Evil on Your Mind
"Evil on Your Mind" | ||||
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Single by Jan Howard | ||||
from the album Jan Howard Sings Evil on Your Mind | ||||
B-side | "Crying for Love" | |||
Released | March 4, 1966 | |||
Recorded | 1966 | |||
Genre | Country, Nashville Sound | |||
Length | 2:16 | |||
Label | Decca Records | |||
Songwriter(s) | Harlan Howard | |||
Producer(s) | Owen Bradley | |||
Jan Howard singles chronology | ||||
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"Evil on Your Mind" is the name of a popular Country music song, originally made famous by Grand Ole Opry star Jan Howard in 1966. The song was written by her husband at the time, songwriter Harlan Howard.
In the mid-'60s, Jan Howard was not acquiring any significant hits. Only one of her songs hit the Top 20: in 1960, "The One You Slip Around With" hit No. 13. In 1966, Howard wrote and released her first single of the year, "Evil on Your Mind". The song hit the Top 5 on the Billboard Country music charts, peaking at No. 5 there. An album of the same name was released that year, featuring Howard's big hit. A successful follow-up single entitled "Bad Seed" hit the Top 10 that year. The song set the stage for a number of Top 20 and Top 10 hits that Howard would have as a solo and duet artist between 1966 and 1971.
Background
The song talks about a husband trying to convince his wife to visit her sister out west, but the narrator (the wife) notices that something is going on, which her husband is trying to hide. She believes he is thinking of having an affair, which she calls "evil on your mind".
Cover Versions
Ella Fitzgerald recorded this song on her 1968 Capitol album Misty Blue.
A rock music group named The Stumbleweeds recorded Howard's "Evil on Your Mind".
Answer Song
An answer song version was recorded by Burl Ives as "Evil Off My Mind" and became a modest country hit later that year, peaking at #47 in Billboard. The Ives record was one of the handful of answer songs by a male vocalist to a female star's hit; generally it was the other way around.
Song in Popular Culture
The song has been featured in the book Heartaches By the Number: The 500 Greatest Country Singles.
Chart performance
Chart (1966) | Peak position |
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U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles[1] | 5 |
References
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 164.
- v
- t
- e
- Sweet and Sentimental (1962)
- Jan Howard Sings Evil on Your Mind (1966)
- Bad Seed (1966)
- This Is Jan Howard Country (1967)
- For Loving You (with Bill Anderson) (1968)
- Count Your Blessings, Woman (1968)
- Jan Howard (1969)
- For God and Country (1970)
- If It's All the Same to You (with Bill Anderson) (1970)
- Rock Me Back to Little Rock (1970)
- Bill and Jan (Or Jan and Bill) (with Bill Anderson) (1972)
- Love Is Like a Spinning Wheel (1972)
- Singing His Praise (with Bill Anderson) (1972)
- Sincerely, Jan Howard (1975)
- Stars of the Grand Ole Opry (1981)
- Tainted Love (1983)
- Jan Howard (1985)
- Sweethearts of Country Music (with Wynn Stewart) (1960)
- "The One You Slip Around With"
- "Evil on Your Mind"
- "Bad Seed"
- "For Loving You" (with Bill Anderson)
- "Count Your Blessings, Woman"
- "I Still Believe in Love"
- "My Son"
- "We Had All the Good Things Going"
- "If It's All the Same to You" (with Bill Anderson)
- "Someday We'll Be Together" (with Bill Anderson)
- "Dis-Satisfied" (with Bill Anderson)
- "I Never Once Stopped Loving You"
- "Love Is a Sometimes Thing"
- "Love Is Like a Spinning Wheel"
- "I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)"
- "Tainted Love"
- Harlan Howard
- Wynn Stewart
- Patsy Cline
- Bill Anderson
- Johnny Cash
- Tammy Wynette