Mark James (songwriter)

Mark James (born 1940) is a songwriter, famous for writing hits for singers B.J. Thomas, Brenda Lee, and Elvis Presley, most notably Elvis' last US number one hit single, "Suspicious Minds."^[1]

History

Mark James was born in Houston, Texas,^[1] befriending Thomas while both were still young.^[2] By the late 1960s, James was signed as a staff songwriter to Memphis producer Chips Moman’s publishing company,^[2] Moman producing Thomas’ versions of "The Eyes Of A New York Woman", "Hooked on a Feeling", and "It's Only Love" from 1968 to 1969 (all of which achieved success).^[3] The songwriter issued his own version of "Suspicious Minds," also produced by Moman, on Scepter Records in 1968, but in the same arrangement the song became a smash for Presley the following year.^[4] Brenda Lee had a hit with "Sunday Sunrise", and Presley continued to record James' songs, "Raised On Rock", "It's Only Love", and "Moody Blue" (the title track to Presley's last studio album). But James' greatest success came with "Always On My Mind," a collaboration with Johnny Christopher and Wayne Carson and issued as a b-side by Presley in 1972, but becoming a huge hit for Willie Nelson a decade later. James won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year for Nelson's version.^[5] The United Kingdom's Pet Shop Boys released a successfully charting version of "Always On My Mind" in 1987 which reached #1 in the U.K. and #4 in the United States.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Jones, Roben (2010-02-01). Memphis Boys: the story of American Studios. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 19. ISBN 9781604734010. http://books.google.com/books?id=t6fXPucJupIC&pg=PR19. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Klein, George; Crisafulli, Chuck (2010-01-05). Elvis: My Best Man: Radio Days, Rock 'n' Roll Nights, and My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley. Crown. p. 194. ISBN 9780307452740. http://books.google.com/books?id=KFE03dk1iLgC&pg=PA194. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
3. ^ Collins, Ace (2005-04-01). Untold Gold: The Stories Behind Elvis's #1 Hits. Chicago Review Press. p. 213. ISBN 9781556525650. http://books.google.com/books?id=9hQyj7GVG1oC&pg=PA213. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
4. ^ Creswell, Toby (2006-08). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them. Da Capo Press. p. 53. ISBN 9781560259152. http://books.google.com/books?id=A_xtSKdVGpQC&pg=PA53. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
5. ^ "Country". Billboard 94 (52): 56. 23 October 1982. ISSN 0006-2510. http://books.google.com/books?id=5SMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT55. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 

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Name	James, Mark
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Date of birth	1940
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