I forget where I picked up my copy of 100 All Time Country Hall of Fame Hits – Vol. 2, double-LP set from 1977 that was originally “nationally advertised on TV!” The friendly price tag comes at a cost, though — 12 (even 13) songs per side, thus, a noticeable loss in fidelity.
One of the songs that really caught my ear, “Mr. Mailman” by Ronnie Milsap, is a tune that (lo and behold) took its first breaths at Chips Moman‘s American Sound Studio in Memphis in Summer, 1968:
“Mr. Mailman”
Ronnie Milsap (1968)
I love the opening guitar lines that convey the agony of losing one’s “little red book” — utter powerlessness in a pre-digital era — with a few well-placed harmonica notes just before the song’s outro that add a nice touch of country-pop melancholy.
B-Side –
Before the big call-up
“Mr. Mailman” is from the pen of Mark James, who would write (and record) that same year one of Elvis’s last big hits, “Suspicious Minds.”
Billboard
July 27, 1968
“Mr. Mailman” – noble and faithful B-side companion to “Do What You Gotta Do” – appears never to have charted, and thus, likely to have received minimal radio play.
So imagine Zero to 180’s surprise when “Mr. Mailman” was discovered to be the title track of a 1977 Ronnie Milsap “oldies” collection for the UK market!
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Chips Moman & American Sound –
Stax’s Memphis Hitmaking Rival
Jeremy Roberts‘s 2012 Examiner piece – “Back When Memphis Was Electric: B.J. Thomas on Chips Moman and the Memphis Boys” – asserts that Lincoln Wayne “Chips” Moman, whose team recorded over 120 Billboard hits between the years 1967-1971 at American Sound Studio, has yet to receive proper recognition for all his musical achievements. B.J. Thomas makes the claim in his interview that “for a couple of years running, they played on nearly 20 percent of Billboard’s pop chart, which was a fantastic accomplishment in those days.”
Songs produced and/or written and/or arranged by Chips Moman:
A Chips Moman ‘Top 40‘ Playlist*
(streaming audio links “freshened” Jan. 2023*)
- The Triumphs “Walkin’ the Duck” 1966
- James Carr “Dark End of the Street” 1967
- Bobby Womack “Broadway Walk” 1967
- Jamo Thomas “Bahama Mama” 1967
- Roosevelt Grier & the Fearsome Foursome “Who’s Got the Ball Ya’ll” 1967
- Flash & the Board of Directors “I Pray for Rain” 1967
- Joe Simon “No Sad Songs” 1967
- Sandy Posey “I Take It Back” 1967
- Merrilee Rush & the Turnabouts “Angel of the Morning” 1968
- B.J. Thomas “Eyes of a New York Woman” 1968
- The Masqueraders “Sweet Lovin’ Woman” 1968
- Lee Jones & the Sounds of Soul “On the Other Side” 1968
- The American Group “High Times” 1968
- Paul Revere & the Raiders “Go Get It” 1968
- Mark James “Suspicious Minds” 1968
- Bobby Womack “Fly Me to the Moon” 1968
- The Box Tops “Sweet Cream Ladies (Forward March)” 1969
- Wayne Carson “Soul Deep” 1969
- Neil Diamond “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show” 1969
- King Curtis & the Kingpins “Foot Pattin’ (pt II)” 1969
- The Dynamics “Ain’t No Sun (Since You’ve Been Gone)” 1969
- Charles Ross III “A Railroad Trestle in California” 1969
- Ronnie Milsap “Denver” 1969
- Glen Goza “The Box” 1969
- Eternity’s Children “Blue Horizon” 1969
- Joe Jeffrey “Dreamin’ Till Then” 1969
- Joe Simon “Nine Pound Steel” 1969
- Sonny Charles “It Takes a Little Longer” 1970
- The Blossoms “I Ain’t Got to Love Nobody Else” 1970
- Errol Sober “Sugar Shaker” 1970
- Weinstein & Stroll “Looking at Life” 1970
- The Sunshine Trolley “Cover Me Babe” 1970
- Carla Thomas “I Loved You Like I Love My Very Life” 1970
- Steve Alaimo “Wild Side of Life” 1970
- Joseph “I’m Gonna Build a Mountain” 1970
- Cymarron “Rings” 1971
- Jackie DeShannon “Stone Cold Soul” 1971
- Reggie Young “Pencil” 1971
- Steve Alaimo “When My Little Girl Is Smiling” 1971
- The Box Tops “King’s Highway” 1971
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Chips