We Five - "You Were On My Mind" (1965)

We Five was a 1960s folk rock musical group based in San Francisco, California. Their best-known hit was their 1965 remake of Ian and Sylvia's "You Were on My Mind", which reached #1 on the Cashbox chart, #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The original group split after recording their second album in 1967, but a re-formed band produced three more albums between 1968 and 1977. The original group is probably best remembered for the vocal qualities of its lead singer Beverly Bivens.


"You Were On My Mind" is a song written by Sylvia Tyson in 1964. It was originally performed by her and Ian Tyson as the duo Ian & Sylvia and they recorded it for their 1964 album, Northern Journey. It was published in sheet form by M. Witmark & Sons of New York City in 1965.


The song was covered in an up-tempo version, with slightly altered lyrics and melody, the following year by the California pop quintet We Five. Their recording reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in September 1965 and topped the Billboard easy listening chart for five weeks. The performance by We Five is noteworthy for the gradual buildup in intensity, starting off somewhat flowing and gentle, increasing in intensity in the third stanza and remaining so through the fourth stanza. The fifth and final stanza starts off gently and concludes very intensely, ending with a series of guitar chords.


Other notable recordings include versions by:


Barry McGuire covered the song on his 1965 album, Eve of Destruction, as a rare solo vocal performance
Joe Dassin recorded a french language version, called "Ça M'avance À Quoi" on his 1966 album A New York
Crispian St. Peters, who had a number two hit with it in 1966 in the United Kingdom. The song was released in the United States in 1967 and went to #36 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Nanci Griffith included the song in her album of covers Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) in 1998
Les Fradkin covered it on his 2006 album Jangleholic
Italian group Equipe 84, who recorded a successful version in Italian under the title "Io ho in mente te" ("You Are On My Mind")
Paul Anka, who also recorded it in Italian
Susanna Hoffs