photo by: Jeremy Roberts Mark James, the songwriter behind some of Elvis Presley's biggest hit songs has been nominated for The 2014 Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Mark James wrote: "Always on My Mind", "Suspicious Minds", "Moody Blue", "Raised on Rock" and "It's Only Love."
Born 1940 as Francis Zambon in Houston, Texas Mark James first found success as the writer of B.J. Thomas’s, "Hooked On A Feeling." Mark, continued to write very famous songs for B.J. Thomas. Mr. James is also known for writing famous songs for Country Music singer, Brenda Lee.
Mark James is a fantastic songwriter and he absolutely deserves this honor. He is an accomplished songwriter, a great speaker and also a singer. Mr. James, is well known to Elvis fans in the Elvis world. At Elvis Week which is held annually each August in Memphis, Mr. James often speaks about his memories of Elvis and discusses his songs at George Klein's Mafia Reunion. After sharing his memories of Elvis during Elvis Week 2012 at Graceland, Mr. James performed a very nice version of his song "Moody Blue."
The nomination gala ceremony for The Songwriters Hall of Fame will be held June 12th 2014 at The New York Marriott Marquis. Eligible voters will vote until December 16th to select two nominees from the songwriter-performer list and three from the non-performer list.
Article is copyright (c) Caroline Pratt, all rights reserved. For online use: permission is granted with proper credit to "Caroline Pratt - Elvis Presley Fans of Nashville"
article source: http://www.cbsnews.com, http://www.americansongwriter.com, and wikipedia.
Mark James wrote: "Always on My Mind", "Suspicious Minds", "Moody Blue", "Raised on Rock" and "It's Only Love."
Born 1940 as Francis Zambon in Houston, Texas Mark James first found success as the writer of B.J. Thomas’s, "Hooked On A Feeling." Mark, continued to write very famous songs for B.J. Thomas. Mr. James is also known for writing famous songs for Country Music singer, Brenda Lee.
Mark James is a fantastic songwriter and he absolutely deserves this honor. He is an accomplished songwriter, a great speaker and also a singer. Mr. James, is well known to Elvis fans in the Elvis world. At Elvis Week which is held annually each August in Memphis, Mr. James often speaks about his memories of Elvis and discusses his songs at George Klein's Mafia Reunion. After sharing his memories of Elvis during Elvis Week 2012 at Graceland, Mr. James performed a very nice version of his song "Moody Blue."
The nomination gala ceremony for The Songwriters Hall of Fame will be held June 12th 2014 at The New York Marriott Marquis. Eligible voters will vote until December 16th to select two nominees from the songwriter-performer list and three from the non-performer list.
Article is copyright (c) Caroline Pratt, all rights reserved. For online use: permission is granted with proper credit to "Caroline Pratt - Elvis Presley Fans of Nashville"
article source: http://www.cbsnews.com, http://www.americansongwriter.com, and wikipedia.
Mark James discusses Elvis Presley's last #1 hit "Suspicious Minds"
Quotes from an interview with Mark James conducted by Pop Culture Author, Ken Sharp 2007 - Author of "Vegas '69"
http://www.americansongwriter.com
"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."
"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."
"Elvis Presley'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. 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. I wanted to write a song that would move people and would capture the essence of Elvis."
Quotes from an interview with Mark James conducted by Pop Culture Author, Ken Sharp 2007 - Author of "Vegas '69"
http://www.americansongwriter.com
"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."
"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."
"Elvis Presley'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. 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. I wanted to write a song that would move people and would capture the essence of Elvis."
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