"Evil on Your Mind" is the name of a popular

Country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

song, originally made famous by

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

star

Jan Howard Jan Howard (born Lula Grace Johnson; March 13, 1929 – March 28, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. As a singer, she placed 30 singles on the ''Billboard'' country songs chart, was a Grand Ole Opry member and was nomin ...

in 1966. The song was written by her husband at the time, songwriter

Harlan Howard Harlan Perry Howard (September 8, 1927 – March 3, 2002) was an American songwriter, principally in country music. In a career spanning six decades, Howard wrote many popular and enduring songs, recorded by a variety of different artists. C ...

. 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 Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

recorded this song on her 1968 Capitol recording "

Misty Blue Misty may refer to: Music * ''Misty'' (Ray Stevens album), an album by Ray Stevens featuring the above song * ''Misty'' (Richard "Groove" Holmes album), an album by Richard "Groove" Holmes featuring the above song * ''Misty'' (Eddie "Lockjaw" ...

", where it is attributed to

of Wilderness Music. A rock music group named The Stumbleweeds recorded Howard's "Evil on Your Mind".

Answer Song

answer song An answer song, response song or answer record, is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer son ...

version was recorded by

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...

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

References

{{authority control 1966 songs Jan Howard songs Songs written by Harlan Howard Song recordings produced by Owen Bradley 1966 singles Decca Records singles