ELVIS The Memphis Sessions

Marty Lacker, one of Elvis Presley’s closest friends, was instrumental in arranging the seminal recording sessions at American Studios in January and February of 1969. He reveals the inside story behind the sessions that yielded Suspicious Minds, In The Ghetto, Don’t Cry Daddy and Kentucky Rain. As told to Ken Sharp

I went up to Elvis’ house right after his birthday in January 1969. I’d quit working for him because I got tired of travelling, and because the atmosphere changed a bit when he married Priscilla. But I was with him nearly every night he was in Memphis, until a year before he died. I was co-best man at his wedding.

We were sitting in the den and Felton Jarvis, Elvis’s RCA producer, was talking about a session they were going to do the following week. I guess I was subconsciously shaking my head. Elvis looked over at me and said, “What the hell’s wrong with you?” I said, “I wish for once you would try working with Chips.”

Chips Moman ran a studio called American. I started cutting there when I started Pepper Records for Pepper-Tanner – a major jingle and barter company here in Memphis. I saw a huge difference in the way they were cutting there, and the way that Elvis had been recording for the 10 years prior to that. The difference was that Elvis would get in a room with all of the musicians out in the open. and that’s the way they’d cut. They wouldn’t record his vocal as an overdub. Usually a singer will get behind a baffle and do a rough vocal while the rhythm section lays down the tracks. With Elvis, he’d get out in the middle of the studio with them and lay down a live …

by Ken Sharp
<< Back to Issue 328

You must be a subscriber to view the full article, subscribe now for full access to all online content.

Already a Magazine Subscriber? Register now for online access.

You might also like:

Login Here

Free Newsletter


Subscribe to
our email newsletter by emailing:

anna.bowen@
metropolis.co.uk