Hello Again Kats & Kittens, Friend & Fiend,
KOOL thing about MA RAINEY from the folks at ATLAS OBSCURA
ONWARD!
THE STONES did it…DYLAN did too…ARETHA, SEGER, ETTA, PAUL, DUANE, WILSON, SKYNYRD, TRAFFIC, HELEN REDDY, DR. HOOK, BLACK KEYS,…even GEORGE MICHAEL.
They all recorded at MUSCLE SHOALS. (this is partial list…hoards flocked to the Shoals to record)
The Muscle Shoals Sound is an amalgam of many things, The FAME Studios, Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, MUSCLE SHOALS RHYTHM SECTION & THE SWAMPERS…. all commingled in the northwest corner of ‘Bama to make great music.
Florence, ‘bama, late 50s, starter pistol is RICK HALL….got this mess going, partnering up with TOM STAFFORD & BILLY SHERILL, all musos in the making, Stafford has a place.. “hey look…Daddy has a moldy upstairs to the Phamily Pharmacy, let’s use that!”, STAFFORD also has some recording gear. They create "SPAR" (Stafford Publishing And Recording) Studio above the morphine store. Hall hires local dudes, playin’ local music, to make some demos…history right there….16 year-olds NORBERT PUTNAM, DAVID BRIGGS & JERRY CARRIGAN, become the amoeba of what is now known as THE MUSCLE SHOALS SOUND.
Things don’t stay rainbows & puppies for long. This is rock-n-roll music after all…HALL gets the axe Humilated…he will exact revenge & become number 1 competitor!
Down the two-lane to Muscle Shoals, ‘Bama, 1961, buys abandoned warehouse (don’t they all start in an abandoned something?… never the penthouse) FAME STUDIOS is born, Rhthym section of NORBERT PUTNAM, DAVID BRIGGS & JERRY CARRIGAN, stay intact, travel with HALL…for a while…they get hot, money talks, they walk as one, to NASHVILLE’s big sparkley lights.
StacheMaster RICK HALL
THE SWAMPERS invest local…MUSCLE SHOALS SOUND opens for biz.
1969, MONEY FIGHT!, quitsville for SWAMPERS exit studio. HALL must be getting used to no puppies or rainbows.
Sheffield, ‘Bama…WEXLER assists SWAMPERS’ purchase a wee studio at 3614 Jackson Highway, burlap-covered walls included at no charge…so small, even the bathroom is used as a sound booth. Not a real studio with double thick walls, sessions would “pause” as a heavy truck might drive by, thunder storms too would halt the work. Bassman HOOD says "…Let's call it ' Muscle Shoals Sound ' just to get at Rick." They also trademarked the name "The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section".
After a lean start, things go swell with the hit “Take a Letter, Maria” by R.B. GREAVES. CHER too…then LEON RUSSELL, ETTA JAMES, PAUL SIMON, THE ROLLING STONES, HELEN REDDY, WILLIE NELSON plus, plus, plus follow to get “the sound”.
HALL needs a new rhythm section, a second FAME gang…BARRY BECKETT—keyboards ROGER HAWKINS—drums DAVID HOOD bass JIMMY JOHNSON—guitar
Known as THE SWAMPERS & they’re good.
DAN PENN, DONNIE FRITTS, SPOONER OLDHAM, & TERRY THOMPSON joined the party round out sessions.
1967, Producing Impressario JERRY WEXLER arrives with a 20-something ARETHA FRANKLIN…gooseflesh right?
WEXLER-ARETHA
The session turns ugly mid-way thru…TED WHITE, ARETHA’S husband, jealous & boozy, has HALL & WEXLER fire the trumpet player…calm returns only briefly, an hour later WHITE bursts into the control room demanding the sax player get fired too…why? He insists that“They were making’ eyes at my lady…”. Only thing that gets laid…"I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)"…. one song… the session is cut short but the action continues, RICK HALL tries to quell things at the local hotel….only to get into fisticuffs with WHITE!…A horrified WEXLER…sees the need for speed…they leave the next day.
“I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" hits the R&B charts at No.1, 1967
Ointment to the wounds, WEXLER flies THE SWAMPERS to NYC to record a little ditty called “Respect”….Rolling Stone’s 5th best song EVER! Guess that worked out….but not for RICK HALL, no ticket to ride to NYC. No puppies or rainbows for him.
The vibe at the studio was one of experimentation…Arranger? pssh…not needed…someone hits a groove, the others join the fray…magic!…records get made! Been that way, all the way…
Last story……so the STONES show up at Muscle Shoals Sound. December 1969, middle of tour, two nights before West Palm Beach, Florida concert, on their way to CALI for Death, Hells Angels & Altamont. But right now, in ‘Bama, things are peachy (we know, that’s Georgia but go with it). Three days recording on the sched…super secret, no one knows the long haired British hippies are there…not even the conservative southern locals……they record three songs. Day one “You Gotta Move”, day two, “Brown Sugar”, on the third, “Wild Horses”. (included with bonus tracks…playlists below)
Wham Bam, Bob’s yer Uncle…back on the bus to freak out in CALI!
These tunes end up on album number 9 for MICK & Gang…”Sticky Fingers”…
Spanish cover to STICKY FINGERS
The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, as a group or on their own, have recorded more than 500 recordings, including 75 gold & platinum hits.
Many other session bands & studios to look into. Most of these places have tours & some have reopened (masks please, only small groups).
Booker T. & the MGs-STAX/VOLT Studios, Memphis, MFSB-Philly, Compass Point All-Stars-Bahamas, The Nashville A-Team-Sound Stage Studios (now Black River Ent.), The Section in LALA, In Advertland, The Hillside Singers…remember ”I’d Like to Teach The World To sing…”
That’s the tale for today,
Thanks for listening, until tomorrow.
Peace & Distance.
