![]() Arthur Alexander’s 1961 hit, “You Better Move On,” cut here, launched the famous Muscle Shoals Sound. This is the studio that made Muscle Shoals famous and helped it garner the status "Hit Recording Capital of the World". The internationally acclaimed documentary “Muscle Shoals” tells the story of FAME. 8.Tours: Monday-Friday 9 am and 4 pm Saturday from 10 am-3 pm (tours every hour, last tour starts at 2 pm)Įstablished in 1959, FAME was the first successful, professional recording studio in Alabama. You might meet him when you visit the wall. Tom also wrote about Te-lah-nay’s journey in a book titled If the Legends Fade.Īfter Tom died in 2017, his son, Trace, carries on the family story. It’s also the largest memorial anywhere to a Native American woman. ![]() Tom’s Wall is the largest unmortared stone wall in the country. Tom’s Wall contains 8.5-million pounds of stone, all in place without mortar. Each stone represents a step on Te-lah-nay’s journey home. The other side twist and turns, representing her walk back. One section is straight, representing her journey to Oklahoma. Te-lah-nay escaped from Oklahoma and walked for five years to return home. Her people called the Tennessee River the Singing River, and they taught her the river sang to her. In Oklahoma, she missed her home and, most of all, the river. His ancestor, Te-lah-nay, was a teenager of the Yuchi Tribe that was forced on the Trail of Tears. When Tom Hendrix learned the story of his great-great-grandmother’s journey, he wanted to commemorate her bravery. Some musicians who recorded there included the Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, The Osmond Brothers, Bob Seegar, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Linda Ronstadt, and dozens of other big names. When you tour the studio, you see much of the original equipment and their sound correction material. The studio closed in 1979, and the Muscle Shoals Music Foundation bought it in 2013. Lynyrd Skynyrd was the band that immortalized the name, The Swampers when he recorded “Sweet Home Alabama” and used the name in the song. In addition, they recorded 110 top-10 single records. It solved the problem so well that over the nine years they used the building, they recorded 312 albums 75 of them went gold and 14 platinum. One of the band members had a friend who gave him some Styrofoam to put on the wall. The building’s cement block wall also created a problem. The band solved that problem with some burlap with insulation wrapped in it. As a result, when it rained, they could not record. The studio had problems with recording at first, as the building was originally a coffin showroom and not designed for recording. ![]() No matter what name you call it, this studio made musical history. The name became synonymous with the studio, and today that is the name on the sign in front of the studio. Her album cover shows Cher in the forefront and all the people related to the album behind her. The first album they cut at this studio was Cher’s 1969 album, “3614 Jackson Highway,” named for the studio’s address. In 1969, FAME’s Studio Band left to form the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. He got his break here when he played backup for Wilson Pickett’s “Hey Jude.” That was Duane Allman, who formed The Allman Brothers Band. Aretha Franklin credits Rick Hall for making her the “Queen of Soul.” One young, homeless guitar player stayed in a tent in the FAME parking lot. The guide explains, “If you were in there when they were recording, you couldn’t flush or even come out.” One oddity – since Hall had little money at this time, the bathroom is located inside the studio. Burlap sack insulation, wood slats, and slanted walls created the right sound. Studio A, the Legacy Studio, is the original recording area. Hall added Studio B in 1967 as FAME became busier. A guide takes you into the studio through a door with a sign above it saying, “Through these doors walk the finest musicians, songwriters, artists, and producers in the world.” This is still a working studio. The small lobby of the tour begins has gold records and album covers of some of FAME’s biggest stars, Bobby Gentry, Wilson Pickett, Little Richard, and Greg Allman. Today, you can tour FAME, which still operates as a working studio. FAME got its first national hit in 1961 when Arthur Alexander recorded “You Better Move On.” He ignored local Jim Crow laws and recorded both Black and white musicians using the same backup band, Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, later known as The Swampers. ![]() Hall, himself a Country Musician, recorded Country and Rhythm and Blues musicians. Sherrill and Stafford left the partnership, and Rick Hall shortened the name to FAME and moved the studio to Muscle Shoals. The original studio was over City Drugstore in Florence. Rick Hall first opened Florence Alabama Music Enterprises in 1959 in partnership with Billy Sherrill and Tom Stafford.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |