Gentle On My Mind...which version do you prefer ?

[Ciscoking]

Dean Martin

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Glen Campbell

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or our mans

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I really like the swinging Dean Martin version.

[EPA4368]

Elvis recorded Gentle On My Mind on January 15, 1969 at American Sound Studios in Memphis, TN.

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[Domino]

Nice selection.Because Elvis is #1 to me I say Elvis but I like Dean & Glen too so put all 3 albums on the record changer and crank'em up.....gently.

[TCBell]

As much as I love Dean Martin's version, it's Elvis who wins with his power ballad! Music great, voice great... need I go on?

[GERRY]

I like this one:-

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[Steve Morse]

Elvis inhabits this song. It's one of his greatest interpretations.

Other versions seems to respond to the word 'gentle' . . . but the lyrics are anything but gentle !

[Deleted User 9846]

Love Glenn Campbell and his version is really nice. But I think Elvis gives the best version of it.

[FVH]

Glen Campbell. By a country mile.

[Juan Luis]

Great song interpretation by Elvis. http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=90518

[Chucky99]

Elvis version of course

[r&b]

Of course a silly question on an Elvis site. Most members will give him the nod. These types of questions should be pooled in the real world sometimes. I love Elvis' version. Great interpretation and he didnt copy anyone's version, he gave his own rendition of it. This happened less and less after 1970. But Glen has the definitive version. Wasnt it a grammy winner and really put him in superstar status? A classic of the 60's. I believe he opened his Goodtime Hour TV show with this song every week. It was a career defining song for him. I love Dean, but do not prefer his version to listen to.

[jerrynodak]

1. Glen Campbell
2. Dean Martin
3. Elvis Presley ( I skip Elvis' version quite often when I listen to FEIM).

[colonel snow]

Don't forget the original version recorded on 3 february 1967 by John Hartford (RCA 47-9175)


colonel snow

[Ciscoking]

1. Glen Campbell
2. Dean Martin
3. Elvis Presley ( I skip Elvis' version quite often when I listen to FEIM).

I love Deans swinging version but I also dig Glens very much...its pure country and western..
and I have to confess I also dont play Elvis version that often..I prefer the others . Therefore
I think its not a silly question on an Elvis message board. Music is just a matter of personal taste.

[Dan_T]

Elvis wins hands down.

IMO, it still sounds "modern"... love it.

[Johnny2523]

I prefer Glen Campbell's version. Elvis version never did much for me, too slow imho.

[ale]

The Elvis one is sublime

[jeanno]

Elvis does a soulful rendition of a country song. He would do the same thing, with the same amazing quality, on I Really Don't Want To Know a year and a half later. By the way i love to listen to both tunes back to back.

[LSP-4445]

I only care for Elvis` version of this song .

[ElvisSacramento]

My favorite rendition of Gentle On My Mind is easily Dean Martin's swinging version.
My second favorite rendition of this great country song is Glen Campbell's version.
I've never liked Elvis' rendition of this classic song due to Elvis' rendition being slow and boring.

[Brian Quinn]

I prefer Elvis' version of 'Gentle On My Mind' as it has such a unique arrangement from all the others. He also sings it beautifully with so much feeling.

Brian

[rickeap]

Elvis' by a country mile and then some. He takes a country song and puts SOUL in it

My thoughts exactly.

[poormadpeter2]

Dean Martin's was quite a hit in the UK - 23 weeks in the charts, and reaching #2 in April 1969 (and Martin's first top ten hit in the UK since 1958). The album of the same name reached #7 as well.

As for the version I prefer, well that would be Elvis's, but more because of the arrangement than because of the vocal. I really am not a fan of the arranger Ernie Freeman that Dean Martin was using at this time. My may have got both Martin and Sinatra back in the charts, but artistically his work lacks subtlety and grace. Whereas other arrangers such as Riddle, May, and even Don Costa, had their signature sounds that made their work instantly recognisable in many cases, Freeman's work was simply repetitive, and many a fine vocal sounds mundane due to that fact. That said it was all very much of the time, and he certainly created charts that hit home with the public with the singles That's Life, Strangers in the Night, and Everybody Loves Somebody.

But Jeanno is very much correct in pointing out that Elvis's version injects soul into this country song, something he did often during 1969/70, with my favourite example being the wonderful I'm Moving On.

[Delboy]

Elvis' clearly. That's why I am a member of this forum. I didn't know anyone else had recorded it. Until I was 21 I thought Elvis had wrote it.

[lovin' EP]

Love this. I didn't realize John Hartford wrote "Gentle on my Mind." Anybody know how Glen is doing? He was wonderful. So sad what happened to him. OOOPS, sorry. I forgot to answer the question posed in the subject line. Surprisingly, I am going to have to say I like Glen's version of this one the best. It's just his signature song!

Elvisly,

Linda

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