Muscle Shoals: The Story Of Rick Hall's FAME Studios

Muscle Shoals depicts the story of Rick Hall, his infamous FAME Studios, and the legendary music that came out of this small Alabama town. Following the death of his wife and father, Rick Hall traveled the south playing music and floating around before he settled down in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and established FAME Studios. One of Rick Hall’s first big hits out of FAME Studios, Arthur Alexander’s “You Better Move On”, established his studio and from that point onwards Muscle Shoals would continue to produce commercial hits and revive artists’ careers. Other stars who recorded with Rick Hall, such as Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Wilson Pickett, and numerous others, obtained the Muscle Shoals sound with the help of the FAME Studio band, The Swampers, who went on to create their own recording studio and produce more iconic records. Despite his temper that caused conflict with Aretha Franklin’s husband,

Hall’s first recordings at FAME Studios were with local artists Percy Sledge and Arthur Alexander, who recorded “When a Man Loves a Woman” and “You Better Move On” respectfully, establishing his studio and his reputation as a producer. With the increase in his reputation, more artists traveled to Muscle Shoals to capture the unique sound. Artists who needed rebranding or a hit to revamp their career, such as Etta James and Aretha Franklin, found their success in FAME Studios. James’s “Tell Mama” was the comeback song she needed to bring her back into the limelight, and Franklin’s “I Never Loved a Man” was her debut single with Atlantic and finally earned her a place in the charts. Other huge hits recorded in Muscles Shoals include “Land of 1000 Dances” by Wilson Pickett, “Wild Horses” by the Rolling Stones, and “Freebird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Footage of the behind the scene work on all of these songs shows the natural and almost easy manner in which these Muscle Shoals hits were brought into