The Year of Willie

(Columbia/Legacy)

Part Six: Always on My Mind

First Appeared at The Music Box, January 2004, Volume 11, #1

Written by John Metzger

Since its release in 1982, Always on My Mind has become one of Willie Nelson’s biggest commercial successes, selling over four million copies and spending 28 weeks on the Billboard album chart. Its title track topped the magazine’s listing for country singles and crossed over to hit number five on the pop side. Unfortunately, it’s a terribly flawed affair that found Nelson following, rather than leading, country music’s re-emergence into the mainstream.

What’s particularly puzzling about this change in direction is that Nelson had not been pleased with Nashville’s insistence on draping pop-oriented string arrangements on his early works. Twenty years later, Nelson opted to sanitize his own music on Always on My Mind by burying it in bland, keyboard-heavy arrangements under the guidance of his hand-selected producer Chips Moman. Even stranger, there were only two Nelson-penned tracks on the album, which instead found the singer-songwriter drably reinterpreting tunes by Procol Harum (Whiter Shade of Pale), Gilbert Becaud and Pierre Delanoé (Let It Be Me), and Paul Simon (Bridge Over Troubled Water). The collection has its occasional moments, and while it’s certainly better than some of the other country music of its time, it hardly compares with Nelson’s classic ’70s output or his 1998 gem Teatro.

The recent reissue of Always on My Mind features two additional tracks — The Man Who Owes Everyone and I’m a Memory. Both songs fit within the scope of the original album, and actually are better than some of the tunes that are on it, making them a nice addition. However, their inclusion is hardly reason to pick up this lifeless flop from a guy who should have known better.

This is the sixth installment of a eight-part series, which examines the recent slate of reissues of Willie Nelson's Columbia catalogue by Legacy.

The Year of Willie

Part One: To Lefty from Willie

Part Two: Willie and Family Live

Part Three: San Antonio Rose

Part Four: Honeysuckle Rose

Part Five: Willie Nelson's Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be)

Part Seven: Pancho & Lefty

Part Eight: Tougher than Leather

 

Always on My Mind is available from Barnes & Noble.
To order, Click Here!

Ratings

1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2003 The Music Box