Famed Engineer for Led Zeppelin and ZZ Top Dead After “Sudden, Fatal Fall”: Report

Holding titles like composer, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and engineer, Terry Manning spent over five decades in the music industry. Throughout that time, he worked with stars and bands including Iron Maiden, ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin, Big Star, George Thorogood, Shania Twain, Joe Walsh, Lenny Kravitz, Shakira, and many more. Inducted into the International Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the famed producer sadly passed away at 77 years old. 

Videos by American Songwriter

The news of Manning’s passing first hit headlines after his son, Lucas Manning, announced he died while at his home in El Paso, Texas. Details about the cause of his death are still somewhat unknown. Yet, Musician Robert Johnson, a friend of Manning, shared details from Manning’s wife with the Memphis Flyer, noting the engineer suffered from a “sudden, fatal fall” at his house. Again, an official cause of death has yet to be released. 

Memphis Flyer that Gibbons had shared news from Manning’s wife that Manning suffered a sudden, fatal fall in the early hours of the morning at his home in El Paso, Texas. An official cause of death has not been made public at this time. He was 77.

Looking back over his prosperous career in the music industry, Manning first found a love for music as a teenager. Listening to Elvis Presley, he soon turned his attention to music. And thankfully, his father was a traveling minister. When given the chance to relocate his family to another church, Manning supported the move to Memphis. He recalled, “Well, I remember buying ‘Last Night’ by the Mar-Keys on the Satellite label — I loved that song, played it over and over. On the bottom of the record it had an address: ‘926 E. McLemore, Memphis, TN.’ So I lobbied for Memphis — because I knew there were records made there.”

Terry Manning Considered Himself “Very Lucky” To Have A Career In Music

Listening to his son, the family eventually moved to Bluff City during the 1960s. And it didn’t take long before Manning entered the Stax Records studio looking for a job. “The secretary at the front desk that day was Deanie Parker. She let me come in. Before long, Steve Cropper happened to walk by, saw my guitar case. We talked and I told him what I wanted to do — which was work at the studio. Steve was good enough to let me come in and copy tapes and sweep the floors and learn.” 

Also rubbing shoulders with the founder of Ardent Records, John Fry, Manning jumped at the chance to work for him. “John was the consummate technical engineer. Studied it, knew it, was into the science of it: how sound waves were propagated, where things came from, what types of mics were best. Being around John was like a class itself.”

Never losing that passion for music, Manning not only produced a promising career for himself but helped numerous legendary acts find that perfect sound. Recalling his years in music, he concluded, “The people and places I’ve bumped into have been amazing. To have been in Stax, in Ardent, Abbey Road, Compass Point. I can’t believe it sometimes. I’m just lucky, very lucky, to have done all that.”

(RØDE, 2011)