Recorded in the Early Morning hours of the 23rd January 1969 (during the 4am to 7 am Sesson)
At AMERICAN SOUND STUDIOS - Memphis.

"Suspicious Minds" is a song about being trapped in a mistrusting and dysfunctional relationship.

Originally, and most notably, a Big Hit for Elvis in 1969.

"Suspicious Minds" was widely regarded as the Single that jump-started his career after his successful '68 Comeback Special.

It was his eighteenth and last number-one single in the United States.

Rolling Stone later ranked it #91 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The SONG.....



Written by Mark James (aka Francis Zambon) in 1968, who was also co-writer of "Always On My Mind", which Elvis would later record,

The song first was recorded and released by James.

Even though James' recording initially was not commercially successful Elvis decided he could turn it into a hit on reviewing the song as presented to him by Memphis Soul producer Chips Moman, owner of American Sound Studio, in 1969.

Elvis recorded "Suspicious Minds" along with the two hit singles—"In the Ghetto" and "Don't Cry Daddy"—during The Memphis sessions" of January 1969 at American Sound Studio.

The 45 rpm single was released in the fall. (Shipped out to Retailers 26th August 1969)

It reached Number One in the United States in the week of November 1 and stayed there for that week.

Very soon selling over 1,250,000 copies in the USA

In Great Britain by Late November it reached Number # 2 (18 weeks on the Chart)

Notable in this song is a fadeout at about 3 min 52 secs, into the song, which lasts for about 15 seconds before fading back in.

After the overdubs ~ The master has an Extra Ending added...

This fadeout was intentional, as it helped convey a message of relationship in the song... and later as Elvis Started to Perform it in Vegas in August 1969 it REPLICATES the way Elvis has come to Sing it onstage... the first ending fades out~down... then slowly comes back up for the listeners...

This has caught out many Radio DJs over the years.

Elvis fans at the time thought if was a really cool Idea... Chip Moman the producer hated it.(...the fade out part that it....)

In Vegas... the song that the audience is really Buzzing about is SUSPICIOUS MINDS.

- Elvis has developed Special Karate Stance movements and Leg Stretch's in the fade down part of the Number, and a very Energetic series of movements during the complete song.

This picture is taken on the 22nd January, the final day of the January American Sound Studios Session.

Elvis' part though didn't start until 12.30am on the 23rd January
(with WITHOUT LOVE & I'LL HOLD YOU IN MY HEART 12.30 TO 3.30AM)

After a 30 minute Break.. (probably for refreshments and listen to playback and demos)

Elvis re-Started this session with I'LL BE THERE at 4am.... followed by....
SUSPICIOUS MINDS (Finishing about 7am.)

The sessions were coming to an end.



This was to be Elvis's last night, though Chips still had plenty of overdubbing work to do with the Memphis Horns and the girl singers.

Just after midnight Chips urged Elvis to try his hand at "Suspicious Minds," a song that had gone nowhere when Chips had recorded it by its young writer, Mark James.

Marty Lacker, George Klein, and Elvis's foreman Joe Esposito all recognized the song as a po­tential smash and encouraged Elvis to give it a shot.

Working from the original arrange­ment, the band faltered after the first take, but Chips steered them toward the right groove; at the same time Elvis worked at getting the lyrics down, even asking Bobby Wood to sing along to help prevent Elvis from repeating mistakes.

It felt good from the first take, and Elvis was relaxed enough to practice karate exercises between takes.

"Save the last take for me," he sang jokingly as they neared the finish line; by the time they left that evening, they knew they'd saved one of the best for last.

The only cloud on the horizon was Chips Moman's refusal to give up any piece of "Suspicious Minds" or "Mama Liked The Roses."

Freddy Bienstock, Tom Diskin, and Chips Moman were all headstrong men, and it took RCA representative Harry Jenkins, always the diplomat, to prevent publishing disputes from derailing Elvis's most signifi­cant new work in years.

In a rare gesture of interference in the business side of his own career, Elvis declared that he wouldn't let a publishing dispute stop him from recording and releasing a song he liked.

His enthusiasm carried into a rare, early-morning inter­view, when Elvis, clad in white shirt and trousers, raved to a reporter from the Memphis Commercial Appeal: "It all started right here in Memphis for me, man."

With a gracious Chips Moman by his side, he celebrated his new surroundings. "It feels so good work­ing in this studio," he said, and Chips returned the compliment:

"He is one of the hard­est-working artists I have ever been associated with.... What energy and enthusiasm he has while working."

"We've done some hits, haven't we, Chips?" Elvis asked.

"Maybe some of your biggest," was the modest response.

(sourced from Ernest's DAY BY DAY with thanks)

CHIPS MOMAN "Remembers"

Hill and Range wanted the publishing rights to "In the Ghetto" and "Suspicious Minds" I just blew up! I said, "Hey, there ain't no more session!"

We had already done some sides, and I said, "You can take everything we've done so far, be my guest, and just get out of my studio, 'cause there ain't no sessions!"

Thats when Harry Jenkins ~ he was with RCA at the time - stood up for me. Harry said, "Hey, speaking for RCA, we haven't even said anything about what Elvis has been recording since he's been with us, but I'm gonna tell you right now, this boy's right (talking about me), "so we're gonna stay here and we're gonna do these sessions his way."

CHIPS MOMAN "on SUSPICIOUS MINDS"

"Suspicious Minds" was a song that Mark James had written. I had recorded it with Mark, but nothing was happening with his record 'cause I don't think Mark had really got the vocals on it the way Elvis did later.

I played it for Elvis and he loved it. We did the arrangements about the same as on Mark's record - but we had that Elvis voice!

Elvis was a great singer, man. He could sell a song! And the rest is history.

It was one of the biggest records Elvis had had in years, a great song for him.

Thanks for the great info rex...here is a link to what chips said about elvis in aug 2009.

http://www.gomemphis.com/news/2009/aug/14/...-a-little-more/

elvislady

Thanks REX

excellent presentation as always

"Caught in a Presentation, I can't get out" thankyou Donna.

Great info about a truly fantastic song!!
Maybe even one of his absolute best!!
I know it was my first single...many moons ago,it never left me....

Thanks rex...some stunning pics and a great video!
elvislady

Great thread again Rex !

Suspicious Minds was one of the very first Elvis songs that i heard. It remains to this day a firm favourite. I do think that the undubbed version is even better ! I just love to listen to Elvis' voice...he was in amazing form. I always wished that it contained another verse. The end of the song can be repetitive...and it would have improved it even more. Wonderful song all the same......as Johan has said....right up there with his ultimate best !

this quickly became one of my favourite Elvis tunes, I remeber as a kid when I first saw "TTWII" and I where in awe of the performance Elvis did of the song. The song was perfect for Elvis.

It's a cool tune... not a favourite of mine, but definitely cool... I personally much prefer the '69-'70 live versions to the studio take. It was indeed a perfect cut for Elvis, live... just like with Polk Salad Annie, he could really let loose during it. ..... If my memory serves me, the original trailer for TTWII ends with a "Suspicious Minds" ending, which is one of the coolest things ever... I think it's from the August 12th midnight show... maybe you Rex can take a few HQ captures of it...

A great song that was stopped from getting to number one here in the uk by "TWO LITTLE BOYS" from Rolf harris of all people!!!!

Cool thread once again, Rex. Very interesting and informative as always.

Thanks Everyone... yes the Chain Suit "Jouni" 12th August 70 M.S. (as captured below....)

wow 41 years and its till an undated awesome song

QUOTE (The Batman @ Jan 27 2010, 05:40 PM)

wow 41 years and its till an undated awesome song

Thanks Batman

WOWZA!!!!!!! Absolutely FABULOUS screen grabs!!!!! and amazing information as always. You keep out doing yourself, Rex, which doesn't seem possible. ELVIS really seemed to truly enjoy performing this number!!!

Thankyou Carole.... just trying to get it altogether........



MARK JAMES ~ Talking about “Suspicious Minds”

First coming to prominence as the writer of B.J. Thomas’s Top 5 smash, “Hooked On A Feeling,” Mark James crafted one of Elvis’s most enduring and lasting songs, the No. 1 hit “Suspicious Minds.” Elvis cut an additional four songs penned by James (”It’s Only Love,” “Raised on Rock,” “Moody Blue” and “Always on My Mind”).

“The idea for ‘Suspicious Minds’ came to me one night.

First the title came…I thought about it and lived with it a while.

Then the lyric came to me: ‘Caught in a trap, I can’t walk out because I love you too much baby.’ What I was trying to say is we can’t live together, attain our dreams or build on anything if we don’t trust one another.

That’s what I mean by suspicious minds. If there’s distrust in a relationship or you’re wondering if your partner wants to be with somebody else, you can’t go forward. The chorus, which says, ‘We can’t go on together with suspicious minds,’ is what I was trying to get across with the song. I was lucky to start the song in an abstract way…

“‘Suspicious Minds’ captured a lot of soul. In Houston, I grew up on a lot of soulful artists and I learned a lot from them. I put ‘Suspicious Minds’ together in about a week-a week and a half. I was a writer trying to write a great song, a hit song, and it came off just right.

“The single came out on Scepter Records in ‘68, and Elvis didn’t come into American Studios until ‘69. He booked American Studios for two weeks.

Chips Moman and Don Cruise were partners. Chips was more the creator, and Don was a good businessman who had a lot of heart and soul. He kept the studio goin’ through a lot of lean years. American Studios was like Motown. A lot of hit records came out of there.

Don came up to me one day and said, ‘You know Elvis is coming in?’ I replied, ‘I know, I’m trying to come up with something great for him.’ I analyzed it a little bit. Elvis was in his early 30s. I thought, ‘How can you be a rock star and be in your mid-30s and still be viable?’

“That same year Tom Jones had taken it over. Elvis had released a lot of songs from his movies, and his musical career had really gone down as far as controlling the national charts. Tom Jones was the sex symbol at the time.

I believed in Elvis and knew something great was in the air to bring him back.

Every time I’d walk into the studio, Don would grab me and say, ‘You come up with anything for Elvis?’ I was still writing and bumping my head against the wall.

MARK JAMES ~ talking about “Suspicious Minds”
(Part 2).....

One morning I came into the studio and Don said kind of urgently, ‘Elvis will be here in a couple of days. You think you’ll have anything?’ I said, ‘I don’t know…I hope so.’ Then he said, ‘Well, what about the old catalog? What about ‘Suspicious Minds?” At that point I wasn’t thinking about my older catalog. But as soon as Don said that, in my head I saw a golden number one.

‘That’s it! That’s the song I’ve been looking for!’ Chips was a little hesitant because I didn’t have a hit with my own version of ‘Suspicious Minds,’ but he saw the belief I had in the song and he played it when Elvis came.

Elvis liked it immediately and said, ‘Let’s hear that again.’ He heard it again and it hit him the same way. He asked for a tape and took it home.

Priscilla loved the song too, so the excitement and momentum about ‘Suspicious Minds’ kept building and building.

“Chips was a gambler. That’s how he got his name. When Elvis came in with his entourage, the Colonel and Hill & Range were trying to get a piece of the songs that were being recorded at those sessions.

Before that, they were able to get quite a bit of the publishing and songwriter royalties.

To get an Elvis cut, writers would give up almost anything. Most of the time the Colonel or his publishing executives would try to take half of a song or more. I’d never give up my songwriting royalties. I’m not gonna sell it like a used car. That’s the way I looked at it. I was signed to Chips’ publishing company, Press Music.

Chips was the one who told them, ‘Look, I’m not giving up any publishing on this song. If that’s what you want, then I’m keeping the master and y’all can leave!’ This all went down while they were doing the ‘Suspicious Minds’ session.

“Elvis’s performance on ‘Suspicious Minds’ is great.

He got into the song and made it his own.

It was number one in 27 countries. It’s the number one song of all-time for Elvis Presley.

I got an award two years ago from Graceland where it was selected as Elvis’s all-time favorite song.

I believe it is. Elvis had a lot of great songs, but at the time of his comeback, he needed a mature rock song. People were rooting for him to come back, and I’m happy that my song helped him do that.

It reinvigorated Elvis as an artist and brought him a newfound respect.

I wanted to write a song that would move people and would capture the essence of Elvis.”

outstanding thread once again Rex....all about a real favourite of mine. A song in the spotlight has just become a whole lot better mate

Thankyou CHRIS ~ Ahhh it just needed a slightly fresher way of doing it.. I'm finding them fun to put together...

I'm more than a little excited about the next one I'm going to tackle.. (?)

Ditto, awesome thread and already looking forward to the next one too !!!

Agreeing with the other posters....just a fantastic thread with fabulous information.
You sure seem to find all the great little tidbits that make the stories a fascinating read Rex!
LOVE that picture in post #44

Thanks Carole.. and Everyone...

Absolutly beautiful pics ...how good looking was elvis! thanks rex.

elvislady

Much thanks ELVISLADY, SHAUN and CAROLE....



Suspicious Minds recorded by Elvis on Thursday, 23 January 1969; Studio

Written by: Zambon

Originally recorded by Mark James in 1968

Hear Elvis's version on: The Memphis Record; From Nashville to Memphis (4)
Francis Rodney Zambon, the writer of "Suspicious Minds" is the real name of Mark James.

James was born in 1940 and grew up learning to play violin until he discovered the guitar and formed his own group, "Francis Zambon and the Naturals," recording and releasing a few singles in the late 1950s ("Jive Note" was the first).

After his military service, James was offered a job at American Sound Studios and went on to write "Suspicious Minds," releasing his own version on the Scepter label, but with very little success. See also "Always On My Mind," "It's Only Love" and "Moody Blue."

RE: SUSPICIOUS MINDS: I LOVE THIS SONG! BY THE WAY I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOUR OPINION IS OF THE VERY, VERY DIFFERENT VERSION FOUND ON THE NEW DVD " A PORTRAIT IN MUSIC" SOME DON'T LIKE MESSIN' WITH PERFECTION, HOWEVER, AND IT'S ONLY MY VIEW.....BUT I THINK IT IS FABULOUS!!!!!! I WISH I COULD BUY IT ON CD.... WHOEVER
IS BEHIND IT I SAY....MORE PLEASE.