Posted on 01/05/2018 10:23:41 AM PST by Cecily
Rick Hall, the producer who forged the Southern soul style known as the Muscle Shoals sound, died on Tuesday at his home in Muscle Shoals, Ala. He was 85.
His wife, Linda Kay Hall, said the cause was prostate cancer.
Mr. Hall turned small-town Alabama into a crucible of soul, country, pop and rock after he founded FAME Studios in 1959 in Florence, Ala. FAME stands for Florence Alabama Music Enterprises, although in 1961 the studio moved to nearby Muscle Shoals, where it remains. Mr. Hall also started FAME Publishing, which would amass a substantial catalog of hits, and FAME Records.
Mr. Hall’s versatile output drew on Southern roots — country, blues, R&B, gospel — and on his instincts for concisely emotive storytelling, lean arrangements and solid grooves. He was a proud taskmaster in the studio.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Muscle Shoals has got The Swampers.
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The Swampers sounded great. Wonderful session musicians.
That’s sad. Watch the documentary “Muscle Shoals,” if you haven’t seen it — an outstanding look into Rick Hall, FAME studios, the Swampers, and the Muscle Shoals sound.
netflix has an interesting documentary on muscle shoals, anyone interested in history of the music that came from there. rolling stones, detroit 60’s music, skynyrd, allman brothers, should check it out
Muscle Shoals documentary on Netflix. Worth it.
I agree, it's worth the view.
RIP. What a great musical legacy.
These alone are quite a legacy:
“The producer Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records brought Wilson Pickett to FAME for sessions that yielded five singles: “Land of a Thousand Dances,” “Mustang Sally,” “Funky Broadway,” “Hey Jude” and “Hey Joe.” The idea of recording “Hey Jude” came from the studio’s lead guitarist: Duane Allman.”
There was no color barrier. Just great musicians that made great music even better.
So many hits for sure.
The Netflix film is a must see, IMO.
If you want to know about the genius of session musicians (and their engineers), that documentary, "The Wrecking Crew" (LA area musicians) and "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" are wonderful
Oh man, and I thought it was MUSSEL Shoals this whole time!
The “Muscle Shoals” documentary is a must-see. Rick Hall will be well remembered by music fans everywhere. From back when music was music.
Incredible music legacy. Until I watched that show, I had no idea how influential Rick was.
One rumor I heard was that it was Mic Jagger who gave the singers the name ‘swampers.’ Had anyone else heard this?
Muscle Shoals Has (Still) Got The Swampers: What Music Legends' Lives Are Like Now
"Many a Southern rock fan have been shouting out the MSRS' nickname, whether or not they knew it as such, for decades, singing along to the lyrics, "Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers/And they've been known to pick a song or two," from Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1974 smash, "Sweet Home Alabama." "Nobody really knew who or what The Swampers were," Johnson says. "And I think that movie brought that out and most people understand it now." Today he's clad in dark jeans, black sneakers, North Face fleece jacket and Muscle Shoals Sound cap. Denny Cordell, an English rock producer who worked with Joe Cocker and Leon Russell, bestowed The Swampers' tag upon them. So do Hood and Johnson consider themselves Swampers or Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section members first and foremost? For Hood, Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section "is still the name, but Swampers is a cool name and people like it." Johnson answers, "Both." (AL.com also requested interviews with Oldham and Hawkins for this story, but were told they were not available.)"
Duane Allman laid down some smoking guitar at the end of “Hey Jude” too!
The funniest line of the documentary was when Hall mentioned that Wilson Picket called and wanted to record with those black boys as backup. Hall said they’ve got awful light skin but can sure play. Something like that.
Good music is truly color blind. Then there’s rap.
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