Terry Manning

Terry Don Manning (December 29, 1947 – March 25, 2025) was an American recording engineer, record producer, musician and photographer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he worked with Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Bryan Adams, ZZ Top, the Tragically Hip, Zeno, Booker T. & the MG's, Shakira, Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, Rhino Bucket, Johnny Winter, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Big Star, Johnny Taylor, Jason and the Scorchers, the Staple Singers, Molly Hatchet, George Thorogood, Al Green, Widespread Panic, Shania Twain, Joe Cocker, Joe Walsh, and Lenny Kravitz, among others.

In 2013, Manning was inducted into the International Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the West Texas Music Hall of Fame, and the Bobby Fuller Four and Border Legends Cultural Center of El Paso, Texas. In October 2013, ECR Music Group released Manning's album West Texas Skyline, a tribute to Bobby Fuller. In January 2015, ECR released Manning's album Heaven Knows, and in 2019 ECR released a live Manning album, Playin' in Elvis' House, recorded in Elvis Presley's first home on Audubon Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee.

Early years Terry Manning was born on December 29, 1947, in Oklahoma City, and lived for a period in El Paso, Texas, before eventually moving in his teenage years to Memphis, Tennessee. At Central High School, Manning showed a talent for sports, and he ran track and was all-city quarterback on the football team. He attended Memphis State University (now University of Memphis), where he was captain of the soccer team and played junior varsity basketball.

Music career After moving to Memphis, Tennessee, Manning worked for years at both Stax Records and Ardent Studios as an engineer and producer, recording and mixing. He was a principal part of Stax owner Al Bell's production team for the Staple Singers, responsible for such hit records as "Heavy Makes You Happy", "Respect Yourself", and "I'll Take You There". In January 2025, Manning released Red And Black.

Photography career Manning was interested and involved in photography almost as long as in music. A close friend starting in the 1960s was William Eggleston, who served as a mentor, as well as introducing young Manning to other photographers such as William Christenberry, Diane Arbus and Lee Friedlander. Although Manning's favorite work was his "evocative urban landscapes, " he also photographed Chuck Berry, Procol Harum, Steppenwolf, Terry Reid, Jimi Hendrix, Dusty Springfield, Lenny Kravitz, and many other musical artists of the rock music genre, as both an independent and as a writer/photographer for New Musical Express (NME). He worked as a photojournalist for NME. He photographed Martin Luther King Jr. on April 3, 1968, the day before King was assassinated.

In August 2015, Manning's photography work began showing at art galleries in several cities. Two photography books were released Scientific Evidence Of Life On Earth During Two Millennia, and Cuba Despues Del Tiempo Especial, Antes De Los Americanos, and a number of photography books and new exhibits were planned. On March 25, 2025, Manning died following an accidental fall at home, at the age of 77.