Just two hours from Music City, the pioneers of what became known as the Muscle Shoals Sound long ago gave notice to the music world that the road runs both ways. While Nashville was already a destination for aspiring musicians, by the sixties and seventies, recording artists, producers, and movers and shakers in the music industry were finding their way to the area of North Alabama that would soon be dubbed “The Hit Recording Capitol of the World.”
At the opening reception for the Muscle Shoals: Low Rhythm Rising, Country Music Hall of Fame CEO Kyle Young introduced the exhibit, calling it “a story that needed to be told with scholarly depth and curatorial attention.” He described riding through the Shoals area as a child in 1965 on a family trip to Mississippi, unaware it was quick becoming “an epicenter of music, a brick-and-mortar beacon of sonic light.” On Thursday, museum members were treated to a sampler of that signature sound and a first look at the museum exhibit long in the making.
The veteran songwriting duo Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, whom Young called “key architects of Muscle Shoals music,” opened with their first hit co-write “I’m Your Puppet.” The pair has accumulated acclaim for producing and performing, as well as songwriting, and they continue to perform together, with Oldham fresh off a European tour with Neil Young.
Betty LaVette followed, sharing the story of her first full-length album recorded at FAME in 1972 with the original Muscle Shoals rhythm section that was shelved until 2018. Thirty-five years later she returned to record The Scene of the Crime with the Drive-By Truckers. Accompanied by Oldham on his Wurlitzer, she performed her version of George Jones’ “Choices.” Closing out the evening, native son Jason Isbell described his own experience growing up close enough to the studios to hang out as a teenager, where he learned that a music career was a genuine possibility.
He spent so much time in the studio, he said, “David Hood started calling me ‘Son.’” When he asked Hood for advice, he was told, “Show up on time and make sure all your gear works.” Isbell added, “Turns out he was right.”
Though he has an impressive track record of his own, Isbell performed some of the songs that put Muscle Shoals on the map—Arthur Alexander’s “You Better Move On,” recorded by the Rolling Stones, as well as the Stones’ hit “Wild Horses” and Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome.”
The exhibit, at least three years in the works, features the piano bought by Rick Hall from the Appalachian Piano Company in Bristol, Tennessee, on which so many hits were played. The collection includes a variety of instruments played on the multitude of hits, notebooks of lyrics, iconic photographs, and recorded interviews that give a glimpse into the Muscle Shoals story.
On Friday night, the Country Music Hall of Fame Theater hosted a concert to celebrate the exhibit with Will McFarlane acting as band leader and the museum’s VP of Music Services Michael Gray as emcee. The house band was composed of legendary session musicians who had played a role in creating the iconic sound.
Dan Penn opened the night with “I’m Your Puppet,” with Spooner Oldham and Clayton Ivey on keys, and followed by “You Left the Water Running,” which he co-wrote with the late legendary Rick Hall.
Wendy Moten, longtime backup singer for Vince Gill, performed “Do Right Woman,” another song by Penn, written with Chips Moman. Moten rocked the hall with Aretha Franklin’s first FAME hit, “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Loved You).”
After declaring on Thursday night that she didn’t need a stool to sing, Betty LaVette took the stage on Friday in high heels and showed she still had the dance moves to go with the voice. She told of recording a John Prine song fifty years ago—before she knew who he was. She explained that, because of the studio’s metal roof, they had to pause the session during a rainstorm. While the musicians took a break, she and Barry Beckett worked through the song “Souvenirs.” Their first take of the vocals was kept—editing out the rain. LaVette said she was later able to sing that song to Prine, holding his hand. She said she chose not to listen to the original recording of a song before she tackled it, preferring to have the lyrics and the chord changes to make it her own. On Friday in the Country Music Hall of Fame Theatre, she did just that.
Jimmy Hall, the “blue-eyed soul” former lead singer of Wet Willie, took the energy level up another notch or two, singing the Percy Sledge song that put Muscle Shoals on the map—“When a Man Loves a Woman,” following up with “Land of 10000 Dances,” getting the audience singing along on “Na na na na na…”
Reminding music fans of the breadth of music recorded in the Shoals, the country band Shenandoah performed two of their hits “Two Dozen Roses” and “The Church on Cumberland Road.” Noting the thin line between music genres, they noted that Ray Charles once said his favorite blues singer was George Jones.
Any discriminating music lover knows that what happens behind the lead vocal mic creates much of the magic. Marie Lewey and Cindy Richardson-Walker, who have performed together for years as the Shoals Sisters, provided background harmonies throughout the night. Their vocals continue to be in demand in studios in Muscle Shoals and beyond.
The vocalists were also backed up by a stellar band with long history in Muscle Shoals music. Mark Beckett, son of the late Barry Beckett, played drums, with Mickey Buckins on percussion, Kelvin Holly on guitar, Clayton Ivey and Spooner Oldham on keyboards, and Bob Wray on bass. The horns section, composed of Brad Guin, Steve Herrman, Jim Hoke, and Charles Rose, gave the night’s music the signature Shoals sound.
John Paul White, a powerhouse from the next generation of Muscle Shoals music, took the stage. He credited all the people who came before him, leading to “a dream come true I didn’t have.” He said he was “standing on their shoulders, pretending I belong.” His performance of “You Better Move On” followed by Bob Seger’s “Why Don’t You Stay” confirmed that he does, in fact, belong in the Muscle Shoals story.
Candi Staton, a great-great grandmother at 85, shows no signs of slowing down. With her track record of hits in country, R&B, and gospel, she performed “I’m Just a Prisoner,” practically turning the set into a high-energy gospel revival.
One of the best aspects of the weekend events was the stories behind the songs. Tiera Kennedy performed “Wild Horses,” after McFarlane pointed out that Keith Richards had shut himself in the studio’s cramped bathroom to finish writing the song just before it was recorded. Kennedy’s delivery of “I’d Rather Go Blind” channeled Etta James and the great female R&B singers’ signature Muscle Shoals sound.
Rising Nashville star Maggie Rose recorded her 2021 Have a Seat and returned for her Live from FAME Studios documentary for her YouTube Channel. She performed powerful renditions of Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools” and the Staples Singers’ “I’ll Take You There,” revving up the audience for the grand finale, as the other performers took the stage for “Mustang Sally” and “Sweet Home Alabama.”
(All photos except Will MacFarlane and the Shoals Sisters provided by Getty Images for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum)
The museum featured Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham on Saturday in the Ford Theater for the special songwriters series, with a panel featuring Marlin Greene, Linda Hall, Candi Staton, and Clayton Ivey on Saturday.
Expect to make return visits to the exhibit, open for a three-year run.
