[2] He had been occupied in Memphis on a project that required him to stay ten days longer, and he phoned his wife in Springfield, Missouri, to apologize for the delay.
He brought the song back to the recording studio of Chips Moman and worked on it for a few days, but it did not gel.
Carson asked for help from his colleague Johnny Christopher (the two had already written the hit song "No Love at All" in 1970) and they composed more of it in Moman's office.
The song was released as the B-side of the "Separate Ways" single, which was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales in excess of one million units.
[6] It was listed as a double A-side, reaching number 16 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart in November 1972.
In 2013 the recording ranked number one in a poll conducted by ITV, "The Nation's Favourite Elvis Songs", just ahead of "Suspicious Minds" and "Can't Help Falling in Love".
In 1979, John Wesley Ryles reached number 20 on the US Hot Country Songs chart with his rendition, retitled "You Are Always on My Mind", from the album Let the Night Begin.
In 1987, the Pet Shop Boys performed a synth-pop[47] version of "Always on My Mind" on Love Me Tender, a television special on ITV in the United Kingdom.
Commemorating the tenth anniversary of Presley's death, the programme featured various popular acts of the time performing cover versions of his songs.
The Pet Shop Boys' performance was so well-received that the duo decided to record the song and release it as a single.
[48] This hi-NRG,[49][50] dance-pop,[51] and disco[52] version became the UK's Christmas number-one single that year – edging out "Fairytale of New York" by the Pogues – spending four weeks atop the chart.
[57] In the video for Pet Shop Boys' version of "Always on My Mind" (an excerpt from their surreal music film It Couldn't Happen Here) (1988), Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe are seated in the front of a taxi cab, when an eccentric passenger gets in, played by British actor Joss Ackland (1928-2023).
In 2017, Burberry released its holiday campaign, as directed by Alasdair McLellan, which features Cara Delevingne and actor Matt Smith.