movie Johnny and June were heavily involved in, entitled The Gospel Road. Johnny Cash's memoir Man in Black reiterated the story that Larry Gatlin sang "Help Me" at the Evangel Temple, which inspired Kristofferson to write the song. Kristofferson also played Cash the song "Burden of Freedom", which was used in The Gospel Road. Recognition and awards "Why Me" was Kristofferson's lone major country hit as a solo recording artist, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in July 1973. The song peaked only at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100, but had at that time one of the longer runs (19 weeks) in the top 40 and the most chart reversals (6) in one run on the Hot 100. The song spent 38 weeks in the Hot 100 consecutively, almost tying the record set by Johnny Mathis' song "Wonderful! Wonderful!" on the charts for 39 weeks. The song ranked sixth on the list of Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1973. "Why Me" was certified gold for sales of one million units by the Recording Industry Association of America. Chart performance Weekly charts Year-end charts Cover versions Elvis Presley incorporated the song, retitled "Why Me Lord", into his live shows beginning in January 1974 up until his last concert tour. It was first released on the live album, Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis in June 1974. The recording is from his March 20, 1974 concert in Memphis, Tennessee. He often introduced the song for J.D. Sumner to sing "one of his favorite songs." Sumner would sing the verses and Elvis would join on the chorus along with the back-up singers. Presley also recorded the "B" side of the single, "Help Me", written by Larry Gatlin, in December 1973, and it remained part of his live shows as well. Connie Smith recorded a version of "Why Me" on her 1973 album God Is Abundant. Melba Montgomery recorded "Why Me" in 1973 on her album Melba Montgomery. Tanya Tucker included "Why Me Lord" on her 1974 album Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone). George Jones recorded a version for his 1974 album In a Gospel Way. David Allan Coe included "Why Me" on his 1977 album Texas Moon. British singer Cliff Richard recorded a version for his 1978 album Small Corners. Willie Nelson included a version of "Why Me" alongside several