Terry Manning began in the music industry in the early sixties in El Paso, Texas. He fronted several local bands, notably The Wild Ones, and on occasion played rhythm guitar with his friend Bobby Fuller's band. Bobby had a big following in El Paso, and one of his local hits was "I Fought The Law," released on his own Eastwood Records, recorded in his home studio (on Album Avenue!) It was apparent there was no extended future in music in El Paso, so by '63, both Terry and Bobby decided to move on. (Bobby chose LA, where "I Fought The Law" was re-cut, and became a worldwide smash. He unfortunately met an untimely death not long after, under mysterious circumstances.) Terry chose Memphis, where a lot of music he liked was being made. Songs like "The Dog" by Rufus Thomas, and "Last Night" by The Mar-Keys had caught his fancy.....

Terry, barely a teenager, walked boldly into Stax Records and announced that he was there to engineer, produce, write...whatever! Crazily enough, Steve Cropper put him to work. Terry began as assistant engineer, performing duties from sweeping up the floor, to making tape copies, to running a session when someone didn't show up. He had an office in the famous building at 926 East McLemore (now the Stax Museum), in the area that was once "Slim Jenkins' Joint." In fact, he took that office over from Isaac Hayes, when Isaac moved upstairs to fancier digs. Terry also began working at Ardent Studios, as their first employee. Ardent was just moving from the garage of owner John Fry to its first "professional" location on National St. Terry engineered many of the sessions, typed bills, solicited clients, and continued to play in bands. Ardent quickly assumed a reputation as being the cutting-edge of multi-track technology, and many Stax and Hi Records artists, as well as R&B, blues and rock groups from New Orleans, Muscle Shoals, Nashville, and the surrounding South, came to use their services. Terry was privileged to learn on the job with such artists and producers as Isaac Hayes, Ike & Tina Turner, Willie Mitchell, Al Bell, Jim Stewart, Steve Cropper, Booker T. Jones, Eddie Floyd, Al Green, Sam & Dave, Billy Eckstine, Otis Redding, The Boxtops, William Bell, Percy Sledge, The Staple Singers, Furry Lewis, Mississippi John Hurt, The Gentrys, Dan Penn, Johnny Taylor, Leon Russell, Ronnie Milsap, and many others. Al Bell, co-owner of Stax, soon took Terry under his wing, and made him an integral part of the production team for The Staple Singers, a production he had just assumed from Steve Cropper. Bell and Manning teamed up for "Heavy Makes You Happy," which became the Staples' first crossover hit. It was followed by "Respect Yourself," which was even bigger, and then "I'll Take You There," which became one of the biggest singles of all time. The Staple Singers, led by Mavis and Pop Staples, had many more hits under the Bell/Manning team. Bell was producer (as well as author of "I'll Take You There,") and Terry was co-producer/engineer; Manning also wrote songs for The Staples, and arranged and conducted many of the instrumental overdubs, including full orchestra. He also played many guitar parts, as well as harmonica, marimba, percussion, etc. One of Manning's compositions, "Heaven," first recorded by The Staple Singers, was later covered by several artists, including Silent Rain, who had a platinum European hit, and the Manning-produced version by Joe Cocker, which sold over four million. Terry also was assigned the daunting task of overseeing live recording of the WattStax festival, held in The Los Angeles Coliseum before 105,000 people, and filmed by Wolper Productions for Paramount. The audio was recorded by Wally Heider Recording, with engineering liason by Manning between Heider, the various Stax artists, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Al Bell. Manning then performed the mixing at Glen Glenn Sound on the Paramount lot, with mammoth overdubbing at various LA studios, and oversaw the insertion of the audio into the soundtrack. (WattStax has recently been released on DVD.) As chief engineer and manager of Ardent Studios, Manning worked with much of the area talent, and during The Box Tops' sessions, had become friends with Alex Chilton, lead singer. Terry produced a solo alum ("1970") on Chilton which fell between the cracks of the vault until discovery and release in 1996 (and now re-issue in 2011)! Terry teamed up with his then-best friend Chris Bell, Jody Stevens, and Tom Eubanks, to form the legendary group ROCK CITY, the progenitor to BIG STAR. The album they recorded also didn't see release until years later, in 2003. So when Fry and Manning started the new Ardent Records label in '71, Chilton was a natural signee with his and Chris Bell's new group, BIG STAR. Also to emerge from the label was Cargoe (produced by Terry), and in England, Manning discovered and recorded B.A. Robertson, who later became a recording star and composer in the UK. Terry also recorded his own solo album, "Home Sweet Home," licensed for release on Stax's Enterprise label. (HSH plus three extra tracks was re-released on CD by Sunbeam in 2006, voted Best Reissue of 2006,and 2012 vinyl issue by 4 Men w/Beards.) He engineered, produced, and played almost all instruments, except drums and several guitar parts by Chris Bell. HSH has now become a cult classic, highly sought by collectors.

When producer Peter Asher wanted Memphis horns or other musicians, he called Terry, who coordinated the project and engineered the sessions. James Taylor was one of these, and the subsequent album, "Mud Slide Slim and The Blue Horizon," was another huge hit. When Leon Russell wanted to learn the new technology of synthesis, he came to Manning, who had just returned from Trumansburg, New York, where Terry had spent many days under the tutelage of Robert Moog. Moog had just taken his new invention, the commercial music synthsizer to market, and Manning wanted to know it. So Terry went to see Moog, and learned straight from the horse's mouth! When Leon Russell found out about this, he came to Manning, who showed Leon some of what he had learned, and then using Manning's Moog IIIC (purchased from George Harrison and Bob Moog), Terry and Leon recorded "Stranger In A Strange Land," Russell's huge early hit.

One of Terry Manning's other interests was photography. He shared this interest actively with several friends, one of whom was William Eggleston. Eggleston is widely regarded today as the greatest colour photographer of all time. Eggleston and Manning, along with other friends (including Chris Bell), pursued still photography, motion picture and video tape photography, and other related art forms. Manning took photographs under contract of many artists, both for the artists themselves, and for music papers such as The New Musical Express of London, for whom Manning was a writer and photographer. Terry photographed Chuck Berry, Procol Harum, Steppenwolf, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Dusty Springfield, and many other artists of the period. His photograph of Terry Reid became the cover of Reid's 2nd album (sepia-toned photo of Reid with Gibson gtr and fringe jacket), and won several awards for album cover art. Manning was one of the last to photograph his acquaintance, Dr. Martin Luther King, the day before the assassination.

Meanwhile, Manning, in addition to production & engineering, was still performing with Memphis groups The Goat Dancers, & Lawson and Four More. The latter had a regional hit, and became an opening act on The Dick Clark Caravan of Stars Tour. Here Manning had the opportunity to meet one of his favourite groups, The Yardbirds. When they came back to tour the US again, Manning renewed contact, and became close friends with Jimmy Page, then bass/rhythm gtr player for The Yardbirds. During the tour, Jeff Beck abruptly quit, and Page assumed lead duties. Manning was privileged to add guitar instruction from Page to that he had received from Teenie Hodges (Al Green) and Steve Cropper (Booker T & MG's).

Manning and Page toyed with the idea of forming a new group along with other musicians they both knew; Terry didn't want to leave the musical situation he was in, so he opted out. However, when Page changed the name of his next group from "The New Yardbirds" to "Led Zeppelin," he had kept in, and when there was a need for engineering, Jimmy called Terry to engineer for "Led Zeppelin III." This album, which Manning carried all the way to final mastering stage (where he wrote the famous Crowley inscriptions by hand), became the number one album in the world.

Out there in that world somewhere, listening to this "heavier" sound was, amongst many others, Billy Gibbons, who had recently formed a new group, "ZZ Top" after disbanding "Moving Sidewalks." Gibbons had formed an alliance with manager Bill Ham. (Ham had originally been an artist himself, produced by Pat Boone!) Gibbons wanted his band's sound to "get heavier," more like the Zeppelin sound, so he sought out Manning, talked Ham into trekking to Memphis, and thus began a triumvirate which was to last for many years. Manning, under Ham's guidance, completed the partially recorded "Tres Hombres," mixed it, and the London Records release became the group's first big breakthrough. The three worked hand in hand on ZZ for over 18 years, spewing out such classics as "Fandango," "Tejas," "Deguello," "Eliminator," and "Recycler," and such singles as "La Grange," "Tush," "Sharp Dressed Man," "Legs," and many others. When sales had dipped a bit in '82, Gibbons asked Manning if there was a way to upgrade the rhythmic capability of the sound; Manning responded by interjecting the new computer-based technology into a rock record for the first time. The resulting "Eliminator," with its powerful new sound, responded by becoming number one in the world, remaining high on the Billboard chart for well over 90 weeks, and selling in excess of 18 million units worldwide! The success of this album led many other artists to Terry Manning, who quickly expanded his production base.

Because of these many commitments, Manning was unable to accept the assignment of working on the next ZZ album, but he returned for "Recycler." At this point, Manning felt that the long relationship had grown counter-productive, and amicably left the "triumvirate" to pursue other production and engineering interests.

These interests had blossomed. Manning took on the production (and engineering) of many artists, inc Jason & The Scorchers, George Thorogood and The Destroyers, Joe Cocker, Joe Walsh, Johnny Winter, Fastway, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Omar & The Howlers, Molly Hatchet, The Angels, Johnny Diesel and The Injectors, and many others (see DISCOGRAPHY). Albums Manning produced on Thorogood have sold over 15 million copies, and the songs have appeared in many motion pictures and TV commercials. The album "COCKER" on Joe Cocker revived Joe's then-slumping career, and sold over 4 million. The first Johnny Diesel album was the biggest-selling rock album in Australian history, eclipsing even Madonna and U2! The "Powerful Stuff" recording Manning produced on The Fabulous Thunderbirds, included in the motion picture "Cocktail" soundtrack, sold over 15 million copies. The powerful and different Jason and The Scorchers have become a cult phenomenon, and the re-release CD of their Manning-produced work has sold well, another rock classic.

In 1988, Manning purchased Isaac Hayes' building in Memphis and installed STUDIO SIX. Several artists were produced there by Manning during it's 4 years of existence, inc Thorogood, Diesel, Rick Vito of Fleetwood Mac, Rhino Bucket, and others. Then, in '92, Chris Blackwell sought out Terry to revitalize his famous Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas. Compass Point had fallen into disrepair, and rather than close such a landmark, Blackwell wanted to bring it back to life. Terry and his wife Sherrie moved to The Bahamas in '92, and began the revitalization. Compass Point Studios soon returned to its high position in the industry. After Manning's arrival, such artists as Celine Dion, Björk, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, Julio Iglesias, Jimmy Buffett, Enrique Iglesias, Backstreet Boys, Diana Ross, Alan Jackson, Shakira, REM, Erykah Badu and many others graced the facility. Manning himself worked at Compass Point with Crash Test Dummies, Lenny Kravitz, Shakira, Jesse Harris, Shania and Mutt Lange, Bryan Adams, Widespread Panic, Katy Perry, George Thorogood, Sly and Robbie, Doyle Bramhall, Al Green, and many others.

When Lenny Kravitz wanted his sound and production to progress to a new level, he sought out Manning, and the resulting collaboration "5" became Kravitz' largest selling ever, staying high on the Billboard album chart for well over two years, selling over 11 million worldwide! When Shakira wanted the best of vintage sound mixed with the best of modern, she sought out Terry to record her first English album. The result was "Laundry Service" which was #1 in the world for the year 2000, selling over 12 million worldwide!

In addition to the US and Bahamas, Terry has recorded in England (for over a year he based out of Abbey Road Studios), Australia, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, Brasíl, Canada, Scotland, and France. In '92, he started his own label, Lucky Seven Records, distributed by Rounder/Universal, and released several popular titles, inc The Memphis Horns, Jim Suhler & Monkey Beat, Rock City, Van Duren, Cargoe, and others. Manning's other interests include athletics, aviation, astronomy, and history. He was captain of the soccer team at Memphis State (now University of Memphis), where he also played basketball on the (junior) varsity. He has completed several marathons, including The New York Marathon twice. He was ranked as high as 19th in US racquetball, and was a racquetball instructor for several years. In high school, Manning was all-city quarterback on the football team, and ran track. He is an instrument-rated pilot with a deep love of flying. Manning has received Bachelor of Arts degrees in History and Political Science, and graduated Magna Cum Laude. He has three children, Lucas, Michael and Kari, and a step-son, Cory.