The arrangement of the previous versions sound bare compared to the synth-heavy Pet Shop Boys version. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe could have merely added keyboards and kept it at the same pace, but they changed almost everything except the lyrics and the title. The Pet Shop Boys’ version stands out among all the versions of “Always On My Mind,” and not just because of addition of keyboards. It did so well on the country charts and on country radio because, quite frankly, it was the most country version of the song recorded. Presley and Ryles sounded like lovesick teenagers who would promise to do anything to get their loves back, but Nelson sounded like a grown-up, ready to deal with the consequences of his actions.
#YOU ARE ALWAYS ON MY MIND FULL#
He sounded full of regret, but without desperation.
He toned it down and slowed it a little, taking out the frantic distress that Presley and Ryles had added. That could be why Nelson’s version did so well and surpassed Presley’s take on the song. Nelson didn’t try to out-Elvis anyone. Nelson’s version was the first version since Presley’s version that challenged its performance on the charts. John Wesley Ryles had covered the song in 1979, reaching 20 on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. Ryles had amped up what already sounded very big in the Presley version, such that Ryles’ version sounded more like a tribute to Presley than a new interpretation. If each woman recorded it without hearing any other version, could the one that was released second really be considered a cover? Thus, most references to the song just say that “Always On My Mind” was “originally recorded by Gwen McCrae and Brenda Lee.” It’s feasible they were recorded at the same time and that neither McCrae nor Lee heard the other woman’s versions while recording her own. That certainly is true for many of the songs we’ve discussed, including “Tainted Love.” Soft Cell’s became the iconic version, but it’s version was definitely influenced by Jones’ recordings.īut that’s not the case with “Always On My Mind.” The earliest recordings were by Gwen McCrae and Brenda Lee, each releasing versions only months apart from each other in 1972. The conventional wisdom is that whoever recorded and released the version first is the original and all subsequent versions are covers. Who gets credit for recording the “original version” of the song is a murkier issue. All three names appear in the writing credits. The three of them played around a bit, writing a bridge together. While upstairs, Carson bumped into fellow songwriters Johnny Christopher and Mark James.
Carson went upstairs to work on the bridge. But when he was at the studio in Memphis, producer Chips Moman said the song would need a bridge. He said he intentionally left out a bridge to the song, as he thought it was fine as it was. Wayne Carson said he wrote “Always On My Mind” in about 10 minutes, while sitting at his kitchen table in Springfield, Mo. You can listen to the songs in a Spotify playlist.
#YOU ARE ALWAYS ON MY MIND SERIES#
Read about it here and see the list of all songs in the series here. A new post about a different song will be posted each Monday throughout 2016. This is the 10th post in a yearlong series.
0 kommentar(er)
