Willie Nelson is the writer behind some of country music’s biggest hits, including Patsy Cline’s “Crazy”, Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Paper”, Faron Young’s “Hello Walls”, and more. But perhaps surprisingly, Nelson didn’t write all of his songs.
Videos by American Songwriter
These four Willie Nelson songs sound like he wrote them, but were actually written by someone else instead.
“Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain”
“Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” came out in 1975. On Nelson’s Red Headed Stranger record, the song is written by Fred Rose.
The lyrics say, “Love is like a dying ember / And only memories remain / And through the ages I’ll remember / Blue eyes crying in the rain.”
“Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” spent two weeks in the No. 1 spot. Elvis Presley also recorded the song.
“Always On My Mind”
“Always On My Mind” became a pop and country hit for Nelson. The title track of his 1982 album. “Always On My Mind” is written by Wayne Carson, Mark James, and Johnny Christopher.
Christopher tells The Tennessean that the song was originally written for Elvis Presley. Christopher was in the studio with Nelson and also played it for him on his Pancho And Lefty album with Merle Haggard. The song came in too late, but Nelson liked it enough that he recorded it on his own.
“Always On My Mind” says, “Maybe I didn’t love you / Quite as often as I could have / Maybe I didn’t treat you / Quite as good as I should have / If I made you feel second-best / Girl, I’m sorry I was blind / You were always on my mind / You were always on my mind.”
It’s also Christopher who is playing guitar on “Always On My Mind”, using Nelson’s guitar.
“Georgia On My Mind”
Nelson made “Georgia On My Mind” so popular that a lot of people don’t know that other artists recorded it first. Written by Hoagy Carmichael, Ray Charles, and Ella Fitzgerald are among the artists who first recorded “Georgia On My Mind”.
Still, Nelson’s remains one of the favorite versions of “Georgia”. The song, out in 1978, is on Nelson’s Stardust album.
“Georgia On My Mind” says, “Georgia / Georgia / The whole day through / Just an old, sweet song / Keeps Georgia on my mind / Georgia / A song of you / Comes as sweet and clear / As moonlight through the pines.”
“Whiskey River”
Johnny Bush and Paul Stroud are the writers of “Whiskey River”. The song, first released by Bush, appears on Nelson’s 1973 Shotgun Willie album. In 1979, Nelson released a live version, as part of his Willie And Family Live project.
“Whiskey River” says, “Whiskey river, take my mind / Don’t let her memory torture me / Whiskey river, don’t run dry / You’re all I’ve got, take care of me.”
Interestingly, “Whiskey River” is the first song ever performed on the TV show, Austin City Limits.
Photo by Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.