Always On My Mind

This song tells the story of a man who admits he didn't always do the things he should have to show appreciation for his lady, but wants her to know he was always thinking about her. It's a message that transcends genre: Popular versions of the song were recorded by Willie Nelson, Brenda Lee, Elvis Presley and Pet Shop Boys.

Wayne Carson, who wrote The Box Tops' 1967 #1 hit "The Letter," came up with "Always On My Mind" when he was working at a recording studio in Memphis. He lived with his wife in Springfield, Missouri, and the trip to Memphis had gone 10 days longer than expected. When he called the missus to tell her he would be there even longer, she let him have it. He tried to assuage her by telling her that was thinking about her all the time - she was "always on my mind." "It just struck me like someone had hit me with a hammer," he told the LA Times. "I told her real fast I had to hang up because I had to put that into a song." Over the next few days, he finished writing the song with two other writers at the studio: Johnny Christopher and Mark James. "All that 'Always' was about was one long apology," Carson added. "I guess there are a lot of people in the world who were looking for a way to say that in a song."

Some sources claim B.J. Thomas was the first to record this song, but his version wasn't released until it appeared on a compilation in 1996. Elvis Presley recorded it on March 29, 1972, but his version wasn't released until that November. By then, versions by Brenda Lee and Gwen McCrae (titled "You Were Always On My Mind") were already on the market; Lee's rendition went to #45 on the Country chart September 2, 1972. Elvis had recently separated from his wife, Priscilla, making the song apropos. But it was released as a single with a song that seemed more fitting: "Separate Ways," about a divorced dad. "Always On My Mind" later became a key song in his canon, but it reached just #16 on the Country chart, as "Separate Ways" got most of the airplay.