Maps of Music

Always on My Mind (1982)

Where the lyrics of Always on My Mind take you, and where it was really made.

A song that Willie Nelson recorded after a producer's suggestion for a Merle Haggard collaboration became the title track of an album that spent 253 weeks on the Billboard country chart.

Key places

Recorded at Pedernales Studio (1982)

Recording site Pedernales Studio — The Discogs release notes list Pedernales Studio as a place where the album was recorded. The map point sits at the Spicewood town centre, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Always on My Mind: 27th studio album by country singer Willie Nelson
• Released in February 1982 on Columbia Records
• Billboard's number one country album of the year for 1982
• Title track came from a song that producers suggested during sessions for a Nelson and Merle Haggard collaboration
• The rest of the album is made up of standards and Nelson's own re-recordings

Background

• During sessions for the collaboration album Pancho & Lefty, producers Chips Moman and Bobby Emmons suggested that Haggard record Johnny Christopher's 'Always on My Mind'
• Haggard had no interest in recording a version of the song for that album
• Nelson recorded his own version, the first version made for the album titled Always on My Mind
• In his autobiography Nelson wrote that the song struck him the moment he first heard it, which is one of the ways he chooses songs to record
• Remaining tracks are adult-contemporary and pop standards, including 'Do Right Woman, Do Right Man' and Paul Simon's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'
• Nelson's own re-recordings include 'Permanently Lonely' (first recorded for the 1969 album Good Times) and 'The Party's Over' (first recorded for the 1967 album The Party's Over)

Recording

• Discogs release notes list Pedernales Studio as a place where the album was recorded
• Discogs also lists Moman's Recording Studio as a recording location
• Chips Moman is credited as producer and as engineer, with David Cherry and Larry Greenhill also credited as engineers
• Denny Purcell is credited for mastering
• Players include Nelson on guitar and vocals, Gene Chrisman on drums, Johnny Christopher on guitar and backing vocals, Bobby Emmons on keyboards, and Mike Leech on bass
• Other credits include Mickey Raphael on harmonica, Reggie Young and Grady Martin on guitar, and Waylon Jennings on vocals

Cover

• Art direction by Virginia Team
• Photography by Beverly Parker

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · es.wikipedia.org

Artist

Formation

• Born Willie Hugh Nelson on April 29, 1933, in Abbott, Texas.
• Wrote his first song at age seven and joined his first band, Bohemian Polka, as a guitarist at age nine.
• Attended Baylor University for two years before dropping out to pursue music.
• Moved to Nashville in 1960 and joined Ray Price's band as a bassist.

Career

• Songs such as "Crazy" (Patsy Cline), "Funny How Time Slips Away" and "Pretty Paper" became hits for other artists.
• Debut album ...And Then I Wrote was released in 1962; joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1965.
• Helped lead the outlaw country movement after moving to Austin, Texas in 1972.
• Red Headed Stranger (1975) was a critically acclaimed concept album; the single "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" became his first number one hit.
• Co-founded Farm Aid in 1985 with Neil Young and John Mellencamp.
• Acted in over 30 films, including The Electric Horseman (1979).
• Received a Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance for "Ride Me Back Home" (2019).
• Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993 and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1998.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Billboard number one country album of the year for 1982
• Billboard Top Country Albums chart: 253 weeks on the chart in total
• Top Country Albums chart: 22 weeks at number one in total

Records

• Billboard 200 (all genres): 99 weeks on the chart
• Billboard 200 peak: number two, held for 4 weeks
• Spanish-language Wikipedia describes the album as reaching first place on the US country album list and second place on the Billboard 200
• Spanish-language Wikipedia also gives 99 weeks on the Billboard 200
• The source gives chart and year-end performance only; no critical review scores are listed on the page

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Nelson's version was made during sessions for the Haggard collaboration, after Haggard declined to record the song.
• In his autobiography Nelson says the song bowled him over the first time he heard it.
• Discogs notes that the disc is marked 'Made In U.S.A.' while the package says the record was manufactured in Japan by CBS/Sony in Tokyo.
• Columbia Records released the album in February 1982, according to Spanish-language Wikipedia.
• Waylon Jennings is credited with vocals on the album.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · es.wikipedia.org

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