About The Song
Conway Twitty’s “Linda On My Mind” entered Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart on January 11, 1975 and almost from the outset, Conway was constantly bombarded by fans with the question, “Who’s Linda?” He never had a direct answer for them, choosing to keep it as part of the song’s mystique. Conway felt that this mystery was a big reason for “Linda On My Mind” becoming a chart-topping hit.
No matter who “Linda” was – if she even existed at all – she helped to create another link in what was to become a long chain of controversial records by Twitty. He reveled in that, discovering early on that risqué material usually generated large hits. In “Linda On My Mind,” the protagonist sleeps with one woman while thinking of another. Some radio station program directors apparently took offense, much to Conway’s delight. The record still rocketed to #1.
Of course, Twitty claimed to have no idea why the backlash was so strong (his reaction was similar about “You’ve Never Been This Far Before” a couple of years earlier and later with 1980’s “I’d Love To Lay You Down”). His point is perhaps acceptable about “Linda On My Mind,” but certainly not the other two because their titles were so blatantly descriptive.
With “Linda On My Mind,” Conway explained, quote: “It never comes right out and says anything. The guy’s in bed with his wife and thinking of another woman. We’ve all had situations like that. There are tons of songs like that. You can’t take the sex out of country music. If you did, it wouldn’t be country music. But you can tell the story without being vulgar and I don’t think I was vulgar.”
However, the song was confusing to Twitty’s long-time producer Owen Bradley. There was a line in “Linda On My Mind” that drove Bradley crazy, but he couldn’t get Conway to change it. Owen told him, “You could make that so much better,” but Twitty wouldn’t touch it. The line in question was “Next to me, my soon-to-be, the one I left behind.” Owen was an easy-going kind of guy, so he didn’t put up too much of a fuss. But for him to say anything was a lot. Even years later, Bradley insisted that he still didn’t understand the line.
Conway wrote “Linda On My Mind” on his tour bus on the way to a show in California. Once recorded and released, it kicked off the New Year for Twitty as the highest-debuting single on Billboard’s January 11, 1975 chart and peaked at #1 in its ninth week on March 8th, marking his 17th of 40 chart-toppers, the second-most in history behind George Strait’s 44 (the authentic, official and accurate Billboard count).
Two years later, songwriter Gene Hood filed a lawsuit against Conway, claiming that parts of “Linda On My Mind” were borrowed from his composition “Too Much Of You,” a minor Lynn Anderson single in 1967. Twitty eventually won the court battle, but it took four years of litigation because the melodies of the two songs were indeed very, very similar.
Video
Lyrics
Now I’m lying here with Linda on my mind
And next to me, my soon to be, the one I left behind
And Lord it’s killing me to see her crying
She knows I’m lying here beside her with Linda on my mind.
Yes I know that I once loved her
And I placed no one above her
And I never thought I’d ever set her free
But it just wasn’t in my plan
The way Linda squeezed my hand
The first time that I held her close as she danced with me.
She said I’ve loved you for a long time
But you’re married to a friend of mine
And I tried hard to never let it show
But my love for you is stronger
I can’t hide it any longer
And so I thought I’d better let you know.
Now I’m lying here with Linda on my mind
And next to me, my soon to be, the one I left behind
And Lord it’s killing me to see her crying
She knows I’m lying here beside her with Linda on my mind