Songoftheday 8/13/12 - I bless the day I found you, I wanna stay around you...

Willie Nelson - "Let It Be Me"
from the album Always On My Mind (1982)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #40 (three weeks)
Weeks in the top-40: 3

Today's Song of the Day is by the long-haired weed-tokin' tax-evadin' beard-sportin' country legend, Willie Nelson. Born back in 1933 in Texas, Nelson's success started out to be as a songwriter, penning classic like Patsy Cline's "Crazy" and Faron Young's "Hello Walls".

His first hit on country radio was in 1962 with established singer Shirley Collie, who would go on to become his second wife, with "Willingly", a #10 hit on the country chart. Willie's debut album, And Then I Wrote, came out that same year, with his first top-10 solo hit "Touch Me". But while his albums were selling pretty well, he didn't manage to get back to the top ten until the release of his classic Red Headed Stranger in 1975. The cornerstone of that album "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain", not only topped the country chart but became his first pop top-40 hit as well.

By 1982, Nelson has amassed an even dozen #1 country singles, including the Grammy-winning remake of "Always On My Mind" in the spring. As a followup, he released a song that originally was written as "Je T'appartiens" ("I Belong To You") by French singer/songwriter Gilbert Becaud...

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The first version to hit the States was by singer Jill Corey, from the TV show Climax in 1957, which became a minor hit...

In 1960, the Everly Brothers took the song into the pop top-10 for the first time with their classic take.

Four years later, R&B powerhouses Jerry Butler and Betty Everett had the highest-charting version of the song (#5 pop) with their duet..

Cissy Houston's Sweet Inspirations recorded their top-20 soul version in 1967..

The first big country version of the song (inspired by the Everlys' harmonizing) was done by Glen Campbell and Bobbie Gentry in 1969, and also was a top-40 pop hit as well..

That same year, vocal group the 5th Dimension recorded a cover as well on their Age Of Aquarius LP...

Even "the King" sang the song as well..

In 1982, Willie's version was the second single from Always On My Mind. It reaches #2 on the country chart, and got to #11 on the adult-contemporary (soft-rock) radio chart.

More recently, veterans Rod Stewart (on one of his Songbook albums) and Neil Diamond both recorded versions of the song...

Up tomorrow: High Adventure with another Journey-man.

...and if you can stand it, here's Leonard Nimoy with his, um, cover of "Let It Be Me"...