My father
loved Willie Nelson and country music. One of my most treasured memories is going
with my parents to a concert in Liverpool. Nelson was relentless, playing for
well over two hours, and at one point he took off his trademark red bandana,
and gently tossed it to my mother. She recoiled slightly at the sweaty
headscarf, but my father was so delighted.
Willie Nelson
was a country outlaw, a hippy with long hair in the conservative redneck country
environment. A great song writer in his
own right ("Crazy" for Patsy Cline), but he is a master at reinterpreting
other peoples songs and giving them a definitive take (like his great friend
Johnny Cash).
"Always
on my mind" was written in ten minutes by Wayne Carson in his Missouri kitchen.
Johnny Christopher and Mark James contributed a bridge section in the studio,
before its first recording. It was first a hit for Brenda Lee in 1972, quickly
becoming a standard with most people knowing the Elvis Presley or Pet Shop
versions.
While Presley
went big, with typical epic vocals, Nelson went intimate, a heartfelt and
tender love song. He regrets taking his partner for granted, as he painfully
lists the multiple ways he failed ("Little things I should have said and
done / I just never took the time"). And yet despite all these failings, he
insists "You were always on my mind". There is just a hope that her
love is still alive, as he begs for "one more chance to keep you satisfied".
Nelson's
gruff, monotone, almost spoken vocals
convey all the regret and pain. It is given a typical country style backing,
and a female chorus. Personally, I think just Nelson and a guitar would have
been even more devastating.
It was a very
successful hit for Nelson in 1982, number 5 in the US, and winning Grammys and
Country awards.
As he enters
his 88th year, Willie Nelson is the well respected elder statesman of music, organising Farm Aid and leading "America
the Beautiful" on a 9/11 TV musical tribute. Even now he is still busy, raising
money for anti-Covaid facemasks and singing the appropriate "Hello Walls"
on TV. A distinguished and unique voice.
Hear Now - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoPYQ-FmQB4
Hear Next -
There are a myriad of excellent compilation albums but I really like the
"Across the Borderline" album of great cover versions.
