Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
One of the most prominent American studio house bands from the 1960s to the 1980s, these musicians, individually or as a group, have been associated with more than 500 recordings, including 75 gold and platinum hits.
They were masters at creating a southern combination of R&B, soul and country music known as the "Muscle Shoals sound" to back up black artists, who were often in disbelief to learn that the studio musicians were white.
[1] The original group hired by Hall in the early 1960s was Norbert Putnam, David Briggs, and Jerry Carrigan, who created hit records that brought recognition and stature to this unknown and out-of-the-way studio.
To replace these musicians, Hall hired a core group consisting of Barry Beckett, Roger Hawkins, David Hood and Jimmy Johnson, initially called "the Second FAME Gang", but widely known by the nickname "The Swampers" .
They were mentioned by name in the lyrics of "Sweet Home Alabama" (1974) by Lynyrd Skynyrd and appear on the cover of Cher's 1969 album 3614 Jackson Highway.
[3] After Franklin's husband Ted White started an altercation, producer Jerry Wexler decided to continue recording the LP in New York, again using the Swampers.
He asked some 16-year-old members of a local band, Norbert Putnam, David Briggs and Jerry Carrigan, to make some song demos.
Also frequenting these rooms were future musical elites, such as Donnie Fritts, Spooner Oldham, Terry Thompson and Dan Penn.
[6] The song, "You Better Move On" rose to number 24 on Billboard's Hot 100 in March 1962, and two years later, cover versions were recorded by both The Hollies and The Rolling Stones.
[7] Rick Hall's financial success from "You Better Move On" gave him the capital to secure land in Muscle Shoals City, where, in 1962, he built a first-rate studio at 603 Avalon Avenue patterned after Owen Bradley's in Nashville.
[11] The nickname "The Swampers" was coined by producer Denny Cordell during recording sessions for Leon Russell because of their "funky, soulful Southern 'swamp' sound".
[12] Guitarist Jimmy Johnson was the first FAME employee and did many jobs there, including playing rhythm guitar, engineering, and sweeping the floors.
When bass player David Hood first received the call that a job at FAME had opened up, he was working at his father's tire store.
[14] Keyboard player Barry Beckett knew nothing about Muscle Shoals in 1967, but was hired on a session there, James and Bobby Purify's "I'm Your Puppet".
[7] According to music writer Carla Jean Whitley, more than a few people were surprised to learn that the musicians backing many notable black artists were white.
[11] In 1969, after a financial dispute, the Swampers broke away from Rick Hall and FAME to purchase a tiny studio with burlap-covered walls at 3614 Jackson Highway.
From this point, the studio began turning out hits such as Leon Russell's "Tight Rope", the Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There" and Paul Simon's "Kodachrome".
[14] The Rolling Stones, newly signed to Atlantic Records, arrived in Sheffield, Alabama, in December, 1969, two nights after a performance in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Mick Jagger wrote three verses on a stenographer's pad on the spot for "Brown Sugar", which made number 490 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 top songs ever recorded.
Swamper David Hood's son who was there said, "Their visit was kept a secret from most of the locals, and the world's biggest rock and roll band came, recorded and left (headed for infamy at Altamont, no less) without the conservative townsfolk even knowing they were there.
[24] As an example, in the Muscle Shoals recording of Wilson Pickett's classic hit "Land of 1000 Dances", Jerry Wexler chose the song–it was to be a cover version of a song by Chris Kenner.
It was captured on tape, and the players were summoned to the control room, where Rick Hall shouted, "Guys, we are now cutting a smash record".
[25] What started as an ad lib by Frankie Garcia (Cannibal) from a live performance was then incorporated into their recording of the song, which reached number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1965.
Pickett said, "let me show you," and got the horn players (Wayne Jackson, Charlie Chalmers, Andrew Love and Floyd Newman) to hit a chord.
[7] The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section closed the original on Jackson Highway in April, 1979, and moved to a new studio at 1000 Alabama Avenue in nearby Sheffield.
The town leaders sold Sheffield's abandoned 31,000 square feet (2,900 m2) Armory to the Swampers at an unbeatable price, to counter a nearby city's offer to lure them away.
[14] That year, the new studio recorded the Bob Dylan album Slow Train Coming, co-produced by Barry Beckett, who also performed on it.
At that time, three of the Swampers joined other session players, such as the keyboardist Carson Whitsett, backing Bobby "Blue" Bland and other artists recording for the Malaco label.
[16] During the 1990s and later, the group continued working as a studio band, often with Clayton Ivey on keyboards, for artists including Gregg Allman (All Night All Stars), T. Graham Brown, Jimmy Buffett, Melissa Etheridge, John Hiatt, the Oak Ridge Boys, Johnny Paycheck, Etta James, and Joe Louis Walker.
[28] In 2019, the original Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, including Norbert Putnam, David Briggs, Jerry Carrigan, Terry Thompson, Earl "Peanut" Montgomery, Joe South and Reggie Young, was inducted, as well as the Muscle Shoals Horn Section:[29] Aaron Brown, Harrison Calloway, Ronny Eades, Charles Rose, and Harvey Thompson.
