After Hall had Hughes record two singles which failed to pass the threshold of local success, he suggested that the singer himself write a song Hall might produce for him: Hughes resultantly reworked the hymn "Steal Away" into a secular cheating song, reportedly coming up with a line or two at a time while on the factory night shift over a two week period.
[2] Hall - still operating on Wilson Dam Highway - had Hughes record a demo of "Steal Away" in 1962, but reportedly had fears about the reception likely to be afforded a black man's exhortation to infidelity: it was not until some two years after Hughes cut the "Steal Away" demo that Hall had Hughes make a full recording of the song, "Steal Away" being the first track recorded at the FAME Studios which Hall established at 603 East Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals in 1963, the session personnel being that which had backed Arthur Alexander on "You Better Move On": guitarist Terry Thompson, keyboardist David Briggs, bassist Norbert Putnam and drummer Jerry Carrigan.
Hall also had Hughes - who recorded his vocal in one take - backed by a chorale, an effect borrowed from the 1959 Bonnie Guitar single "Candy Apple Red".
[8] "Steal Away" served as the title cut of Hughes debut album, released on Vee Jay Records in 1964.
[13] Rick Hall, producer of the original Jimmy Hughes version of "Steal Away", would subsequently helm four remakes of the song, three of them at his FAME Studios, beginning with Etta James' version included on for her 1968 album release Tell Mama - and serving as B-side of her 1969 single "Almost Persuaded" - , the second instance being the remake by Clarence Carter on his 1969 album The Dynamic Clarence Carter (Carter's 1968 million-seller "Slip Away" - a FAME Studios production by Hall - is considered a "scion" of "Steal Away".