“Chips” Moman, who, as a songwriter, producer and studio owner, was responsible for numerous hits that came out of Memphis in the ’60s, has died. He was 79. We learned this via the Commercial Appeal , saying that he was in a hospice facility in his hometown of LaGrange, Ga, and that he had been in bad health for several years. Marty Lacker, a member of Elvis Presley ‘s “Memphis Mafia” and a longtime friend, confirmed the news to the newspaper. Originally a rockabilly guitarist, Moman was part of the Stax Records crew as a writer and an engineer in its early years, working on such classics as William Bell’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water” and Carla Thomas’ “Gee Whiz.” But he left in 1962, telling Rob Bowman in his history of Stax, Soulsville, U.S.A. , that label co-founder Jim Stewart had reneged on a promise to become a part-owner of the company. He founded American Sound Studio in 1962 and, with his house band known as the Memphis Boys, the studio birthed dozens of ...