For those in the know, the name Muscle Shoals holds a sacred place. The sound, the studio and the city of the same name have made an indelible impression on classic and modern music. Now, this legendary place will be featured in a new documentary film which will be premiering on Friday, September 27 at IFC in New York City. If you are in town, join us for this amazing event.
More from Magnolia Pictures:
Located alongside the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals, Alabama is the unlikely breeding ground for some of America’s most creative and defiant music. Under the spiritual influence of the “Singing River,” as Native Americans called it, the music of Muscle Shoals has helped create some of the most important and resonant songs of all time. At its heart is Rick Hall who founded FAME Studios.
Overcoming crushing poverty and staggering tragedies, Hall brought black and white together in Alabama’s cauldron of racial hostility to create music for the generations. He is responsible for creating the “Muscle Shoals sound” and The Swampers, the house band at FAME that eventually left to start their own successful studio, known as Muscle Shoals Sound. Greg Allman, Bono, Clarence Carter, Mick Jagger, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge and others bear witness to Muscle Shoals’ magnetism, mystery and why it remains influential today.
Here is what the Village Voice had to say about the film:
We see Bono’s face before we hear a soul singer sing, but other than that prizing of current fame over timeless r&b, Greg “Freddy” Camalier’s engaging new doc Muscle Shoals stands as a winning tribute to the coastal Alabama studio, musicians, and engineers who laid down some of the greatest pop tracks of the late ’60s and early ’70s: Wilson Pickett’s “Land of 1,000 Dances,” the Staple Singers’ “I’ll Take You There,” and Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman.” The film and the principals—FAME Studios founder Rick Hall, Jerry Wexler, members of the rhythm section, even Aretha herself—indulge in myth-making, citing some spirit hauled up from Alabama river mud that made these white musicians play so “greasy” and “funky” (Aretha’s words!). But with music this rich and soulful, a little grandiosity is to be expected—especially considering the studio was so egalitarian about race at a time and place you wouldn’t expect. FULL ARTICLE
Check out the trailer below:
