American singer-songwriter
Mark James |
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Birth name | Francis Rodney Zambon |
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Also known as | Francis Zambon |
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Born | (1940-11-29) November 29, 1940 (age 82) Houston, Texas, U.S. |
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Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, producer |
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Instrument(s) | Vocals |
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Years active | 1968–present |
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Labels | Bell, Scepter, Liberty, Masterfonics |
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Musical artist
Mark James (born Francis Rodney Zambon; November 29, 1940) is an American songwriter who wrote hits for singers B.J. Thomas, Brenda Lee, and Elvis Presley, including Presley's US number one hit single, "Suspicious Minds."
Early life
Mark James was born an Italian-American in Houston, Texas on November 29, 1940, and he was raised there. James befriended B.J. Thomas while both were still young.
Career
1967–1969: Career beginnings and songwriting
By the late 1960s, James was signed as a staff songwriter to Memphis producer Chips Moman's publishing company, Moman producing Thomas’ versions of "The Eyes of a New York Woman", "Hooked on a Feeling", and "It's Only Love" from 1968 to 1969 (all of which achieved success).
James released his own version of "Suspicious Minds," also produced by Moman, on Scepter Records in 1968. Using much the same arrangement, Elvis Presley recorded a version in 1969 that became a smash hit and was later listed on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at 91.
1969–1977: Continued success
In 1972, James signed a long-term contract with Screen Gems-Columbia Music. In 1973, James' song "Sunday Sunrise" was recorded by American Country singer Brenda Lee. Brenda Lee's version was a huge hit becoming a top ten single on multiple charts in the U.S. In 1975, Canadian musician Anne Murray covered "Sunday Sunrise". Elvis Presley continued to record James' songs, "Raised On Rock", "It's Only Love", and "Moody Blue" (the title track to Presley's last studio album). But James' greatest success came with "Always on My Mind," a collaboration with Johnny Christopher and Wayne Carson and issued as a b-side by Presley in 1972.
Since 1978: Grammy wins, "Always on My Mind" covers and Mark James Trio
Mark James Trio released the album "She's Gone Away" in 1978 on Crazy Cajun Records with fellow band members Joey Longoria and Bobby Winder.
A decade after "Always on My Mind" was released, Willie Nelson covered it and it became a huge hit for him. James won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year and Grammy Award for Best Country Song for Nelson's version. The United Kingdom's Pet Shop Boys released a successfully charting version of "Always on My Mind" in 1987 which reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 4 in the US. On October 11, 2015, James entered the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Awards
Grammy Awards
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1967−1970 | |
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1971-1980 | |
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1981-1990 | |
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1991-2000 | |
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2001-2010 |
- "Murder on Music Row" - Larry Cordle, Larry Shell (2001)
- "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" - Alan Jackson (2002)
- "Three Wooden Crosses" - Doug Johnson, Kim Williams (2003)
- "Live Like You Were Dying" - Tim Nichols, Craig Wiseman (2004)
- "Whiskey Lullaby" - Bill Anderson, Jon Randall (2005)
- "Believe" - Ronnie Dunn, Craig Wiseman (2006)
- "Give It Away" - Bill Anderson, Buddy Cannon, Jamey Johnson (2007)
- "Stay" - Jennifer Nettles (2008)
- "In Color" - Jamey Johnson, Lee Thomas Miller, James Otto (2009)
- "The House That Built Me" - Tom Douglas, Allen Shamblin (2010)
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2011-2020 |
- "If I Die Young" - Kimberly Perry (2011)
- "Over You" - Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton (2012)
- "I Drive Your Truck" - Jessi Alexander, Connie Harrington, Jimmy Yeary (2013)
- "Follow Your Arrow" - Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves (2014)
- "Girl Crush" - Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose (2015)
- "Humble and Kind" - Lori McKenna (2016)
- "Better Man" - Taylor Swift (2017)
- "Broken Halos" - Mike Henderson, Chris Stapleton (2018)
- "Beautiful Crazy" - Luke Combs, Wyatt Durrette, Robert Williford (2019)
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2021-2030 | |
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1958−1979 | |
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1980−1999 | |
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2000−2019 |
- "Beautiful Day" – Adam Clayton, David Evans, Laurence Mullen & Paul Hewson (songwriters) (2000)
- "Fallin'" – Alicia Keys (songwriter) (2001)
- "Don't Know Why" – Jesse Harris (songwriter) (2002)
- "Dance with My Father" – Richard Marx & Luther Vandross (songwriters) (2003)
- "Daughters" – John Mayer (songwriter) (2004)
- "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" – Adam Clayton, David Evans, Laurence Mullen & Paul Hewson (songwriters) (2005)
- "Not Ready to Make Nice" – Emily Burns Erwin, Martha Maguire, Natalie Maines Pasdar & Dan Wilson (songwriters) (2006)
- "Rehab" – Amy Winehouse (songwriter) (2007)
- "Viva la Vida" – Guy Berryman, Jonathan Buckland, William Champion & Christopher Martin (songwriters) (2008)
- "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" – Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart (songwriters) (2009)
- "Need You Now" – Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott (songwriters) (2010)
- "Rolling in the Deep" – Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth (songwriters) (2011)
- "We Are Young" – Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess (songwriters) (2012)
- "Royals" – Joel Little & Ella Yelich O'Connor (songwriters) (2013)
- "Stay with Me" (Darkchild version) – James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith (songwriters) (2014)
- "Thinking Out Loud" – Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge (songwriters) (2015)
- "Hello" – Adele Adkins & Greg Kurstin (songwriters) (2016)
- "That's What I Like" – Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip (songwriters) (2017)
- "This Is America" – Donald Glover, Ludwig Göransson & Jeffery Lamar Williams (songwriters) (2018)
- "Bad Guy" – Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell (songwriters) (2019)
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2020−present | |
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Authority control databases |
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International | |
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National | |
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Artists | |
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