Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman (June 12, 1937 – June 13, 2016) was an American

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for working in R&B,

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

, operating American Sound Studios and producing hit albums like

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

's 1969 ''

From Elvis in Memphis ''From Elvis in Memphis'' is the ninth studio album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. It was released by RCA Records on June 2, 1969. It was recorded at American Sound Studio in Memphis in January and February 1969 under the dire ...

'' and the 1985 debut album for The Highwaymen. Moman won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for co-writing " (Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song", a 1975 hit for B.J. Thomas.

Music career

Early years

Moman was born in LaGrange, Georgia.Edd Hurt, "Chips Moman: The Cream Interview", ''Nashville Cream'', August 17, 2012
. Retrieved 15 June 2016 After moving to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, as a

teenager Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated wi ...

, he played in the road band of Warren Smith, before moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

around 1957 with

Johnny Burnette John Joseph Burnette (March 25, 1934 – August 14, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter of rockabilly and pop music. In 1952, Johnny, his brother Dorsey Burnette, and their mutual friend Paul Burlison, formed the band that became ...

's band and then touring with

Gene Vincent Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971), known as Gene Vincent, was an American rock and roll musician who pioneered the style of rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-a-Lula", is ...

. While in Los Angeles, he played

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

on sessions recorded at the

Gold Star Studios Gold Star Studios was an independent recording studio located in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, California. In its entire history, Gold Star was one of the most successful commercial recording studios in the world. Founded by David S. Gold ...

1960s

Returning to Memphis, he began an association with Satellite Records (later

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in September 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. ...

), helping find the disused

movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

on McLemore Avenue that became the Stax headquarters. He worked as the company's recording engineer and produced their first

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

, Carla Thomas's 1960 " Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)". He also produced the first single for the Stax

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

Volt, "Burnt Biscuits" b/w "Raw Dough," by the Triumphs, whose members included future soul star

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. He is best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Tired of ...

and

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

Howard Grimes Howard Lee Grimes (August 22, 1941 – February 12, 2022) was an American drummer, best known as a member of the Hi Rhythm Section on records by Al Green, Ann Peebles and others in the 1970s. Life and career Born in Memphis, Tennessee on Augus ...

. Leaving Stax in 1964 after a monetary dispute with label founder Jim Stewart, he began operating his own Memphis

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

American Sound Studio The American Sound Studio was a recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee which operated from 1964 to 1972. Founded by Chips Moman, the studio at 827 Thomas Street came to be known as American North, and the studio at 2272 Deadrick Street ...

. At American Sound, he, along with

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

s Reggie Young and Bobby Womack, bassists Tommy Cogbill and Mike Leech, pianists and organists Bobby Woods and Bobby Emmons, and

Gene Chrisman, recorded the Box Tops (" Soul Deep"), Bobby Womack, Merrilee Rush,

Mark Lindsay Mark Lindsay (born March 9, 1942) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders. Early life Lindsay was born in Eugene, Oregon, and was the second of eight children of George and Esther Ell ...

(

Paul Revere and the Raiders Paul Revere & the Raiders (also known as Raiders) were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boise, Idaho, in 1958. They saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s. The band was known for inclu ...

), Sandy Posey (notably "Born a Woman" and " Single Girl"),

Joe Tex Yusuf Hazziez (born Joseph Arrington Jr.; August 8, 1935 – August 13, 1982), known professionally as Joe Tex, was an American singer and musician who gained success in the 1960s and 1970s with his brand of Southern soul, which mixed the style ...

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded more than 50 songs that made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the '' ...

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz Flute, flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet ...

, Roy Hamilton, and

Petula Clark Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...

. During this period Moman established a songwriting partnership with fellow Memphis producer and songwriter Dan Penn. The pair co-wrote " Do Right Woman, Do Right Man", recorded by

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

, and " The Dark End of the Street", which became the best-known song of the

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer James Carr. Moman also played guitar on Franklin's recording sessions at the FAME Studios in

Muscle Shoals Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located on the left bank of the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, its population was 13,146. The estimated popula ...

. In the 1960s, Moman worked for

before founding the

, and later worked extensively in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. As a record producer, Moman was known for

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...

, Bobby Womack, Carla Thomas, and Merrilee Rush, as well as guiding the career of the Box Tops. As a songwriter, he was responsible for

standards Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object t ...

associated with

, James Carr,

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

, and B. J. Thomas, including the Grammy-winning " (Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song". He was also a session guitarist for Franklin and other musicians.

1970s

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, American Sound became one of the most successful recording studios in the country, producing more than 120 charting singles by pop, soul, and country artists and at one point contributing over a quarter of the hits on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

. Moman produced

's 1969

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, ''

'' – described as "arguably resley'sbest album". Recording sessions for the album produced hit songs "

In the Ghetto "In the Ghetto" (originally titled "The Vicious Circle") is a 1969 song written by Mac Davis and recorded by Elvis Presley. It was a major hit released in 1969 as a part of Presley's comeback album, ''From Elvis in Memphis'', and was also relea ...

", "

Suspicious Minds "Suspicious Minds" is a 1968 song written and first recorded by the American songwriter Mark James. After this recording failed commercially, it was recorded by Elvis Presley with the producer Chips Moman. Presley's version reached No.1 on th ...

", and " Kentucky Rain," though the latter two did not appear on the album itself. During this time, Moman had a record label American Group Records (AGP), distributed by Amy- Mala-

Bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

. Moman left Memphis in 1971 and briefly operated a studio in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. He moved to

, where he married fellow songwriter

Toni Wine Toni Wine (born June 4, 1947) is an American pop music songwriter, who wrote songs for such artists as The Mindbenders ("A Groovy Kind of Love"), Tony Orlando and Dawn (" Candida"), and Checkmates, Ltd. (" Black Pearl") in the late 1960s and 1 ...

, and where he produced and (with fellow producer Larry Butler) co-wrote a hit for B. J. Thomas, " (Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" (1975). This effort earned Moman a

. He also co-wrote "

Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" is a song recorded by American country music artist Waylon Jennings. It was released in April 1977 as the first single from the album '' Ol' Waylon''. It was written by Chips Moman and Bobby Emmo ...

" for Waylon Jennings, and produced albums by

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

, Gary Stewart,

Ronnie Milsap Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, h ...

, and

Later years

After a brief return to Memphis in the mid-1980s, during which time his attempt to open a new studio floundered, he settled in LaGrange, Georgia, where he operated another

. Moman recorded the first demo cut on the song "

Always on My Mind "Always on My Mind" is a Sentimental ballad, ballad written by Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher, and Mark James (songwriter), Mark James, first recorded by Brenda Lee and first released by Gwen McCrae (as "You Were Always on My Mind") in Mar ...

". Mark James was working for him as a session musician and Wayne Carson was in the studio recording songs, Carson asking the co-writers to add a bridge to the song that Moman insisted it needed. The musicians felt the song was complete, but Moman refused to record it unless they came up with a bridge on the studio's old piano. The two-line bridge was then added. The song was passed to Elvis via a bodyguard and, consequently, it was not recorded by the studio despite originating in it. However, Moman produced Willie Nelson's version years later. Moman also produced ''

Highwayman A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to foo ...

'', the first studio album released by

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

supergroup The Highwaymen, comprising

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

, and

. ''Highwayman'', released through

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

in 1985, was the group's first and most successful album.

Death

Moman died on 13 June 2016, the day after his 79th birthday, at a hospice in LaGrange, Georgia."Legendary record producer Chips Moman dies at the age of 79", ''WMC'', June 14, 2016
/ref> He had been suffering from a

lung disease The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart. Their function in the respiratory syst ...

and died of

emphysema Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract di ...

."Legendary producer and songwriter Chips Moman dies, aged 79", ''The Guardian'', 15 June 2016
/ref>

References

*Hardy, Phil and Laing, Dave (1995). ''The Da Capo Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music''. New York: Da Capo Press. . *Kennedy, Jackie (2010) '' LaGrange Daily News''; ''Highway for the Highwayman as county honors songwriter''

External links

Interview with Chips MomanGeorgia Encyclopedia

Biography at Memphis Music Hall of Fame
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moman, Chips 1937 births 2016 deaths Musicians from Memphis, Tennessee Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Songwriters from Tennessee Record producers from Georgia (U.S. state) Record producers from Tennessee American country guitarists American soul guitarists American male guitarists American session musicians Deaths from emphysema Grammy Award winners Guitarists from Tennessee Guitarists from Georgia (U.S. state) People from LaGrange, Georgia 20th-century American guitarists Country musicians from Tennessee Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century American male musicians American male songwriters