About the song
Glen Campbell’s recording of “Gentle on My Mind” is a testament to the power of music to transcend genres and generations. Written by John Hartford, the song was originally intended for the country music market, but its success helped Campbell cross over to the pop market. Released in June 1967, the single peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and number 62 on the Hot 100. The song’s success was not limited to the United States, as it also charted in Canada, reaching number 20 on the RPM country chart and number 60 on the RPM 100.
The song’s impact was not limited to its chart performance. “Gentle on My Mind” won the categories for Best Country & Western Song, Best Folk Performance, and Best Country & Western Solo Vocal Performance, Male at the 10th Annual Grammy Awards in 1968. The song’s success also caught the attention of Tom Smothers, who invited Hartford to become a part of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on CBS. Campbell performed the song as the theme song of his own CBS show The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.
The song’s legacy extends beyond its initial release. In 1970, Claude François recorded the song in French, and in 1985, Puerto Rican salsa singer Frankie Ruiz released a Spanish-language version. The song has been recorded by over 50 artists, including Tammy Wynette, Frank Sinatra, Patti Page, Dean Martin, Aretha Franklin, and Elvis Presley. The song’s popularity has endured, with it being played on the radio over four million times in the United States by 1984.
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. The song appeared at number 71 on Country America magazine’s 1992 list of the Top 100 Country Songs of All Time, and BMI placed the version at number 16 on its 1999 list of Top 100 Songs of the Century. By 2001, the song had become the second-most-played on the radio in the US, behind the Beatles’ “Yesterday”.
In 2008, the 1967 recording of “Gentle on My Mind” by Glen Campbell on Capitol Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2014, the Band Perry recorded a version of the song for the documentary Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me, which won the category for Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in 2015. The song’s enduring popularity was evident in August 2017, following Campbell’s death, when sales of his hit singles increased by 6,000%, with digital downloads of “Gentle on My Mind” registering 3,000 and increasing the track’s total sales to 251,000.
In conclusion, “Gentle on My Mind” is a timeless classic that has transcended genres and generations. Glen Campbell’s recording of the song is a testament to the power of music to bring people together and to the enduring legacy of John Hartford’s songwriting. The song’s success has been a testament to the power of music to bring people together and to the enduring legacy of John Hartford’s songwriting.
Video
Lyrics
It’s knowing that your door is always open
And your path is free to walk
That makes me tend to leave my sleeping bag
Rolled up and stashed behind your couch
And it’s knowing I’m not shackled
By forgotten words and bonds
And the ink stains that are dried upon some line
That keeps you in the back roads by the rivers of my memory
That keeps you ever gentle on my mind
It’s not clinging to the rocks and ivy
Planted on their columns now that bind me
Or something that somebody said
Because they thought we fit together walking
It’s just knowing that the world will not be cursing or forgiving
When I walk along some railroad track and find
That you’re moving on the back roads by the rivers of my memory
And for hours you’re just gentle on my mind
Though the wheat fields and the clothes lines
And the junkyards and the highways come between us
And some other woman’s cryin’ to her mother
‘Cause she turned and I was gone
I still might run in silence, tears of joy might stain my face
And the summer sun might burn me ’til I’m blind
But not to where I cannot see you
Walkin’ on the back roads, by the rivers flowing gentle on my mind
I dip my cup of soup back
From a gurglin’ cracklin’ Calderon in some train yard
My beard, a roughening’ coal pile
And a dirty hat pulled low across my face, through cupped hands
‘Round the tin can, I pretend to hold you to my breast and find
That you’re waiting from the back roads by the rivers of my memories
Ever smilin’, ever gentle on my mind