Gentle on My Mind

From Vero - Wikipedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Good article Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox song "Gentle on My Mind" is a song that was written and originally recorded by John Hartford, and released on his second studio album, Earthwords & Music (1967). Hartford wrote the song after watching Doctor Zhivago in 1966, as he was inspired by the film and his own personal experiences. The lyrics describe the reminiscences of lost love of a man as he travels through the country. An obituary for Hartford indicated that the lyrics are "about a hobo reminiscing about a lost love".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The following year, Hartford released the song as a single on RCA Records.

It then caught the attention of Glen Campbell, who recorded his version with a group of session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew, of which he had been a part. Campbell's recording of "Gentle on My Mind" peaked in the top 30 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart. In 1968, between Campbell's and Hartford's recordings, the song earned four Grammy Awards.

"Gentle on My Mind" was later recorded by other singers, including Dean Martin, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. It was also translated into other languages. In 2014, a recording of the song by the Band Perry earned a Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. Taking into account all recorded versions of the song, it has become the second-most-played song on the radio in the United States according to BMI.

Writing and original recording

In 1966, John Hartford was living with his wife and son in a trailer in Nashville, Tennessee. One night, the couple saw the film Doctor Zhivago at a local theater. Inspired by the love story depicted in the film between Yuri Zhivago and Lara Antipova,<ref>Life of a song Financial Times. (subscription required)</ref> Hartford returned home and wrote "Gentle on my Mind" in between twenty and thirty minutes.Template:Sfn The story of the song narrates the reminiscences of a drifter of his lost love, while moving through backroads and hobo encampments.Template:Sfn Betty Hartford, who later divorced her husband, noted to him the similarity between herself and the song's female character. She questioned John Hartford about the man's regret for his marriage. Hartford said he likened her to Lara and attributed the man's feelings about being trapped in a relationship to his "artistic license".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Hartford defined the finished song as a "word movie" and described his writing process as "thinking in pictures, like paintings using words and sound".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In a 1980 interview, Hartford commented he was still unsure of the song's meaning and that its message will be interpreted differently by listeners.Template:Sfn Twelve years later, Hartford again attributed his inspiration to start writing the song to Doctor Zhivago, and said the content was a result of his personal experience. Hartford said the song "just came real fast, a blaze, a blur".Template:Sfn He described the song as a banjo tune without a chorus, and with a variety of words he deemed "hard to sing" because it "violated the principles of songwriting".Template:Sfn

At the time, Hartford worked as a disc jockey on the radio station WSIX and for the publishing company Tompall & the Glaser Brothers. Hartford recorded a demo and delivered it to Chuck Glaser, who took the demo to Chet Atkins of RCA Records.Template:Sfn According to Harford, after writing "Gentle on My Mind", he did not intend to record the song himself.Template:Sfn Hartford sent the demos of "Gentle on My Mind" and a second song to sell them, but instead the label decided to offer Hartford a recording contract.Template:Sfn Atkins then suggested to the songwriter to use "Hartford" instead of his surname "Harford" as a professional name. Hartford recorded "Gentle on my Mind" and its flipside "Washing Machine", both of which were produced by Felton Jarvis.Template:Sfn The single was released in May 1967.Template:Sfn RCA, however, decided not to promote Hartford's recording because they did not consider it to be a country song.Template:Sfn Cashbox listed the single under their "Best Bets"; the magazine forecasted in a review that Hartford could get "heaps of spins" with his "poetic folk-country-flavored ballad".Template:Sfn "Gentle on My Mind" peaked at number 60 on BillboardTemplate:'s Hot Country Songs.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Glen Campbell's recording and success

A black and white portrait of a man smiling with his arms crossed, staring into the lens of the camera
Glen Campbell pictured in 1967

Hartford's recording of "Gentle on my Mind" attracted Glen Campbell's attention after he heard it on the radio and bought the single.Template:Sfn He felt the song is "an essay on life" and was "knocked out" by the scenery it describes.Template:Sfn At the time, Campbell worked as a studio musician with The Wrecking Crew; he rearranged the song and with the band, he recorded a demo at Capitol Studios.Template:Sfn Campbell left the demo tape at the studio for producer Al De Lory, who made slight production arrangements that Capitol Records accepted as a master for the single.Template:Sfn Campbell's recording of "Gentle on My Mind" was released with "Just Another Man" on the B-side in June 1967.Template:Sfn Upon its release, Billboard predicted the single would reach the Billboard Hot 100 chart.Template:Sfn It peaked at number 30 on the magazine's Hot Country Songs,Template:Sfn and at number 62 on the Hot 100.Template:Sfn The success of the song, which was originally intended for the country music market, helped Campbell cross over to the pop market.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Template:Listen

After Campbell's success with "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Gentle on My Mind" was re-released in 1968.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The new release of the single sold more copies than the original release,Template:Sfn peaking at number 44 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles,Template:Sfn at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100, and at number 8 on the Easy Listening chart.Template:Sfn On the RPM charts in Canada, it peaked at number 20 on the country chart and at number 60 on the RPM 100.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn That year, "Gentle on My Mind" won the categories for Best Country & Western Song, Best Folk Performance for Hartford's recording; and Best Country & Western Solo Vocal Performance, Male as well as Best Country & Western Recording for Campbell's version at the 10th Annual Grammy Awards.Template:Sfn

By May 1968, an estimated fifty singers had recorded "Gentle on my Mind", while Campbell's recording had sold 600,000 copies.Template:Sfn The song was recorded by such singers as Frank Sinatra (1968), Dean Martin (1969), Aretha Franklin (1969),Template:Sfn and Elvis Presley (1969). Patti Page quickly recorded her late 1967 version which reached number 7 on Billboard's Easy Listening Chart in 1968, and number 66 on the Hot 100.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Aretha Franklin's version was released as the B-side to her single "I Can't See Myself Leaving You";Template:Sfn her version peaked at number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 50 on the Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Dean Martin's version reached number 2 on the UK Singles chart,Template:Sfn number 3 on the Irish Singles chart,Template:Sfn and number 9 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart.Template:Sfn Hartford's producer on the original recording of "Gentle on My Mind", Felton Jarvis, co-produced Presley's album From Elvis in Memphis (1969) with Chips Moman.Template:Sfn The recording of Hartford's song was the last number of Presley's January 14, 1969, session. Following its second take, Presley experienced laryngitis and had to temporarily halt the recording.Template:Sfn

The success of the song drew some opposition to its themes. Columnist and Catholic clergyman Jerome LeDoux said that the song's "catchy, simple melody combines with nice-sounding, immoral lyrics which no one really pays attention to, and which is therefore passed off as something decent".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personnel

According to the AFM contract sheet.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Legacy

Hartford said the success of "Gentle on My Mind" allowed him to become a full-time songwriter without working as a disc jockey.Template:Sfn The song's success also caught the attention of Tom Smothers, who in 1968 invited Hartford to become a part of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on CBS.Template:Sfn The same year, Campbell performed "Gentle on My Mind" as the theme song of his own CBS show The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

In 1970, Claude François recorded the song in French under the title "Si Douce A Mon Souvenir".Template:Sfn Fourteen years later, Brazilian singer Roberto Carlos wrote the song "Caminhoneiro" ("Trucker") in Portuguese using the melody of "Gentle on My Mind."Template:Sfn In 1985, Puerto Rican salsa singer Frankie Ruiz released a Spanish-language version of "Caminhoneiro" entitled "El Camionero".Template:Sfn

Hartford donated the manuscript of "Gentle on My Mind" to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 1982.Template:Sfn By 1984, the song had played on radio over four million times in the United States, and became the best-selling song of Broadcast Music, Inc.'s (BMI) catalog.Template:Sfn In 1987, the estimated number of plays grew to 4.4 million and 400 versions had been recorded. At the time, Hartford refused the use of the song for commercials and parodies.Template:Sfn

In 1990, BMI listed Campbell's version of "Gentle on My Mind" as the fourth-most-played song in the history of radio in the US.Template:Sfn It appeared at number 71 on Country America magazine's 1992 list of the Top 100 Country Songs of All Time,Template:Sfn while BMI placed the version at number 16 on its 1999 list of Top 100 Songs of the Century.Template:Sfn By 2001, with six million plays, the song became the second-most-played on the radio in the US, behind the Beatles' "Yesterday".Template:Sfn

In 2008, the 1967 recording of "Gentle on My Mind" by Glen Campbell on Capitol Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.Template:Sfn In 2014, the Band Perry recorded a version of the song for the documentary Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me; the cover won the category for Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in 2015,Template:Sfn and peaked at number 29 on BillboardTemplate:'s Country Airplay and at number 35 on the Hot Country Songs.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In August 2017, following Campbell's death, sales of his hit singles increased by 6,000%.Template:Sfn The digital downloads figure for "Gentle on My Mind" registered 3,000 and increased the track's total sales at the time to 251,000.Template:Sfn

Accolades

Awards for "Gentle on My Mind"
Year Organization Award Artist Result Ref.
1968
{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} 		10th Annual Grammy Awards Best Country & Western Song John Hartford Template:Won Template:Sfn
Best Folk Performance Template:Won
Best Country & Western Solo Vocal Performance, Male Glen Campbell Template:Won
Best Country & Western Recording Template:Won
2008
{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} 		The Recording Academy Grammy Hall of Fame Glen Campbell Template:Yes Template:Sfn
2015
{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} 		57th Annual Grammy Awards Best Country Duo/Group Performance the Band Perry Template:Won Template:Sfn

Charts

John Hartford

Weekly chart performance of "Gentle on My Mind"
Chart (1967) Peak
position
Template:Single chart

Glen Campbell

Weekly chart performance of Glen Campbell's "Gentle on My Mind" in 1967
Chart (1967) Peak
position
Australian Kent Music ReportTemplate:Sfn 88
Template:Single chart
Template:Single chart
Weekly chart performance of Glen Campbell's "Gentle on My Mind" in 1968
Chart (1968) Peak
position
Template:Single chart
Template:Single chart
Template:Single chart
Template:Single chart
Template:Single chart

Other artists

Weekly chart performance of "Gentle on My Mind" for diverse artists
Year Artist Chart Peak
position
1968 Patti Page Template:Single chart
Template:Single chart
1969 Aretha Franklin
Template:Single chart
Template:Single chart
Dean Martin
Template:Single chart
Template:Single chart
IRE Top Singles<ref name="IRE">Template:Citeweb</ref> 3
2014
The Band Perry
Template:Single chart
Template:Single chart

References

Citations

Template:Reflist

Sources

Template:Refbegin

Template:Refend

Further reading

Template:Glen Campbell Template:Dean Martin Template:Aretha Franklin Template:The Band Perry Template:Navboxes

Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Gentle_on_My_Mind&oldid=354145"