“Suspicious Minds” was Elvis’ eighteenth number one song and it was his last. Counting this song, Elvis had spent 80 weeks at number over the past thirteen years. I haven’t calculated anyone else, but I’d be willing to bet that is longer than any other performer in the rock era. OK, so I did add up one other act. The only group who could come close to Elvis would be the Beatles and they spent a total of 57 weeks at number one over the course of their career, so Elvis is the clear winner. That number only applies to the group, not to the solo work they after they broke up.

“Suspicious Minds” was written by Mark James and he recorded it first. But James did not chart with the song and forgot about it. Elvis had come from his success at the ‘68 Comeback Special, a television special which aired on NBC on December 3, 1968 and he was looking for new material.

He wanted to record again in Memphis. He hadn’t recorded there since 1955 and he wanted his next album to be called From Elvis in Memphis (which it was.) He also felt trapped because he had been making movies for the past several years and all of their soundtracks were recorded in either Nashville or on the west coast. So, instead of recording in Nashville where he usually worked, he and the support people traveled to Memphis to American Recording Studios (ARS) to record the next album. Part of that session included “Suspicious Minds,” along with the hits “In the Ghetto” and “Don’t Cry Daddy” which were Top 10 songs, but not number ones.

“Suspicious Minds” was recorded on January 23, 1969, with country music great Ronnie Milsap singing backup on the song. When Mark James first heard the recording he thought it was too slow, but after they embellished it, he really liked Elvis’ version. James said that everytime he and Elvis were in the same room, Elvis would come over and say hello. Elvis really liked the song.

We all know that Elvis had some trouble in the Seventies which eventually resulted in his death from a heart attack on August 16, 1977. He was 42 years old.

“Suspicious Minds” entered the pop charts on September 20, 1969 and spent one week at number one. Rolling Stone magazine has ranked “Suspicious Minds” number 91 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.