History of Muscle Shoals Music

Looking back at the early history of the Shoals region, it seems as if music has always been a part of life for those who live here. Native Americans first found music in the water of the Tennessee River and named it the “Singing River” after the melodious sounds of the rippling waters. Enslaved peoples carried spirituals and work songs with them when they were brought to Alabama to work in the cotton fields, and Scots-Irish immigrants introduced Celtic folk music as they made their homes here. Gospel music, sacred harp singing, and call-and-response songs were also popular among the people who called the Shoals home in the late nineteenth century. The region later became known for its contributions to the blues, when Florence-native William Christopher “W.C.” Handy became the first musician to identify, arrange, publish, and popularize the basic blues sound. The music producer Sam Phillips also called Florence home and went on to discover Elvis Presley and earn fame with other Sun Records artists, such as Jerry Lee Lewis, BB King, and Johnny Cash. Florence was also the hometown of Tree Publishing owner Buddy Killen, whose company was one of the largest music publishing companies in the nation.

In the 1950s, the Shoals region was home to the first record company in Alabama – Tune Records. Though more than a dozen recording studios operated in the Shoals during the second half of the twentieth century, the most famous were the Muscle Shoals Sound (MSS) Studio and FAME Studio, which were among the top recording studios in the nation. These studios produced hits for such artists as Percy Sledge, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, The Osmonds, and the Rolling Stones. Throughout the 1970s, these studios also recorded with successful artists in other genres, including Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cher, Rod Stewart, and Willie Nelson. In the later part of the decade, the region was dubbed the “Hit Recording Capital of the World” because it produced more hit singles per capita than New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, Miami, and other music cities.

While some studios closed and the music industry changed, the Muscle Shoals music scene has continued to thrive. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Martina McBride, George Strait, ALicia Keys, Phish, Sara Evans, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, and many more recorded at FAME. The Black Keys recorded their Grammy-winning album Brothers at the MSS Studio in 2009. In 2013, the Muscle Shoals Music Foundation, along with the monetary help of Beats Electronics owners Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, purchased the MSS Studio and finished restoring it to its former glory in 2017. The musical tradition of the Shoals continues today with a new generation of singers and songwriters living, writing, recording and/or performing here, including Jason Isbell, Chris Tompkins, John Paul White, Alabama Shakes, The Secret Sisters, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, and Anderson East.