Mark James, born as Francis Zambon, is a well-known American songwriter, 5 years younger than Elvis, and hailing from Houston, TX. In High School he played the violin and accordion, but really fell in love with music when he picked up a guitar. He wrote songs and performed in clubs, changing his name to Mark James. He wanted to record his own songs himself and formed a band, The Mark James Trio, but he received only a minor hit.
Then Mark was drafted to serve in Vietnam. In 1968, after his discharge, he moved to Memphis to work as a staff songwriter for producer Chips Moman. In the same year he penned and recorded Suspicious Minds by himself but it failed to chart.
A year later Elvis picked this song at his American Sound Studio recordings and the rest is history. James had explained that the song related to his complex emotions around being married but being in love with his childhood sweetheart. He went on to write more than 300 songs in a career that spanned 7 decades.
All in all, Elvis recorded 5 of Mark's compositions:
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1. Suspicious Minds
2. It's Only Love
3. Always On My Mind
4. Raised On Rock
5. Moody Blue
James' most successful composition is Always On My Mind. 300 Singers recorded it. Willie Nelson's cover made it a huge hit and Mark won 2 Grammy's. In 2015 Mark James entered The Songwriters Hall of Fame.
