Always on My Mind (Willie Nelson album)

Last updated
Always on My Mind
Willie-Nelson-Always-on-My-Mind.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 1982
Genre Country, pop, rock and roll
Length33:29
Label Columbia
Producer Chips Moman
Willie Nelson chronology
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
(1981)
Always on My Mind
(1982)
The Winning Hand
(1982)
Singles from Always on My Mind
  1. "Always on My Mind"
    Released: February 1982
  2. "Let It Be Me"
    Released: July 1982
  3. "Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning"
    Released: November 1982
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Always on My Mind is the 27th studio album by country singer Willie Nelson. It was the Billboard number one country album of the year for 1982, and stayed 253 weeks on the Billboard Top Country Albums charts, peaking at number one for a total of 22 weeks, as well as spending 99 weeks on the all-genre Billboard 200, peaking at number two for 3 weeks.

Contents

Background and recording

During the recording sessions for Nelson's collaboration album with Merle Haggard, Pancho & Lefty , the producer Chips Moman and Bobby Emmons suggested that they record Johnny Christopher's "Always on My Mind". [2] Haggard had no interest in recording a version of the song for the album, so instead Nelson recorded his own version—the first for the album entitled Always on My Mind. In his autobiography, Nelson stated: "We'll never know what would have happened if Merle had really heard the song right. 'Always on My Mind' bowled me over the moment I first heard it, which is one way I pick songs to record". [3]

The rest of the album was constituted by adult-contemporary and pop standards, such as "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and Paul Simon's "Bridge Over Troubled Water", [4] as well as re-recordings of his own songs including "Permanently Lonely" (originally recorded for 1969's Good Times LP) and "The Party's Over" (originally recorded for The Party's Over released in 1967).

A 2003 re-release of the album included two bonus tracks: "The Man Who Owes Everyone" and "I'm a Memory" (another re-recording of an earlier release).

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" Chips Moman, Dan Penn 2:58
2."Always on My Mind" Johnny Christopher, Mark James, Wayne Carson Thompson 3:34
3."A Whiter Shade of Pale" Gary Brooker, Keith Reid, Matthew Fisher 4:01
4."Let It Be Me" Mann Curtis, Pierre Delanoë, Gilbert Bécaud 3:33
5."Staring Each Other Down"Chips Moman, Bobby Emmons 2:16
6."Bridge over Troubled Water" Paul Simon 4:39
7."Old Fords and a Natural Stone"Bobby Emmons, Chips Moman2:33
8."Permanently Lonely"Willie Nelson2:41
9."Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning" Gary P. Nunn, Donna Sioux Farar4:22
10."The Party’s Over"Willie Nelson2:52
Total length:33:29

2003 re-release bonus tracks

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."The Man Who Owes Everyone"Dave Anderson, Willie Nelson3:16
12."I'm a Memory"Willie Nelson2:42
Total length:39:27

Personnel

Technical

Charts

Chart performance

1982 Weekly ChartPeak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums1
U.S. Billboard 2002
Canadian RPM Top Albums20
Dutch Albums Chart28
Australian Albums Chart60

End of year charts

1982 Year-end ChartPosition
U.S. Billboard Country Album1
U.S. Cashbox Top 1007
U.S. Billboard 200[ citation needed ]26
Canadian RPM Top Albums96

Charting Singles

SinglePeak positions
US Country
US
US ACCAN Country
CAN
CAN AC
IRE AUS UK
"Always on My Mind" [A] 152110483949
"Let It Be Me"2401111
"Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning"21

Certification

OrganizationLevelDate
RIAA – USA4× PlatinumOctober 21, 1994 [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Pancho & Lefty</i> (album) 1983 studio album by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson

Pancho & Lefty by Townes Van Zandt (1972) became well-known through a honky tonk album by outlaw country musicians Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson, released in 1983. Original vinyl copies from 1983 give the album's title as "Poncho & Lefty" on the cover, as well as on the inner sleeve and the record label; the album's title track is similarly rendered "Poncho & Lefty" on the cover, inner sleeve, and label. Later editions correct the title to the intended "Pancho & Lefty.” They are backed by Don Markham of The Strangers.

Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman was an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for working in R&B, pop music and country music, operating American Sound Studios and producing hit albums like Elvis Presley's 1969 From Elvis in Memphis and the 1985 debut album for The Highwaymen. Moman won a Grammy Award for co-writing "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song", a 1975 hit for B.J. Thomas.

<i>Class of 55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming</i> 1986 studio album by Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Carl Perkins

Class of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming is a collaborative studio album by Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash. It was released on May 26, 1986, by America/Smash Records, a subsidiary of Polygram Records. The album was produced by Chips Moman.

<i>Highwayman</i> (The Highwaymen album) 1985 studio album by The Highwaymen

Highwayman is the first studio album released by country supergroup The Highwaymen, comprising Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. Highwayman, released through Columbia Records in 1985, was the group's first and most successful album.

<i>Highwayman 2</i> 1990 studio album by The Highwaymen

Highwayman 2 is the second studio album released by American country supergroup The Highwaymen. This album was released in 1990 on the Columbia Records label. Johnny Cash had left Columbia several years earlier, making this a "homecoming", and ultimately his final work for Columbia as the next Highwaymen album would be issued on another label.

<i>Rainbow</i> (Johnny Cash album) 1985 studio album by Johnny Cash

Rainbow is the 70th album by American country singer Johnny Cash, his last for Columbia Records, released in 1985. "I'm Leaving Now", which was re-recorded 15 years later for Cash's American III: Solitary Man, was released as a single rather unsuccessfully, but the album's signature song is a cover of Kris Kristofferson's "Here Comes That Rainbow Again", which also appeared on Cash's 1995 collaboration with Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings - known as The Highwaymen - entitled The Road Goes on Forever, though it was sung solo by Kristofferson on the latter. Also included is a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?," from Pendulum. The album also includes the song "Love Me Like You Used To," which was later recorded by fellow country singer Tanya Tucker, and became a country hit for her. Following the release of this album and a duet album with Jennings in 1986, Cash moved to Mercury Records as a result of Columbia's fading interest in his music, though he later returned to Columbia for the second Highwaymen album.

<i>Heroes</i> (Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings album) 1986 studio album by Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings

Heroes is a duet studio by American country music singers Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, released on Columbia Records in 1986.

<i>Repossessed</i> (album) 1986 studio album by Kris Kristofferson

Repossessed is an album by Kris Kristofferson, released on Mercury Records in 1986. It was Kristofferson's first full-length solo album since 1981's To the Bone, although the singer did collaborate with other artists in the meantime, most notably on Highwayman with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.

<i>WWII</i> (album) 1982 album by Waylon Jennings

WWII is a duet album by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, released on RCA Victor in 1982.

<i>Ol Waylon</i> 1977 studio album by Waylon Jennings

Ol' Waylon is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1977. It eventually became one of Jennings' highest-selling albums, due in no small part to the phenomenal success of the chart-topping "Luckenbach, Texas ." It was also the singer's fourth solo album in a row to reach the top of the country charts, remaining there for thirteen weeks and becoming country music's first platinum album by any single solo artist.

<i>Black on Black</i> 1982 studio album by Waylon Jennings

Black on Black is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1982.

<i>City of New Orleans</i> (album) 1984 studio album by Willie Nelson

City of New Orleans is a studio album by the American musician Willie Nelson, released by Columbia Records in 1984. The title track was written and originally recorded by Steve Goodman; his version was released in 1971. The next year, Arlo Guthrie became the first to have a hit with the song. Nelson's version topped the U.S. country singles chart. Other covers on the album include "Please Come to Boston" and "Wind Beneath My Wings".

<i>Suspicious Minds</i> (album) 1999 compilation album by Elvis Presley

Suspicious Minds: The Memphis 1969 Anthology is a two-disc compilation of Elvis Presley's studio recordings at American Sound Studio during the winter of 1969, released in 1999, RCA 67677-2. This set features all of the master recordings made by Presley that would eventually feature on multiple singles as well as the albums From Elvis in Memphis and the studio disk of From Memphis to Vegas/From Vegas to Memphis. Original recordings produced by Chips Moman and Felton Jarvis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)</span> 1977 single by Waylon Jennings

"Luckenbach, Texas " is a song recorded by American country music artist Waylon Jennings. It was released in April 1977 as the first single from the album Ol' Waylon. It was written by Chips Moman and Bobby Emmons.

<i>Partners</i> (Willie Nelson album) 1986 studio album by Willie Nelson

Partners is a studio album by the American musician Willie Nelson, released in 1986. Johnny Gimble played fiddle on the album.

<i>What a Wonderful World</i> (Willie Nelson album) 1988 studio album by Willie Nelson

What a Wonderful World is the 36th studio album by country singer Willie Nelson released in March 1988.

<i>Thats the Way Love Goes</i> (Merle Haggard album) 1983 studio album by Merle Haggard

That's the Way Love Goes is the thirty-eighth studio album by the American country music singer Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers, released in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Party's Over (Willie Nelson song)</span> 1967 single by Willie Nelson

"The Party's Over" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Willie Nelson during the mid-1950s. After arriving in Houston, Texas, Nelson was hired to play for the Esquire Ballroom band, where he would be allowed to close the shows singing the song. Guitar instructor and Nelson's friend Paul Buskirk forwarded the song to singer Claude Gray, who recorded the original version of the song, released as "My Party's Over" in 1959.

<i>Heart to Heart</i> (Merle Haggard and Leona Williams album) 1983 studio album by Merle Haggard and Leona Williams

Heart to Heart is a duet album by Merle Haggard and Leona Williams with backing by the Strangers, released in June 1983 on Mercury Records. It reached number 44 on the Billboard Country music chart.

<i>Django and Jimmie</i> 2015 studio album by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard

Django and Jimmie is the sixth and final collaborative studio album by American country music artists Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. It was released on June 2, 2015, by Legacy Recordings. The album was Haggard's final studio album prior to his death of pneumonia in April 2016, 10 months after its release.

References

  1. Always on My Mind at AllMusic
  2. Jones 2010, p.  337.
  3. Nelson, Shrake & Shrake 2000, p. 145.
  4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Always on My Mind". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation.
  5. "RIAA – Searchable Database: Willie Nelson". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved August 1, 2023.

Bibliography