Comments on: A Perfect Song: Elvis Presley, Suspicious Minds

By: Ron Vibbentrop

Ron Vibbentrop — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:28:06 +0000

Carol Kaye does NOT play the bass on Suspicious Minds. It is Mike Leech. Kaye has falsely claimed credit for this song, but she is incorrect. She has made false claims about playing on several other songs, including Mr. Tambourine Man by the Byrds and several classic Motown recordings (see link below). Kaye has a rich legacy of tracks she did actually play on, but unfortunately she has besmirched it somewhat with her false claims about things she didn’t really do. She’s kind of the Bernard Purdie of the bass guitar.
http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/magic/kaye/

By: Janet

Janet — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 22:46:29 +0000

The bass line is Carol Kaye, one of the hardest working studio musicians of all time. She also played guitar on La Bamba and Pet Sounds among many other classic tunes. She is still working today.

By: Movie / Music Notes: Elvis, Aloha From Hawaii » Webomatica - Technology and Entertainment Digest

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:01:02 +0000

[…] scarves, and all. He also had his entire back catalog plus the “comeback” tune of Suspicious Minds. It’s a great balance between epic talent and […]

By: Brother Dave

Brother Dave — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 07:57:44 +0000

The bassline is mentioned. I think the bassist was Mike Leech who as I recall was playing a Peavey T40 bass a lot, if not exclusively at that time. I also saw a bass amp stack on an eBay auction a few years back with lots of other studio gear that was possibly used on some of the Elvis Memphis sessions, it quite possibly was the bass amp used on this recording as it was studio property. It was also a Peavey. This was surprising to me. It sounded more like a Sunn or Ampeg tube amp on the recording. I bid on the amp but got outbid about 5 seconds before the auction ended. Anyway, this bassline really moves the song and whoever it was that actually played it, they played it dead-solid-perfect. One of my all time favorite bass lines. It is so strong. When combined with one of Elvis’s greatest performances it becomes real treat every single time I hear it. I’ll stop what I’m doing to listen to it. Isn’t the fact that you never get tired of hearing it the true test of a perfect song?

By: sang

sang — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 21:50:08 +0000

wot about the fine young cannibals’ cover of this song?

what do you think about the police reunion??

i’m in honolulu now, it’s pretty nice here.…

By: webomatica

webomatica — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 16:47:24 +0000

Elvis was definitely a way talented guy.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 06:19:03 +0000

Man I just love this song. I’m glad it’s on the list of perfection.

For me this is just one of those fantastic “autumnal” songs that’s got so much more emotional weight than his earlier songs because he’s older, hadn’t had a hit in a long time and was needing a career kickstart.

You should link to the video from the tv special in which he played this song…they’ve gotta have it on youtube.