Friday we took a ride trip to Muscle Shoals, AL. It was a suggested stop by one of Jim’s colleagues at work. I’ve heard of it but didn’t really know much it. Turns out this middle of nowhere place was started by a guy named Rick Hall back in the 50’s and his story is amazing. He basically grew up having nothing and living in a shack with dirt floors. As a teenager he learned how to play the guitar and started writing music but wasn’t getting anywhere. He decided to open a music studio called Fame and one of his first recordings was Arthur Alexander’s “You Better Move On” in 1961 which went to gold and propelled his career.

From there he went on to become very famous in the recording business and has recorded many famous artists including: The Rolling Stones, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Clarence Carter, Aretha Franklin, Bobbie Gentry, Etta James, Candi Staton, The Osmonds, Mac Davis, Boz Scaggs, Paul Simon, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joe Cocker, Julian Lennon, and a bunch of others. Duane Allman camped out in a tent in the studio parking lot until Hall gave him a shot. He passed away in 2018 but the studio still produces.

Unfortunately he was very controlling and his recording band, who were fabulous in their own right and very much in demand with all the great stars decided to break off and start their own studio called Muscle Shoals sound studio. This caused allot of friction and competition between the studios. But both continued to produce many famous recordings collecting many platinum records. Muscle Shoals produced artists like The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, Cher, Linda Rondstat, Paul Simon, Lynard Skynard, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Joe Cocker, Bob Seger, Rod Stewart, Cat Stevens, Traffic, Elton John, Boz Scaggs, Bob Dylan, Dr. Hook, and Glenn Frey.

It was a fascinating tour. We spent the night there and headed back the next day.