Muscle Shoals is Music’s Mecca

A Father-Son Roadtrip to the Singing River

If you have seen the documentary, Muscle Shoals, then you know about the power of the music that comes from this place. The documentary came out in 2013 and showcases not only the vision of music legend, Rick Hall, the musicianship of the players, but also an indescribable sound that changed the music and brought artists from around the world to try and capture lightning in a bottle. My dad and I watched this film in awe and decided to take a road trip to the place near “The Singing River”, named by the indigenous people. 

Muscle Shoals, Alabama, rests on the south bank of the Tennessee River, around 20 miles from the state line. Nashville and Memphis are a couple of hours away by car in opposite directions. We were heading west from Huntsville, Alabama. Muscle Shoals is just over 16 square miles in total and has a population of under 15,000. That number goes up to 200,000 if you package it with the city of Florence across the river and the other surrounding towns.  

Despite these unimpressive statistics of stature, its musical legacy is equal to any large city, having been home to a small group of musicians who helped define soul, R&B and rock n’ roll from the 1960s to the present day.  Those legendary players are known as the Swampers. The Swampers, also known as The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, are a legendary group of session musicians based in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They gained fame for their exceptional talent and distinctive sound that shaped the landscape of popular music in the 1960s and beyond. Formed in 1961, the core members of the Swampers included David Hood on bass, Roger Hawkins on drums, Jimmy Johnson on guitar, and Barry Beckett on keyboards. 

It was Rick Hall that chose this place and organized this super group and put Muscle Shoals on the map by opening the FAME studios. Some of the country’s biggest artists eventually recorded there, including Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Cher and the Rolling Stones. 

Hall described the sound coming out of Muscle Shoals as “funky, hard, gutty, down to earth.” However, in 1969, The Swampers left FAME to set up their own studio just a few miles down the road, the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, bringing a second musical hotspot to the small town. 

That’s where we were heading. Although FAME (Florence Alabama Music Enterprises), gets most of the recognition in the documentary, we wanted to see the latter first. We essentially drove along the Tennessee River to find a small stone building, in a tiny town and it’s strange to think about how major its impact is when you see it sitting alone in a gravel parking lot. All this music and art and beauty and wonderment came from this unassuming place. Blacks and whites came here together in the 1960’s South to create a sound that transcends time. 

The studio struggled to get on its feet during its first few months, with the first album recorded there, Cher’s aptly named 3614 Jackson Highway (the address of the studio), selling poorly. Then they brought singer-songwriter R.B. Greaves to the studio to record “Take a Letter, Maria,” which quickly shot to number two on the Billboard charts upon its release. The winning streak continued after that when the Rolling Stones arrived from across the pond to record three songs: “You Gotta Move,” “Wild Horses,” and the number-one smash “Brown Sugar.” 

Our tour guide was pure perfection in describing what had happened inside these walls. He set a tone that took you back in time, and as your head swirls around the room, you could picture these musicians summoning the melodies from the ancients, whose spirits flowed in the nearby waters. Here sits the gear where all the stars, along with the local boys (who history will deem icons), composed the songs that shaped our lives.  

There’s a mixing board in the control room that looks over its counterparts and could tell thousands of stories if it could speak. A couch sits there too and could probably tell better stories.  A small booth for capturing vocals resides in the corner and features a photo of Linda Ronstadt crooning a probable number one hit. A drum room is also showcased behind glass and microphones, guitars, headphones and speakers line the room. And some of that legendary music even came from the bathroom. 

Our guide regaled a tale of legendary proportions about Keith Richards attempt to lay down the words and rhythms to a tune he called “Wild Horses”. He just couldn’t get it right in his head and Mick Jagger kept complaining about Keith and others “slowing down” their session. So, Keith locked himself in the loo and finished the song. Mick would later record the vocals in there as it seemed to have the sound he was looking for. There is something to be said for that bathroom resonance, I mean, who doesn’t sing in the shower. 

My dad and I stood and listened to each word of every story and would just glance over at each other in amazement every few minutes. We were standing where the legends stood, and we couldn’t stop smiling.  

The Muscle Shoals Sound Studio became the go-to studio for the biggest names in music. From 1969 to 1978, the Swampers played on over 200 albums, with over 75 Gold and Platinum records, and hundreds of hit songs with artists such as, Bob Dylan, Duane Allman, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Bob Seger, Staples Singers, Rod Stewart, Leon Russell, Willie Nelson, Cat Stevens, Dr. Hook, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.  

Our educationalist pointed to the piano that shimmered under a dim light and recounted one of my favorite stories of our pilgrimage. It’s about Skynyrd. 

The band was recording some songs at the Studio that would eventually end up on their debut album. One of the songs was called Free Bird, maybe you’ve heard of it. The band went to lunch one day but left their roadie, Billy Powell, behind for whatever reason. When they returned, Powell was seated at the keys in the middle of the room playing an introduction to the song that he had composed himself. Before this, the song started off with just guitars. 

Unknown to the band, Powell was a classically trained pianist. Upon hearing his intro, they liked it so much they added it to the song and asked Powell to formally join the group as their keyboard player.  Good thing he wasn’t hungry. 

There are so many of these beautiful stories and I don’t want to ruin the experience for you, because you need to go. If you haven’t already, put it on your list of musical meccas.  

The original Muscle Shoals Sound Studio was purchased by sound engineer Noel Webster in 1999 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 2, 2006. There are still bands recording here today as well. 

The refurbished studio was home to blues-rock band The Black Keys for the recording of their Grammy-winning Brothers album in 2010. In June 2013, Webster sold the studio to the Muscle Shoals Music Foundation, which is headed by Judy Hood, wife of Swamper David Hood.  

The bottom line is that the Muscle Shoals sound played a prominent role in American popular music both as a production facility and as a stylistic embodiment of southern regional music. The remarkable consistency of the music created by the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section can mostly be explained by the synergy of its players and their dedication to the art of recording.   

The appeal of that sound, which is internationally recognized, can be understood as a unique blending of local musical sensibilities with a brilliant mix of styles that reached well beyond its geographic boundaries. The studio’s true legacy testifies to music’s ability to defy stereotypes and bring unlikely groups together. I am truly happy that my father and I took this journey. Once again, music brings us all together and bonds us in a way that can’t always be simply explained in words, it needs that exemplary band behind it.