“Always on My Mind” is a ballad written by Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher, and Mark James, first recorded by Brenda Lee and first released by Gwen McCrae (as “You Were Always on My Mind”) in March 1972. Lee’s version was released three months later in June 1972. The song has been a crossover hit, charting in both the country and western and pop categories. Elvis Presley’s recording was the first commercially successful version of the song.
AllMusic lists more than 300 recorded releases of the song in versions by dozens of performers. While Lee’s version reached no. 45 on the US country chart in 1972, other performers reached the Top 20 on the country and/or pop charts in the United States and elsewhere with their own versions: Elvis Presley (1972, US country; UK pop Top Ten); John Wesley Ryles (1979, US country) and Willie Nelson’s Grammy Award-winning version (1982, US/Canada country number one; US/Canada pop Top Ten); and the Pet Shop Boys’ 1987 hi-NRG/synth-pop interpretation (UK number one; US Top Ten).
