Muscle Shoals, Alabama - Music

Music

The city is one of four municipalities known as the Quad Cities, the others being Florence, Sheffield and Tuscumbia, all in Alabama. Muscle Shoals is known for recording many hit songs from the 1960s to today at FAME Studios, where Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding and numerous others recorded, and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio which developed work for Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, the Rolling Stones and countless others. While the music from the area is often referred to as the "Muscle Shoals Sound", all four of the Quad Cities have significantly contributed to the area's musical history.

In addition to being home to country music band Shenandoah, a number of artists have made successful pilgrimages to Muscle Shoals in an effort to escape the limelight, and write and record their signature works. Both FAME Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound Studios are still in operation in the city. While famous for classic recordings from Rod Stewart, Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Rolling Stones and The Allman Brothers, recent hit songs such as "Before He Cheats" by Carrie Underwood and "I Loved Her First" by Heartland continue the city's musical legacy. George Michael recorded an early, unreleased version of "Careless Whisper" with Jerry Wexler in Muscle Shoals in 1983.

Fans of Muscle Shoals music frequently make trips to the area to visit local landmarks. While most of the city's recording studios are still active, the majority will allow tours with an appointment. Further, a number of rock, R&B and country music celebrities have homes in the area surrounding Muscle Shoals (Tuscumbia), or riverside estates along the Tennessee River, and often perform in area nightclubs, typically rehearsing new material to an audience of locals. Among the musical celebrities with homes in the area are George Strait, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.

What is most unusual about the area, musically speaking, is the cross-pollination of musical styles that originated in Muscle Shoals. Black artists from the area such as Arthur Alexander and James Carr utilized white country music styles in their work and white artists from the Shoals frequently borrowed from the blues/gospel influences of their black contemporaries, creating a distinct sound.

Sam Phillips, founder of Sun Records, lived in the area and stated in his autobiography that Muscle Shoals (primarily radio station WLAY (AM), which had both "white" and "black" music on its playlist) influenced his merging of these sounds at Sun Records with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash.

On January 6, 2010, Muscle Shoals was added to the Mississippi Blues Trail.