You Were on My Mind

"You Were On My Mind" is a song written by Sylvia Tyson in 1964. It was originally performed by her and Ian Tyson as the duo Ian & Sylvia and they recorded it for their 1964 album, Northern Journey. It was published in sheet form by M. Witmark & Sons of New York City in 1965.

The song was covered in an up-tempo version, with slightly altered lyrics and melody, the following year by the California pop quintet We Five. Their recording reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in September 1965 and topped the Billboard easy listening chart for five weeks.^[1] The performance by We Five is noteworthy for the gradual buildup in intensity, starting off somewhat flowing and gentle, increasing in intensity in the third stanza and remaining so through the fourth stanza. The fifth and final stanza starts off gently and concludes very intensely, ending with a series of guitar chords.

Other notable recordings include versions by:

• Barry McGuire covered the song on his 1965 album, Eve of Destruction: his version was a hit in Italy (#19) in 1966
• Also in 1966 Equipe 84 had a #2 hit in Italy with the rendering "Io ho in mente te" besting a rival version by Paul Anka
• Joe Dassin recorded a French language version, called "Ça M'avance À Quoi" on his 1966 album A New York
• Crispian St. Peters, who had a number two hit with it in 1966 in the United Kingdom.^[2] The song was released in the United States in 1967 and went to #36 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Jay and the Americans released a cover version on their 1970 album, Wax Museum, Vol. 1.
• Ivan Cattaneo remade "Io ho in mente te" for his 1983 album Bandiera Gialla
• Nanci Griffith included the song in her album of covers Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) in 1998
• Les Fradkin covered it on his 2006 album Jangleholic
• Susanna Hoffs

See also

• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1965 (U.S.)

References