Legendary Producer Chips Moman Dead at 79
Moman's journey into the world of music began when he hitchhiked from LaGrange to Memphis as a 14-year-old back in 1951. 'I never knew I'd be in the music business', he says. 'I never gave it any thought. But I'd been playing guitar since I was a child'.
His eventual 'discovery' seems like a story lifted from an old Hollywood script. Sitting in a local drugstore, strumming away on a six-string, he was spotted by Sun rockabilly star Warren Smith. 'He asked me if I wanted a job', says Moman, who played his first gig backing Smith at an Arkansas club on a bill that included Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison. 'That's how I went into the business'.
Moman quickly became a hotshot local guitarist, and joined up with brothers Johnny and Dorsey Burnette. He traveled with them for sessions in California at the famed Gold Star Recording Studios. Moman watched and studied noted engineer Stan Ross behind the board. 'And from what I'd learned in California, I decided to take that experience and put it to work in Memphis', he said.
His chance came when he was called to do a session at a tiny garage studio in Brunswick, Tenn., owned by Jim Stewart. Moman and Stewart hit it off, and decided to join forces to start what would become Satellite, and eventually, Stax Records. But a rancorous split with Stewart and his sister and co-owner, Estelle Axton, in 1962 brought all that to an abrupt end. 'What happened to me at Stax caused me to lose my house. I lost everything that I had'.
Eventually, Moman threatened to sue Stax and negotiated a few thousand dollars in settlement. It was enough -- along with the help of a couple of partners -- to start up a new place at 827 Thomas called American Sound Studios.
For a couple of years, Moman struggled, producing the odd track, but mostly made his living playing guitar on sessions down in Muscle Shoals (Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett, among others) and co-writing songs -- often with Dan Penn -- like the immortal 'Dark End of the Street' and 'Do Right Woman, Do Right Man'.
In 1965, things got rolling at American, with the arrival of local teen garage band The Gentrys, who cut a million-selling smash called 'Keep on Dancing'. 'They were just kids, and I wasn't much more' says Moman. 'But that got me started to the point where I could afford to hire a secretary'. The secretary Moman hired, Sandy Posey, would be his next protégé, and she would go on to record the Top 20 Grammy-nominated hit 'Born A Woman'. 'After that, people started calling me to produce records', says Moman.
The studio hit its stride when Moman wooed members of the staff bands at Hi Records and Phillips to form the American Studios group: guitarist Reggie Young, drummer Gene Chrisman, pianist Bobby Wood, organist Bobby Emmons and bassists Mike Leech and Tommy Cogbill. That unit, mostly with Moman at the helm, would help sire a succession of hits for artists like the Box Tops ('The Letter'), Dusty Springfield ('Son of a Preacher Man'), Neil Diamond ('Sweet Caroline), B.J. Thomas ('Hooked on a Feeling'), Bobby Womack ('Fly Me To The Moon') and, most famously, Elvis Presley ('Suspicious Minds') and his legendary album 'From Elvis In Memphis'.
Elvis Presley and Chips Moman at American Studios 1969.
Long regarded as the 'fifth Highwayman' for his role in producing the country supergroup that included Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson, Moman also co-wrote Jennings' 1977 crossover hit, 'Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love),' and in 1982 produced Nelson's CMA Award-winning smash, 'Always on My Mind'. Along with Larry Butler, Moman earned a 1976 Grammy for writing the B.J. Thomas pop-country hit, '(Hey, Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song).'
In 1986 Chips produced the excellent 'Class Of '55' CD, the recording of which was also filmed by Dick Clark and broadcast on US TV in 1989, the album billed as a 'Rock 'N' Roll Homecoming' also remembered Elvis in other songs, but stands in its own right as a classic album full of solid performances. (Here we have added rare video of Elvis when he was touring with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Buddy Holly.)
While the TV Special has never been officially released, it has made its way out regardless and is an excellent all star tribute to Elvis Presley, with 'We Remember The King', with Johnny Cash singing lead vocal and backed by Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins a highlight but certainly not the only standout.
Below are two videos from the special.
Chips Moman : the missing man of Memphis music
Video : We Remember The King (Class of '55) (04:45)
Latest Audio (and video) updates : Video courtesy of Elvis Presley Video Central.
Video : Coming Home (Roy Orbison / Class of '55) (04:25)
Latest Audio (and video) updates : Video courtesy of Elvis Presley Video Central.
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