
Gentle on My Mind

"Gentle on My Mind" is a song written by John Hartford that won four 1968 Grammy Awards. Hartford won the award for Best Folk Performance and Best Country & Western Song (Songwriter). The other two awards Best Country & Western Solo Vocal Performance, Male and Best Country & Western Recording, went to American country music singer Glen Campbell for his version of Hartford's song.
The song was released in June 1967 as the only single from the album of the same name. It was re-released in July 1968 to more success. Glen Campbell's version has received over 5 million plays on the radio. Campbell used "Gentle on My Mind" as the theme to his television variety show, "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour", between 1969 and 1972. Dean Martin's version, recorded in 1968, was a major hit in the United Kingdom; three versions of the song, Campbell's, Martin's and Patti Page's, all reached the top ten of the U.S. easy listening chart in 1968. The song was ranked number 16 on BMI's Top 100 Songs of the Century.
Composition.
Hartford reported that he was inspired to write the song after seeing the film "Doctor Zhivago" when his own memories took over, and that it took about thirty minutes to write down. Hartford said of the writing:
Glen Campbell's recording.
Campbell heard Hartford's original version on the radio and decided at once that he wanted to record it. At the time, Campbell was under contract with Capitol Records as a solo artist but had little success in establishing a name for himself. Campbell gathered some of his fellow Wrecking Crew session players to come into the Capitol studio to record a demo version that he could pitch to his producer Al De Lory. Between phrases and stanzas, Campbell would yell instructions to the players. He then left the rough recording for his producer to listen to. De Lory fell in love, not only with the song, but also with the recording itself. Without telling Campbell, he took the tape back into the studio and removed the unwanted verbiage from between the phrases. He then released the demo recording, which became a hit for Campbell.
The song was first released in 1967, and it was released in 1968 in the wake of the success of "By the Time I Get to Phoenix". It reached No. 30 on Billboard's Country chart, and No. 39 on the Pop chart. The song however continued to receive widespread airplay; in 1990, BMI named it as the fourth-most-played song on radio ever in the United States. The song has also sold 251,000 digital copies as of August 2017 since it became available for download in the digital era.
Chart performance.
Aretha Franklin version.
American singer Aretha Franklin recorded the song in 1969 and released it as a single as the B-side to "I Can't See Myself Leaving You". Her version peaked at number 76 on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and number 50 on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart. The song was featured on her album "Soul '69".
Dean Martin version.
American singer Dean Martin recorded the song in 1968 and released it as a single. His version peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, number 3 in Ireland and number 9 on the U.S. "Billboard" Easy Listening chart.
Patti Page version.
American singer Patti Page recorded the song in 1968 and released it as a single. Her version peaked at number 66 on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and number 7 on the U.S. "Billboard" Easy Listening chart.
The Band Perry version.
American country music group The Band Perry recorded the song in 2014 for the soundtrack of the Glen Campbell documentary "", earning a Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance in 2015.