{"id":2158086,"date":"2025-11-15T05:03:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T05:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2158086"},"modified":"2025-11-15T05:03:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T05:03:14","slug":"country-music-hall-of-fame-features-iconic-music-made-in-muscle-shoals-alabama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/country-music-hall-of-fame-features-iconic-music-made-in-muscle-shoals-alabama\/","title":{"rendered":"Country Music Hall of Fame features iconic music made in Muscle Shoals, Alabama"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Country Music Hall of Fame wasn\u2019t sure they were going to get the piano. The Apollo baby grand that was at FAME Studios<\/a> from 1961 to 1970. The piano Aretha Franklin<\/a> played on \u201cI Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You),\u201d her breakthrough hit, recorded at FAME in 1967. The piano played on virtually every FAME recording with piano on it from the studio\u2019s most hallowed era. <\/p>\n

Country Music Hall of Fame curator R.J. Smith says, \u201cThe whole family [of late FAME Studios owner\/producer Rick Hall<\/a>] has been incredibly generous with their time, with their thoughts, with their artifacts,\u201d for use in new exhibit \u201cMuscle Shoals: Low Rhythm Rising,\u201d which opens November 14 at the Nashville museum<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Smith continues, \u201cThe one thing that there was reluctance, perhaps just because it\u2019s such a big thing, was that piano. We didn\u2019t press it, and we\u2019re so grateful that it happened. It fills the room and it kind of defines the exhibit like nothing else I could think of might. It was a big ask, and we waited for a while holding our breaths.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curator Michael Gray adds, \u201c[Rick Hall\u2019s son and FAME general manager] Rodney Hall and his mother Linda Hall, they\u2019ve been extremely supportive.\u201d <\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/b>The story behind Rolling Stones drummer\u2019s epic Muscle Shoals tribute<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

For the new Muscle Shoals exhibit, the hall of fame conducted more than 20 oral history film interviews with different Shoals area musicians. Many of them were done in the studio at FAME. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey just opened up the doors and let us use the studio, gratis,\u201d Grays says. \u201cBut when it came to the piano, they had to just think about that for a minute, just because they\u2019re still giving tours there at FAME and need to have neat materials to show their visitors. And that piano means a lot to the family, to Linda. And they just wanted to think about it for a minute before they said yes. But they eventually did.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"FAME
Aretha Franklin played this Apollo baby grand piano when she recorded her breakout pop and R&B hit, \u201cI Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You),\u201d at FAME Studios in 1967. The instrument was in use at the studio from 1961 to 1970. (Photo by Bob Delevante for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum)Bob Delevante<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The baby grand is positioned in the center of the Country Hall of Fame\u2019s 5,000 square-foot exhibit. \u201cLow Rhythm Rising\u201d focuses on the vibrant 1960s and 1970s recording scene in Muscle Shoals, at studios like FAME and Sheffield\u2019s Muscle Shoals Sound<\/a> and Norala\/Quinvy Recording. <\/p>\n

An otherwise humble agrarian North Alabama area at the time, Muscle Shoals was an unlikely recording hotbed. But thanks to visionaries like Rick Hall and Atlantic Records executive\/producer Jerry Wexler, a bevy of talented studio musicians, including collectives known as Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, The Swampers<\/a> and FAME Gang<\/a>, and an absence of big city distractions and temptations, the Shoals became just that. <\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/b>The 20 best songs ever recorded in Muscle Shoals<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

A staggering list of legendary artists, from R&B (Franklin, Etta James, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge<\/a>, Staple Singers, etc.) to rock (Rolling Stones<\/a>, Bob Seger<\/a>, Bob Dylan<\/a>) to pop (Paul Simon, Rod Stewart, Cher<\/a>, The Osmonds) to country (Bobbie Gentry, Willie Nelson, Mac Davis) and beyond (reggae star Jimmy Cliff), recorded classic tracks in Muscle Shoals.<\/p>\n

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\"Muscle
Built in 1964, this was one of two sunburst-finish Fender Stratocasters used by Duane Allman when he was a session musician at FAME Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, from 1968 to 1969. He traded this guitar to another Muscle Shoals musician, Mickey Buckins, who used it at sessions and performances. (Photo by Bob Delevante for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum)Bob Delevante<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

In addition to that FAME Studios piano, notable objects exhibited in \u201cLow Rhythm Rising\u201d include a 1964 Fender Stratocaster played by Duane Allman<\/a>, during the soon-to-be Allman Brothers Band<\/a> guitar hero\u2019s time as a Muscle Shoals studio musician in 1968 and 1969. Allman traded the Strat to another key Shoals studio musician, Mickey Buckins<\/a>, who lent it for the exhibit. <\/p>\n

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\"Muscle
This 1957 Fender Telecaster belonged to Muscle Shoals session guitarist, producer, and recording engineer Pete Carr. The instrument was also used by Duane Allman when he and Carr were members of Hour Glass, the Los Angeles\u2013based R&B band that included Gregg Allman, prior to the formation of the Allman Brothers Band. (Photo by Bob Delevante for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum)Bob Delevante<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

There\u2019s also a 1957 Fender Telecaster that Allman played in his pre Allman Brothers band Hour Glass. The Tele was also used by Pete Carr, known for his lead guitar on Bob Seger\u2019s hit \u201cMainstreet.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Staple Singers\u2019 \u201cI\u2019ll Take Your There\u201d and \u201cRespect Yourself\u201d are two of the most enduring songs cut at Muscle Shoals Sound. A 1970 Fender Telecaster played by Pop Staples when Staple Singers performed the song \u201cThe Weight\u201d with proto-Americana icons The Band at their final concert in 1970, as seen in director Martin Scorsese\u2019s \u201cThe Last Waltz,\u201d widely regarded as one of rock\u2019s greatest documentaries. <\/p>\n

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\"Muscle
Muscle Shoals session musician Roger Hawkins, the drummer in the Swampers, used this Slingerland snare drum with his first band, Spooner & the Spoons. The group, which included Spooner Oldham, Dan Penn and Junior Lowe, recorded at FAME Studios, circa1965. (Photo by Bob Delevante for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum)Bob Delevante<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The exhibit also boasts Slingerland snare drum played by late great Swampers drummer Roger Hawkins<\/a> early in his career. Hawkins supplied the beats on Muscle Shoals essentials like Wilson Pickett\u2019s \u201cLand Of 1000 Dances\u201d and \u201cMustang Sally.\u201d Percy Sledge\u2019s \u201cWhen a Man Loves a Woman\u201d and Bob Seger\u2019s \u201cOld Time Rock and Roll.\u201d Clarence Carter\u2019s \u201cSlip Away\u201d and Staple Singers\u2019 \u201cI\u2019ll Take You There,\u201d too.<\/p>\n

Aretha\u2019s FAME session was cut short due to a kerfuffle between her entourage and someone at the studio. But Atlantic Records\u2019 Jerry Wexler thought so much of Muscle Shoals musicians, he\u2019d bring Hawkins and others to New York to back Franklin in the studio for hits like \u201cRespect,\u201d \u201cChain of Fools\u201d and \u201cThink,\u201d among others. <\/p>\n

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\"Muscle
Wilson Pickett wore this jumpsuit on the cover of his 1971 LP, The Best of Wilson Pickett, Vol. II. The album included Pickett\u2019s 1969 hit version of the Beatles\u2019 \u201cHey Jude,\u201d recorded at FAME Studios with backing by guitarist Duane Allman and the Swampers. (Photo by Bob Delevante for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum)Bob Delevante<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

There\u2019s also clothing in the Country Hall of Fame\u2019s Muscle Shoals exhibit. There\u2019s the black jumpsuit Wilson Pickett wore on the cover photo for his volume two best-of compilation from 1971. That album contained his 1969 R&B version of The Beatles \u201cHey Jude,\u201d recorded at Fame and backed by Duane Allman and the Swampers.<\/p>\n

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\"Muscle
Candi Staton wore this custom-made buckskin jacket and pants, embellished with feathers and leather fringe, in the 1970s. (Photo by Bob Delevante for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum)Bob Delevante<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

In all the great singers Rick Hall worked with at FAME, Candi Staton<\/a> was his favorite. Known for classic soul tracks like \u201cIn The Ghetto,\u201d Staton\u2019s custom-made buckskin suit, adorned with feathers and fringe, is on display in \u201cLow Rhythm Rising.\u201d As is a blue jacket worn in the \u201860s by Dan Penn, the Shoals songwriter who had a hand in writing hits like Aretha\u2019s \u201cDo Right Woman, Do Right Man,\u201d James Carr\u2019s \u201cThe Dark End of the Street,\u201d and James & Bobby Purify\u2019s \u201cI\u2019m Your Puppet.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/b>The horn section secrets of Muscle Shoals, Aretha hits<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Muscle Shoals music is most often associated with vintage R&B made there. But country music has been pivotal in Shoals success too. right down to the most accurate description of its signature sound: Country soul.<\/p>\n

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\"Muscle
This fiddle belonged to FAME Studios owner, producer and songwriter Rick Hall. (Photo by Bob Delevante for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum)Bob Delevante<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Before his FAME days, Rick Hall was a local country musician. The \u201cLow Rhythm Rising\u201d exhibit includes a fiddle Hall played at square dances when he was a teenager. <\/p>\n

Mac McAnally<\/a>, longtime guitarist in Jimmy Buffett\u2019s<\/a> Coral Reefer Band, loaned the hall of fame his 1967 Martin acoustic. McAnally used it during his time as a Muscle Shoals studio musician. <\/p>\n

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\"Muscle
An early draft of handwritten lyrics by Mac Davis to \u201cBaby Don\u2019t Get Hooked on Me.\u201d (Photo by Bob Delevante for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum)Bob Delevante<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

There\u2019s also an early handwritten draft of Mac Davis\u2019 lyrics to his number one hit \u201cBaby Don\u2019t Get Hooked on Me.\u201c Davis penned the song as a response to Rick Hall telling him none of his new songs they were working on had a hook. <\/p>\n

Curator Michael Gray says, \u201cWe like to look at how country music, even though this exhibit does have a lot of just straight ahead country music in it, there is all these other connections where country music is rubbing against soul and R&B and rock and pop. And we love telling those stories.\u201d <\/p>\n

Curator R.J. Smith adds, \u201cThere\u2019s this story in Rick Hall\u2019s book, in his autobiography where he\u2019s talking about Etta James coming to record \u2018I\u2019d Rather Go Blind,\u2019 and he\u2019s like, telling her to sing it like [country singer] Kitty Wells would. And we\u2019ve got [Shoals keyboardist\/songwriter] Spooner Oldham<\/a> talking about how Percy Sledge sort of had a nasal country tone to his voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/b>20 Muscle Shoals music connections that might surprise you<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Although Muscle Shoals music is being featured in a museum, Muscle Shoals music itself<\/i> isn\u2019t a museum. The area has seen a resurgence in recent decades, boosted by popular 2013 documentary film, \u201cMuscle Shoals.\u201d<\/a> Artists like Jack White<\/a>, Gregg Allman<\/a>, Aerosmith\u2019s Steven Tyler<\/a>, Heart\u2019s Ann Wilson<\/a> and Chris Stapleton<\/a> have recorded there since then. <\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/b>10 times rock stars covered classic Muscle Shoals songs<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Former longtime Muscle Shoals resident Jason Isbell<\/a> has become one of the most, if not the most, acclaimed songwriters of his time. Isbell loaned his 1956 Martin acoustic guitar, used on Grammy winning<\/a> Isbell albums \u201cSomething More Than Free\u201d and \u201cThe Nashville Sound,\u201d for \u201cLow Rhythm Rising.\u201d<\/p>\n

Isbell was a staff songwriter at FAME before joining Drive By Truckers<\/a>, a rock band led by Shoals native Patterson Hood<\/a>, the son of Swampers bassist David Hood<\/a>, and later achieving solo stardom.<\/p>\n

Now a Nashville area resident, Isbell narrated a YouTube video promoting the Country Hall of Fame\u2019s exhibit. He wrote the forward to the book accompanying \u201cLow Rhythm Rising,\u201d too.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/b>Alabama music legend\u2019s other life with alternative-rock icons<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

In that forward, Isbell wrote, \u201cListening to the music that had been made in Muscle Shoals was really the first experience that I had with the inner life of people who didn\u2019t look exactly like me. If that hadn\u2019t happened, I could have been a totally different type of person than I am now.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/b>Jason Isbell\u2019s sly \u2018Tonight Show\u2019 tribute to Muscle Shoals, Rolling Stones<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

On Thursday, the night before the exhibit opened, Isbell was part of a reception at the Country Hall of Fame. He performed solo acoustic versions of Shoals-made songs, including Arthur Alexander\u2019s \u201cYou Better Move On,\u201d Rolling Stones\u2019 \u201cWild Horses\u201d and Paul Simon\u2019s \u201cKodachrome.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/b>The Muscle Shoals backing singers who help stars shine<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

The hall of fame has more events to promote the exhibit. On November 15, there\u2019s a 12 p.m. songwriter session with Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, and 2:30 p.m. panel discussion with Candi Staton, Linda Hall, keyboardist Clayton Ivey<\/a> and musician\/recording engineer Marlin Greene. A 1 p.m. November 16 musician spotlight features Mac McAnnaly. More info at countrymusichalloffame.org.<\/a><\/p>\n

Smith says, \u201cOne thing we like to do is think about what exhibits are up at any given time and the balance. Right now we have a Dolly Parton<\/a> exhibit. And maybe that\u2019ll draw people in the door, but while they\u2019re here, they\u2019re going to learn about who David Hood is.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.al.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Country Music Hall of Fame wasn\u2019t sure they were going to get the piano. The Apollo baby grand that was at FAME Studios from 1961 to 1970. The piano Aretha Franklin played on \u201cI Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You),\u201d her breakthrough hit, recorded at FAME in 1967. The piano played […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2158086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2158086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2158086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2158086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2158087,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2158086\/revisions\/2158087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2158086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2158086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2158086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}