Song of the Day 1/28: Elvis Presley, “Suspicious Minds”

Thanks to John Bolton, Republican senators are indeed caught in a trap — a perjury trap. They’ve been lying for the White House, but the White House never told them Bolton’s manuscript would reveal the truth. And they can’t walk out because they love Trump too much, baby.

This video catches Elvis in August 1970, when he was 35 — still thin enough to look good in that jumpsuit but old enough that he’s winded by the end of the song. The song, written and recorded by Mark James (“Always on My Mind,” “Hooked on a Feeling”) in 1968, was recorded at the “From Elvis in Memphis” sessions in 1969 but not released on the album. Instead it became Elvis’ last No. 1 single.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb0Jmy-JYbA

Mark James’ version established the arrangement Presley used, but went nowhere. Give it a listen and you can hear the something extra Elvis brought to the table.

Fine Young Cannibals recorded the tune in 1986, after singer Roland Gift said that Elvis had come to him in a dream and told him he would record the greatest version of Suspicious Minds ever. Not quite, but not bad. It made the top 10 in the British charts. The falsetto backing vocal is by Jimmy Sommerville of Bronski Beat.