On This Day in 1982, Willie Nelson Was at No. 1 for the Third Time With the Same Album

On this day in 1982, Willie Nelson was in the middle of a long run at No. 1 with his album, Always on My Mind. The LP topped the chart three times that year, spending a total of 22 weeks at the summit. It peaked for the third time on July 17 and stayed there for 16 consecutive weeks.

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Nelson has notched 18 No. 1 LPs on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart throughout his long and storied career. However, none of them have matched the success of Always on My Mind. It topped the chart for the first time in spring of 1982, peaking on May 22 and staying at the summit for two weeks. It returned a week later, as spring turned to summer, for two more weeks. Then, as temperatures rose, it returned to No. 1 in mid-July and stayed there until well into autumn, finally leaving the pole position on November 20, replaced by Ricky Skaggs’ Highways & Heartaches.

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Willie Nelson Wouldn’t Have Made This Album Without Merle Haggard

The recording sessions for Always on My Mind started with its title track. At the time, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard were recording songs for their duets album, Pancho and Lefty. One of the song’s co-writers, Johnny Christopher, played guitar during the sessions and brought the song to the duo, hoping they would include it on the album.

Haggard and Nelson had opposite reactions to the song. Hag didn’t like the song and had no interest in recording it. As a result, it didn’t go on their album of duets. The Red Headed Stranger, on the other hand, loved the song immediately. ” ‘Always on My Mind’ bowled me over the moment I heard it,” Nelson wrote of the song in his 1988 autobiography, Willie. “There are beautifully sad songs that bowl me over…haunting melodies you can’t get out of your mind, with lines that really stick,” he added.

They finished the day’s session, and when Haggard went home, Nelson stayed at the studio to record a solo rendition of the song. He just wanted to see how his version of it would sound. As any fan of his work can attest, it sounded like a timeless, tear-jerking hit.

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