Perhaps you remember this catchy song, and perhaps it has come to your mind too, when confronted through the years with … the occasional spot of bother.

“You Were on My Mind” was written by Sylvia Tyson in 1964, which she performed with her husband Ian, as the Toronto based folk-duo, Ian & Sylvia on their 1964 album, “Northern Journey”. The following year the San Francisco-based We Five took it up-tempo and topped the Billboard Chart for five straight weeks.

Formed by University of San Francisco student, Michael Stewart, whose older brother, John was a member of the Kingston Trio, the ensemble originally played everything from Rock ‘n Roll and Jazz to Broadway show tunes and Disney hits. Featuring both acoustic and electric guitars and best remembered for its members’ multi-part harmonies, We Five began to add Folk-Rock numbers to its repertoire in the summer of ’65 after the (L.A. based) Byrds had begun to meld Folk with Rock to hugely popular effect.

This was a wise choice as the ever-entrepreneurial Herb Alpert, who owned A&M Records, was seeking to round out his label’s existing line-up (which included Brasil ’66 and of course Tijuana Brass) with artists that represented the new genre; so We Five had itself a record deal and the group’s first album, “You Were on My Mind” was released that fall.

Now cited as San Francisco’s original Folk-Rock band, the group was soon performing on such national shows as Shindig, American Bandstand and Hullabaloo and would go on to record five additional albums, scoring hits with “Let’s Get Together” (later covered by the Jefferson Airplane and the Youngbloods), “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” and “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, years before  Roberta Flack’s spine-chilling version.

We Five was also the first Folk-Rock (or even Rock) group to write and perform music for Coca Cola as a side venture, leading the way for such other prominent acts as: the Four Seasons, Jefferson Airplane, the Turtles, the Stone Ponies, the Monkees, Grass Roots, the Box Tops, Vanilla Fudge, Canned Heat, Iron Butterfly, Three Dog Night and the Beach Boys.

Say, maybe that’s why she went to the corner….    

LISTEN TO TODAY’S SELECTION – Tuesday 17 July

You Were On My Mind

 When I woke up this morning

You were on my mind

And you were on my mind

I got troubles, whoa-oh

I got worries, whoa-oh

I got wounds to bind

 So I went to the corner

Just to ease my pains

Yeah, just to ease my pains

I got troubles, whoa-oh

I got worries, whoa-oh

I came home again

 When I woke up this morning

You were on my mi-i-i-ind

And you were on my mind

I got troubles, whoa-oh

I got worries, whoa-oh

I got wounds to bind

 And I got a feelin’

Down in my sho-oo-oo-oes

Said, way down in my sho-oo-oes

Yeah, I got to ramble, whoa-oh

I got to move on, whoa-oh

I got to walk away my blues

 But I woke up this morning

You were on my mind

You were on my mind

I got troubles, whoa-oh

I got worries, whoa-oh

I got wounds to bind