Gentle on My Mind: History and Key Facts

"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". 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, just a month later in June 1967, 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, Hartford and Campbell each won two Grammy Awards for the song.

"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.

Source and attribution

Text excerpted from Gentle on My Mind by Wikipedia contributors, available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. The extract is abridged and formatting has been adjusted; the adapted text on this page is shared under the same licence. Revision history.