‘It was like a scar’

Elvis fans might have always wondered (I have) about the fade toward the end of the hit song “Suspicious Minds.” First it fades out, and then back to full strength before ending. Not that it’s never done (U2 does it in “Electric Co.”) but it seemed a little odd. As it turns out, it was added in later and without the knowledge of the song’s original producer and songwriter. In a Wall Street Journal interview last Friday, Mark James, the composer and first performer of “Suspicious Minds” and his producer Chips Moman explain the song’s genesis, how Elvis’s rendition led to the King’s last number one hit, and that curious fade:

Mr. Moman: Felton Jarvis [Elvis’s longtime producer] was never happy that Elvis recorded at American. It was a control thing. So when Jarvis took the tape of “Suspicious Minds,” he added this crazy 15-second fade toward the end, like the song was ending, and brought it back by overdubbing to extend it. I have no idea why he did that, but he messed it up. It was like a scar. None of which mattered. Soon after the song was released, Elvis was back on top of the charts.

(Photo by Ollie Atkins)