Chips Moman

Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman (born 1937, La Grange, Georgia) is an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. The nickname "Chips" is possibly derived from his love of gambling.^{[citation needed]} As a record producer, Moman is known for recording Elvis Presley, Bobby Womack, Carla Thomas, and Merrilee Rush, as well as guiding the career of The Box Tops in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1960s. As a songwriter, he is responsible for standards associated with Aretha Franklin, James Carr, Waylon Jennings, and B. J. Thomas. He has been a session guitarist for Franklin and other artists.

Career

After moving to Memphis, Tennessee as a teenager, Moman played in the road bands of Johnny Burnette and Gene Vincent. Settling in Los Angeles, California, he played guitar on sessions recorded at the Gold Star Studios. Back in Memphis, he began an association with Satellite Records (later Stax Records), producing their first hit single, Carla Thomas's 1960 "Gee Whiz." He also produced the first single for the Stax subsidiary label Volt, "Burnt Biscuits" b/w "Raw Dough," by the Triumphs, whose members included future Al Green and drummer Howard Grimes. Leaving Stax in 1964 after a monetary dispute with label founder Jim Stewart, he began operating his own Memphis recording studio, American Sound Studio.

There he, along with guitarists Reggie Young and Bobby Womack, bassist Tommy Cogbill, pianist and organist Bobby Emmons, and drummer Gene Chrisman, recorded the Box Tops, Womack, Merrilee Rush, Mark Lindsay (Paul Revere and the Raiders), Sandy Posey (notably "Single Girl"), Joe Tex, Wilson Pickett , Herbie Mann and Petula Clark. Although Dusty Springfield's 1969 Dusty in Memphis album was recorded at American Sound Studios, Moman did not produce the album (that credit went jointly to Tom Dowd, Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin). Petula Clark's 'Memphis' set - a fan favourite and an album which grows in stature through the years was recorded there with Moman and his influence on the choice of songs is clear with songs written by Toni Wine and Box Tops hits being amongst the tracks. Clark states that working with Moman was the happiest recording experience of her lengthy recording career.

During this time, Moman had a record label American Group Records (AGP), distributed by Amy-Mala-Bell.

Moman produced Elvis Presley's 1969 LP, From Elvis in Memphis which included the hit song "In The Ghetto". "Suspicious Minds" and "Kentucky Rain" were also recorded at American by Chips. The album is considered by many as Elvis' best work.

During this period Moman co-wrote "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" (recorded by Aretha Franklin) with fellow Memphis producer and songwriter Dan Penn. Also recorded by Elkie Brooks,produced by "Lieber & Stoller " and "The Dark End of the Street", which became the best-known song of soul singer James Carr. Both songs have since become part of the repertoires of countless singers.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s Moman's studio experienced an unprecedented run of hits in the music industry, producing more than 120 charting singles by pop, soul, and country artists. On several occasions during this period, more than 20 of Billboard's Hot 100 songs had been produced at American Sound.

Moman married fellow songwriter Toni Wine in the early 1970s. He left Memphis in 1971 and briefly operated a studio in Atlanta. He then moved to Nashville, where he produced and 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 Grammy Award. He also co-wrote "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" for Waylon Jennings, and produced albums by Willie Nelson, Gary Stewart, Tammy Wynette , Ronnie Milsap and again Petula Clark (Blue Lady). Once more, Moman's choice of songs is clear, as several are written either by Toni Wine, Moman himself, or the two of them together. The title track was penned by Clark. Again, Clark cites this session as the most enjoyable of her career, as it felt like moving into a studio with a bunch of friends and partying, whilst recording the album. 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 yet another recording studio.

In June 2010, the pending South Loop road construction project in Troup County was christened as "Chips Moman Highway

References

• Hardy, Phil and Laing, Dave (1995). The Da Capo Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80640-1.

• Kennedy, Jackie (2010) LaGrange Daily News Highway for the Highwayman as county honors songwriter

Read more: La Grange News - Highway for the Highwayman as county honors songwriter " http://lagrangenews.com/view/full_story/7907066/article-Highway-for-the-Highwayman-as-county-honors-songwriter?instance=secondary_news_left_column

External links

• Interview with Chips Moman
• Georgia Encyclopedia
• Chips Moman biography at Allmusic website

Persondata
Name	Moman, Chips
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1936
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death