John (“Johnny”) Lee Christopher Jr. (born 1943 in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

) is an American singer, guitarist,

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

Music career

Christopher's singles included "(She's A) Girl Of Many Colors / The Teacher And The Pet" (1969) and "Love Stuff" (1972). As a songwriter, he wrote " Mama Liked the Roses" for

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

and co-wrote " Always on My Mind" with Mark James and Wayne Carson, a song first released by Gwen McCrae in 1972.

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed onl ...

and Elvis Presley also recorded and released the song in 1972. The song has been covered by several well-known artists including

John Wesley Ryles John Wesley Ryles (born December 2, 1950) is an American country music artist. Ryles recorded a string of hit country songs, beginning in 1968 when he was still a teenager, and continuing through the 1980s. He no longer records as a headline a ...

and the Pet Shop Boys. For

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...

's 1982 cover, Christopher, James, and Carson won

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for Song of the Year and Best Country Song, 10 years after its original release. Christopher also co-wrote the 1974 song "

If You Talk in Your Sleep "If You Talk in Your Sleep" is a 1974 Elvis Presley song released as a single and featured on Elvis Presley's 1975 album ''Promised Land''. The song was written by Red West and Johnny Christopher, who had earlier written " Mama Liked the Roses" an ...

" for Elvis Presley with

Red West Robert Gene "Red" West (March 8, 1936 – July 18, 2017) was an American actor, film stuntman and songwriter. He was known for being a close confidant and bodyguard for rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. Upon his firing, West wrote the cont ...

. As of 2014, he is no longer in the music industry.

References

American male songwriters Grammy Award winners Living people 1943 births {{songwriter-stub