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Elvis Presley
The original 45 of Elvis
Presley's
- source: eil.com
"Suspicious Minds"
The History of this Classic Elvis Presley Song
By Robert Fontenot, About.com
Released: August 26, 1969 - Highest chart position: #1 (US: November 1,
1969)
Suspicious Minds was his last number one hit during his
lifetime
* Fresh off the triumph of his NBC "comeback" special and already planning
his return to the Las Vegas stage, Elvis Presley broke with his normal
studio procedure in early 1969 to visit Memphis' American Sound Studios, run
by producer Chips Moman, late of Stax Records. "Memphis Mafia" member Marty
Lacker pressured Presley for weeks to get him to visit the studios; Elvis
had been saying he wanted to see if he could "just get one more Number One"
hit.
* Chips specialized in a well-produced, orchestrated, commercial version of
country-soul which had already produced several hits for the studio: the Box
Tops' "The Letter," Dusty Springfield's "Son Of A Preacher Man," and B.J.
Thomas' "Hooked On A Feeling." The writer of that last hit, Mark James, had
already written and recorded a song called "Suspicious Minds" that Moman
felt would be perfect for Elvis. The King agreed.
* When certain members of Elvis' "Mafia," essentially spies for manager Col.
Tom Parker, learned that Elvis was planning to record a song that wasn't
copyrighted by Hill and Range, his usual publishing company, they threatened
to veto the song unless Moman agreed to cut Hill and Range in on the
publishing. Chips and Elvis absolutely refused. When the Colonel learned of
his singer's insurrection, he told the spies to go ahead and "let him fall
on his ass," feeling sure that the sessions would produce no hits.
* This song was recorded at the end of an all-night session that also
produced "I'll Hold You In My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms),"
"Without Love (There Is Nothing)," and an unreleased cover of Bobby Darin's
"I'll Be There." Presley began work on the track at 4 am, and after eight
takes and several rehearsals, the basic track was in the can by 7 am the
next day. The backing vocals were laid down the next evening; Elvis recorded
a harmony overdub to his lead vocal on February 28; and strings were added
on March 18. Much later, on August 7, the master was taken to United
Recording Studios in Vegas, where brass overdubs completed the track.
"Suspicious Minds" was mixed for mono and stereo that same day.
* On the spur of the moment, Moman decided on August 7 to extend the ending
of the song to give it even more of a dramatic flair. Though not often heard
on radio, the "long" (4:31) version starts to fade around 3:52 and then fade
back up a few seconds later, suggesting a romantic reconciliation between
the singer and his loved one.
Trivia:
* Although it's been reported that musician Ronnie Milsap, Elvis' friend and
mentor, sings backing vocals on "Suspicious Minds," that has never been
verified. Grateful Dead backing vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux was similarly
rumored to sing on the track.
* Songwriter Mark James went on to pen several songs for other artists,
including "Always On My Mind," famously covered by both Willie Nelson,
Elvis, and the Pet Shop Boys, as well as the later Elvis hits "Raised On
Rock" and "Moody Blue."
Source: about.com:oldies - Solid Gold Spotlight:
Suspicious Minds
Some of these historical facts and trivia may seem "overextended" in some
areas but, hey, I tried to make a short synopsis and
sometimes that was hard to do. You will find that most of these artist(s),
bands, groups has a lot of history than you realize. You also keep finding
items to add or you had to leave data there because the next paragraph might
refer back to the previous, etc, etc...catch my drift?
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