"Suspicion" is a 1962 song originally recorded by
Elvis Presley written by
Doc Pomus and
Mort Shuman which became a major hit in 1964 in a recording by Elvis Presley sound-alike
Terry Stafford
Terry LaVerne Stafford (November 22, 1941 – March 17, 1996) was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his 1964 US Top 10 hit "Suspicion", and the 1973 country music hit " Amarillo by Morning". Stafford was also known for his Elvis ...
.
Elvis Presley version
One of 25 songs written by Pomus and Shuman for Elvis Presley, "Suspicion" was recorded by Presley on March 19, 1962, in Studio B of
RCA's
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
studio and issued on Presley's album ''
Pot Luck'' released on June 15, 1962. In April 1964, when the Terry Stafford version of "Suspicion" (recorded in May 1962 as a demo) was in the Top Ten of the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, the Presley original was given a US single release with "
Kiss Me Quick" as the
flip
Flip, FLIP, or flips may refer to:
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* Flip (nickname), a list of people
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* ...
, and it was "Kiss Me Quick" which was the favored side, reaching nationally. "Suspicion" peaked at .
The song was published by Elvis Presley Music, Inc.
In Australia "Kiss Me Quick" and "Suspicion" appeared on the chart as a
double A-side hit with a peak: the actual format for this Australian release was a four-track
EP entitled ''Elvis Sings Kiss Me Quick'' which featured "Kiss Me Quick" and "Suspicion" as A-side tracks with a B-side composed of "
Sentimental Me" and "I Want You With Me".
"Suspicion" was also issued as a single in several European territories to vie with the Terry Stafford version with the Presley version charting in the Netherlands and the Dutch chart for Belgium with respective peaks of #9 and #6 and also in Norway where its chart peak was #9 and in Denmark where it peaked at #3: in its European single release "Suspicion" featured "
It Hurts Me" as B-side.
"Suspicion" would belatedly afford Presley a Top Ten hit in the UK where its December 1976 single release rose to a peak of on the chart dated February 5, 1977.
Terry Stafford version
After an unsuccessful affiliation with
A&M Records, Terry Stafford cut a
demo of "Suspicion" at the Los Angeles studio of Bob Summers. Summers, best known as the producer of the 1959
Larry Hall
Lawrence Kendall Hall (June 30, 1940 – September 24, 1997) was an American singer mostly known for his one-hit wonder song called " Sandy" in 1959. The disc reached number 15 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart.
Background
Hall was born in ...
hit "Sandy", played all the instruments on the demo which Stafford and Stafford's manager pitched to record companies in the Los Angeles area and also to local radio stations including
KFWB where
disc jockey Gene Weed was impressed enough with the demo to take it next door to the headquarters of the newly formed Crusader Records. John Fisher, the president of Crusader, spent several hours remastering the demo with the resultant track becoming the second single released on Crusader. The arrangement included rhythmic backing accompaniment with an
Ondioline, an idiosyncratic French-built electronic keyboard.
After breaking out in
San Bernardino in January 1964 "Suspicion" had its top-tier market breakout in Los Angeles in February 1964 peaking in March 1964 at respectively number 2 and number 4 on the
hit parades of
KRLA and KFWB and then quickly spread east, hitting number 1 on
WLS (Chicago) for most of April. Nationally "Suspicion" rose from number 7 to number 6 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 dated 4 April 1964, when the chart's top five hits were all by
the Beatles. "Suspicion" broke the Beatles' monopoly on the top five spots on the chart by rising to #3, its peak position, the next week. Stafford's "Suspicion" reached #31 in the
UK Singles Chart, and also #3 in Canada.
Canada's (Ted Kennedy) Weekly Single Charts from 1964
/ref>
Cover versions
"Suspicion" first became a C&W chart hit in 1971 via a remake by Bobby G. Rice
Robert Gene Rice (born July 11, 1944, in Boscobel, Wisconsin, United States) is an American country music singer-songwriter, known professionally as Bobby G. Rice. Between 1970 and 1988, Rice released nine albums and charted thirty songs on t ...
which reached #33 C&W, with the track being included on Rice's debut album ''Hit After Hit''.
In 1988 "Suspicion" charted for Ronnie McDowell whose version, taken from McDowell's ''I'm Still Missing You'' album, reached #27 C&W.Keith Moon
Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Moon grew ...
.
"Suspicion" has also been covered by Jimmy London, Millicent Martin, Larry Marshall and Delroy Wilson
Delroy George Wilson CD (5 October 1948 – 6 March 1995)
Greene, Jo-Ann, " Delroy Wilson Biography, allmusic.com, Macrovision Corporation
was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer. Wilson is often regarded as Jamaica's first child s ...
.
Phil Spector composition claim
In a 2002 interview with journalist Mick Brown, record producer Phil Spector claimed he wrote and/or produced "Suspicion", but did not receive credit: "I made 'Suspicion' for Terry Stafford -- I didn't get any credit or any money. I didn't care. I just loved making records."['' Tearing Down the Wall of Sound'' by Mick Brown, pp 375.]
See also
* List of 1960s one-hit wonders in the United States
References
{{Authority control
1964 singles
Songs with music by Mort Shuman
Songs with lyrics by Doc Pomus
Elvis Presley songs
Terry Stafford songs
Ronnie McDowell songs
1962 songs
RCA Victor singles
Bobby G. Rice songs
Phil Spector