Songfacts®:

• "Georgia On My Mind" dates back to 1930, when it was released by Hoagy Carmichael, who wrote it with lyricist Stuart Gorrell. The song became a standard and was revitalized when Ray Charles released his version in 1960, taking it to #1 in the US. Willie Nelson's 1978 rendition took the song to #1 on the Country chart and became a staple of his concert setlists.
• Nelson never lived in Georgia (he's from Texas), but that's OK - the song is really about a girl, not the state (the guys who wrote it weren't from Georgia either. Nelson recorded it simply because he really liked the song. It was part of his 1978 album Stardust, which is all cover songs, mostly standards. The title track was written by Hoagy Carmichael, who also wrote "Georgia On My Mind."
• "Georgia On My Mind" was Willie Nelson's fifth #1 Country hit, if you count his Waylon Jennings collaborations "Good Hearted Woman" and "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys." His career got off to a slow start, but by 1978 he was one of the biggest stars in country, known for going against the grain in both his look and his music. It's hard to imagine anyone else finding a way to make "Georgia On My Mind" a country hit.
• Nelson is a talented songwriter who appreciates the craft and enjoys recording the songs that really move him. "All of us songwriters try to write songs of this same caliber, but it's difficult if not impossible to do," he explained to USA Today. "It's amazing how strong the lyrics and melodies are and how many millions of people are affected by them."
  
  Other songs Nelson has covered include "The Wind Beneath My Wings," "Help Me Make It Through The Night" and "Everybody's Talkin'." He famously opens every concert with a cover song: "Whiskey River" by Johnny Bush.
• This song, along with the rest of the Stardust album, was produced by Booker T. Jones, who as leader of Booker T. & the MG's had a big hit in 1962 with the instrumental "Green Onions." Jones and his band backed many artists on the Stax label, including Otis Redding and Sam & Dave.
• Willie Nelson honored Ray Charles by performing a somber version of "Georgia On My Mind" at Charles' funeral on June 18, 2004 at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles.