Terry Manning, a famous music producer and recording engineer who labored at Memphis’ Stax Information throughout a transformative time in pop and R&B, has died following an unintended fall at dwelling. He was 77. Manning’s March 25 demise was confirmed by his spouse, based on Relix.
Famously affiliated with the Memphis studio, the place many hits have been recorded by the likes of Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, Booker T. & The MG’s, Al Inexperienced and Sam & Dave, along with different influential acts of the Nineteen Sixties and Seventies, Manning performed a key position within the manufacturing group for The Staple Singers, engaged on such classics as “Respect Your self” and “I’ll Take You There” whereas at Stax. The melding of the Memphis soul sound with rock and pop was a trademark of his manufacturing work, which additionally marked early and vital industrial collaborations between white and Black musicians.
He went on to work at one other iconic studio within the metropolis, Ardent, the place Huge Star’s seminal 1972 debut #1 Document was recorded (Manning, who grew to become associates with singer Alex Chilton, is featured on keyboards and backing vocals along with manufacturing), and later was credited on albums by Led Zeppelin (notably, Led Zeppelin III), ZZ Prime (together with 1983’s Eliminator, which yielded the smash singles “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs”), George Thorogood and Joe Cocker, amongst many others. Within the Nineteen Eighties, Manning moved to London the place he hung out at Abbey Street Studios. In 1992, Island Information founder Chris Blackwell got here calling, enlisting Manning to revitalize his Compass Level Studios in Nassau, Bahamas the place the likes of Shania Twain, Shakira and Lenny Kravitz would report a few of their most profitable tasks.
Increasing past the boards, Manning based a boutique audio firm referred to as Lucas Engineering, which manufactured high-end microphones amongst different professional merchandise. He was additionally an completed photographer — a passion that may be traced again to his years at Stax the place he chronicled all method of personalities who handed by way of the studio and accompanying report retailer, together with candid snapshots of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. the day earlier than his 1968 assassination at a close-by Memphis motel. Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, Dusty Springfield and Kravitz have been additionally photographed by Manning.
Raised in El Paso, Texas, Manning grew up enjoying guitar and performing with native musicians, together with his good friend Bobby Fuller (of “I Fought the Legislation” fame). He moved to Memphis, Tennessee, the place he rapidly landed at Stax, the fledgling label based in 1957 by Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton. A decade into their music enterprise foray, Stax, which signed a distribution cope with Atlantic Information in 1965, would see huge crossover success with Otis Redding, opening the door to acts like Wilson Pickett and Sam & Dave and to writer-perfomers like Isaac Hayes. Heading into 1970, Hayes would set up himself because the label’s high promoting act together with his album Scorching Buttered Soul. That launch, which offered greater than 3 million copies, was adopted by 1971’s soundtrack to Shaft, which might win Hayes an Oscar.
With Stax more and more gaining a fame for turning into the Motown of the south, the label’s roster would take middle stage at WattStax, the 1972 all-star live performance and 1973 live performance movie, for which Manning served as music supervisor. Typically referenced as a Black Woodstock of the west coast, the movie has since been preserved within the Library of Congress.
In 1970, Manning launched a solo album, House Candy House, which was recorded at Ardent Studios and launched on Stax’s Enterprise label — a collectors merchandise right now. He has continued making music sporadically over the many years, together with a tribute album to Bobby Fuller, West Texas Skyline, launched in 2013.
