Songoftheday 4/25/12 - Maybe I didn't love you, quite as often as I could have...

Willie Nelson - "Always Of My Mind"

from the album Always On My Mind (1982)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (three weeks)
Weeks In The Top-40: 15

Today's song of the day is the classic cover of "Always On My Mind" my country legend/toker Willie Nelson. The song originally was written back in the early 70s, and released initially by pop/country ingenue Brenda Lee, who had only a minor hit with the single.That same year, Elvis Presley released the definitive version, having a top-20 country hit and a top-10 pop hit in Britain.

"Always..." was the first single for Willie after his film Honeysuckle Rose, featuring his iconic hit "On The Road Again". But it was the cover of this song that gave Nelson his biggest solo hit by far, and won writers Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher, and Mark James a Grammy for Song of the Year. The production, stark with just the piano prevalent and echoing backing vocals, gave his version a timeless and ethereal quality. Even live, Willie's usual quivering voice fits well with the song, giving it a vulnerability that Elvis' perhaps was lacking...

Five years later, the song would return to the US pop top-5 courtesy of the Pet Shop Boys, who amped the campy drama and tossed off the vulnerability...

Tomorrow: MonogamyBusters!