He felt the song is 'an essay on life' and was 'knocked out' by the scenery it describes.

Hartford's recording of 'Gentle on my Mind' attracted Glen Campbell's attention after he heard it on the radio and bought the single. 'Gentle on My Mind' peaked at number 60 on Billboard 's Hot Country Songs. Cashbox listed the single under their 'Best Bets' the magazine forecasted in a review that Hartford could get 'heaps of spins' with his 'poetic folk-country-flavored ballad'. RCA, however, decided not to promote Hartford's recording because they did not consider it to be a country song. Hartford recorded 'Gentle on my Mind' and its flipside 'Washing Machine', both of which were produced by Felton Jarvis. Atkins then suggested to the songwriter to use 'Hartford' instead of his surname 'Harford' as an artist name. Hartford sent the demos of 'Gentle on My Mind' and a second song to sell them, but instead the label decided to offer Hartford a recording contract. According to Harford, after writing 'Gentle on My Mind', he did not intend to record the song himself. Hartford recorded a demo and delivered it to Chuck Glaser, who took the demo to Chet Atkins of RCA Records. Īt the time, Hartford worked as a disc jockey on the radio station WSIX and for the publishing company Tompall & the Glaser Brothers. He described the composition as a banjo tune without a chorus, and with a variety of words he deemed 'hard to sing' because it 'violated the principles of songwriting'.

Hartford said the song 'just came real fast, a blaze, a blur'. Twelve years later, Hartford again attributed his inspiration to start writing the song to Doctor Zhivago, and said the content was a result of his personal experience. In a 1980 interview, Hartford commented he was still unsure of the song's meaning and that its message will be interpreted differently by listeners. Hartford defined the finished song as a 'word movie' and described his writing process as 'thinking in pictures, like paintings using words and sound'. Hartford said he likened her to Lara and attributed the man's feelings about being trapped in a relationship to his 'artistic license'. She questioned John Hartford about the man's negative feelings toward his marriage. Betty Hartford, who later divorced her husband, noted to him the similarity between herself and the song's female character. The story of the song narrates the reminiscences of a drifter of his lost love, while moving through backroads and hobo encampments. Inspired by the love story depicted in the film between Yuri Zhivago and Lara Antipova, Hartford returned home and composed 'Gentle on my Mind' in between 20 and 30 minutes. One night, the couple saw the film Doctor Zhivago at a local theater. In 1966, John Hartford was living with his wife and son in a trailer in Nashville, Tennessee. 2 Glen Campbell's recording and success.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. In 2014, a recording of the song by the Band Perry earned a Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. It was also translated into other languages. 'Gentle on My Mind' was later covered by several artists, including Dean Martin, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley. In 1968, between Campbell's and Hartford's recordings, the song earned four Grammy Awards. Campbell's cover of 'Gentle on My Mind' peaked in the top 30 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart. It then caught the attention of Glen Campbell, who recorded his cover version with a group of session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. The following year, Hartford released the song as a single on RCA Records. The lyrics describe the reminiscences of lost love of a man as he travels through the country. Hartford composed the song after watching Doctor Zhivago in 1966, as he was inspired by the film and his own personal experiences. ' 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). '(Good Old Electric) Washing Machine (Circa. For other uses, see Gentle on My Mind (disambiguation).

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