Suspicious Minds

"Suspicious Minds" is a song written by American songwriter Mark James. After James' recording failed commercially, the song was handed to Elvis Presley by producer Chips Moman, becoming a number one song in 1969, and one of the most notable hits of Presley's career. "Suspicious Minds" was widely regarded as the single that returned Presley's career success, following '68 Comeback Special. It was his seventeenth 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

The song is about a mistrusting and dysfunctional relationship, and the need of the characters to overcome their issues in order to maintain it.^[1] Written by Mark James aka Francis Zambon in 1968,^[2] who was also co-writer of "Always On My Mind" (which Presley would later record), the song first was recorded and released by James on Scepter Records in 1968. 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.^[3][4]

The recording

Background

Elvis Presley's recordings in American Sound Studio were a direct consequence to '68 Comeback Special, that interested Chips Moman in produce recordings to the new style of Presley, making his comeback to the Memphis musical scene, by recording rock, gospel, country, rhythm & blues and soul.

American Sound Studio session

"Suspicious Minds" was a product of January 23, 1969 session, that took place between 4 am and 7 am. It took eight takes to produce the final song that was later overdubbed by Presley the same night.^[5] Also in the same were recorded "I'll Hold You In My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms)", "Without Love (There Is Nothing)", and "I'll Be There". on August 7, was again overdubbed to stereo and mono in Las Vegas, where the final master was produced.^[6] The song is noted for its change of Rhythm, in the Bridge section, from 4/4 to a slower 6/8 and back again to the faster 4/4 rhythm. The first verse repeats over and over again, until it completely fades out, it features a bass guitar, organ, strings, trumpets, trombones, and drums. Session producer Felton Jarvis made the unusual decision to add a premature fade-out to the song starting at 3:36, mirroring the way Presley used to perform it in his live Las Vegas stage act. The fadeout lasts for about 15 seconds before fading back in, conveying a message of relationship in the song.^[7] Future Grateful Dead vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux sang backing vocals on the track.^[8]

Release and performances

He first performed the song at the Las Vegas Hilton on July 31, 1969, and the 45 rpm single was released in the fall. It reached number one in the United States in the week of November 1 and stayed there for that week. It would be Presley's final number-one single in the U.S. before his death ("The Wonder of You" in 1970, "Way Down" in 1977 and a posthumous remixed release of "A Little Less Conversation" in 2002 all hit number one on the British charts, followed by re-issues of several previous chart toppers in 2005). Mark James' version of the song appears as the last song on the 1970 record entitled Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head by B. J. Thomas.^[9]

Chart performance

Cover versions

Dee Dee Warwick, Dionne's sister, covered "Suspicious Minds" while Elvis Presley's version was still on the charts. Warwick's version was a minor U.S. hit, peaking at #80 in 1970.

Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter recorded the song for RCA in 1970. Their version reached No. 25 on the Billboard country chart in November of that year. The Jennings-Colter version was re-released by RCA in 1976, topping out at No. 2, and was included on the ground-breaking album Wanted! The Outlaws that same year.

Singer Ronnie McDowell sang the song for the 1979 film of the soundtrack ELVIS (with actor Kurt Russell, portraying Elvis, appearing to perform the song in the film).

Candi Staton had a No. 31 UK hit with her revival in 1982.

In 1986, the band Fine Young Cannibals' cover version of the song, which featured backing vocals by Jimmy Somerville, reached No. 8 on the UK Singles chart. The cover was heard in the cult films, Dangerously Close and Down Twisted.

Six years later, country singer Dwight Yoakam recorded his version of the song for the soundtrack to the film Honeymoon in Vegas, as well as a video.^[10] It was later released on his compilation album The Very Best of Dwight Yoakam.

In 1996, Bowling for Soup included a cover version on their album Cell Mates.

In 2004, Pete Yorn released a live recording of the song on his two-disc album Live from New Jersey.

In 2006, pop-punk group Avail added a cover version of this song on their re-released 1998 CD Over the James.^[11]

In March 2009, Miss Kittin and The Hacker covered "Suspicious Minds" for their album Two,^[12] for which they filmed a promotional music video directed by Régis Brochier of 7th floor Productions.^[13] Their cover of "Suspicious Minds" was later featured on the downloadable for free mixtape Skull of Dreams by Little Boots.^[14][15]

In 2009, Rusted Root covered this on their studio album Stereo Rodeo.

Rock band Glasvegas featured Florence (from Florence and the Machine) in a live cover at NME Music awards in 2009.

Clay Aiken recorded the song on his 2010 album Tried and True.

Gareth Gates version

"Suspicious Minds" served as the third single for Pop Idol runner-up Gareth Gates from his debut album, What My Heart Wants to Say. The song charted as a double A-side release, featuring a duet between Gates and Will Young on the classic Beatles song, "The Long and Winding Road". The single charted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart, making it the third consecutive number one for Gates.

Track listing

1. "The Long and Winding Road" - 3:30
2. "Suspicious Minds" - 3:52
3. "I Get the Sweetest Feeling" - 3:29

References