and released the song in early 1982. It raced to number one on 's Hot Country Singles chart that May, spending two weeks on top and total of 21 weeks on the chart. The song also did very well on
radio, reaching number five on the
for three weeks and staying on this chart for 23 weeks. In the year end charts, it was Billboard's biggest Country hit for 1982. This version also charted in a number of other countries.
Nelson's version would result in three wins at the
in February 1983: songwriters Christopher, James and C in addition, Nelson won for .
This version also won
awards in two consecutive years:
for songwriters Christopher, James and C
for Nelson, contributed to Nelson winning
for the album "".
performed the number with
on the 1998 release of . The song was also featured on a December 2009
commercial.
The single was certified
signifying U. S. sales in excess of two million. 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 .
1982 Weekly Chart
Australian Kent Music Report
Belgian Top 40 (Flanders)
Canadian RPM Country Tracks
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks
Canadian RPM Top Singles
Dutch Singles Chart
Irish Singles Chart
US Billboard Hot 100
UK Singles Chart
1982 Year-End Chart
Canadian RPM Top Singles
US Billboard Hot 100
US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
US Billboard Hot Country Singles
US Cashbox Top 100
"Always on My Mind"
Alternative cover
Cover for the US release
Audio sample
In 1987, the
performed a
version of "Always on My Mind" on Love Me Tender, a television special on the
network in the UK. Commemorating the tenth anniversary of Presley's death, the programme featured various popular acts of the time performing cover versions of his hits. The Pet Shop Boys' performance was so well-received that the duo decided to record the song and release it as a single.
This version became the UK's
that year. It went on to top the charts for four weeks in total, and reached number four on the US .
The Pet Shop Boys version introduces a harmonic variation not present in the original version. In the original the ending phrase "always on my mind" is sung to a IV-V7-I
(C-D7-G). The Pet Shop Boys extend this cadence by adding two further chords: C-D7-Gm7/B?-C-G (i.e. a progression of IV-V7-IIIb-IV-I).
In November 2004,
newspaper placed the version at number two in a list of the fifty greatest cover versions of all time. In October 2014, a public poll compiled by the
saw the song voted the all-time best cover version.
In the video for Pet Shop Boys' version of "Always on My Mind" (an excerpt from their surreal music film ),
are seated in the front of a taxi cab, when an eccentric passenger gets in, played by notable British actor . At the end of the song, he gets out of the car, which drives away. Standing alone, he mutters: "You went away. It should make me feel better. But I don't know how I'm going to get through", which is part of the lyrics for another Pet Shop Boys track, "", which was released earlier in the year.
In 1988, the duo remixed the song for their third studio LP, , combining it with an acid-house track called "In My House".
In 2008, Konami used the song for Dance Dance Revolution X which was released for both arcades and the Sony PlayStation 2 console. In 2010, the song was re-used for Dance Dance Revolution X2 which was released for arcades.
Australian Singles Chart
Austrian Singles Chart
Belgian Singles Chart (Vl)
Canadian Singles Chart
Dutch Singles Chart
European Singles Chart[]
Finland ()
French Singles Chart
German Singles Chart
Irish Singles Chart
Italian Singles Chart
New Zealand Singles Chart
Norwegian Singles Chart
Polish Singles Chart
South African Singles Chart
Swedish Singles Chart
Swiss Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
US Billboard Hot 100
US Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs Chart
US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales Chart
In 2013, the Spanish national Christmas lottery advertisement
covered this song with various popular Spanish artists, including .
George K Chuck Crisafulli.
. p. 233.
Guralnick, Peter / Jorgensen, Ernst (1999) p. 310. Elvis: Day by Day.
. The Official Elvis Presley Website. Archived from
on 19 December 2007.
. Telly Chat.
at . Retrieved .
". . Retrieved July 11, 2017.
" Official Charts Company.
. . . p. 85.
Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 367.  .
for John Wesley Ryles.
(1993). Australian Chart Book . Australian Chart Book.  .
. ultratop.be. .
for Willie Nelson.
for Willie Nelson.
. Billboard.
. . . Archived from
Pet Shop Boys (). . AllMusic.
. The Daily Telegraph. London. November 20, 2004.
. BBC News. 27 October 2014.
Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book . St Ives, NSW, Australia: Australian Chart Book. p. 232.  .
Steffen Hung. . austriancharts.at.
. Archived from
. Collectionscanada.gc.ca.
Steffen Hung. . dutchcharts.nl.
Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sis?lt?? hitin – levyt ja esitt?j?t Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi.  .
Steffen Hung. . .
. charts.de. .
Jaclyn Ward – Fireball Media Group. . Irishcharts.ie. Archived from
. Hitparadeitalia.it.
Steffen Hung. . charts.org.nz.
Steffen Hung. . .
Brian Currin (). . Rock.co.za.
Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: a?o a a?o,
(1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE.  .
Steffen Hung. . .
Steffen Hung. . hitparade.ch.
. YouTube.
Preceded by
number-one single
May 8–15, 1982 by Willie Nelson
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Country Tracks
number-one single
June 5–12, 1982 by Willie Nelson
Succeeded by
Preceded by
number-one single of the year
1982 by Willie Nelson
Succeeded by
Preceded by
December 20, 1987 – January 9, 1988 by Pet Shop Boys
Succeeded by
Preceded by
1987 by Pet Shop Boys
Succeeded by
Preceded by
May 21, 1988 – May 28, 1988 by Pet Shop Boys
Succeeded by
number one single of the year
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