The Man from Muscle Shoals: My Journey from Shame to Fame

The Man from Muscle Shoals: My Journey from Shame to Fame

by Rick Hall

Narrated by Jeremy Arthur, Rick Hall

Unabridged — 11 hours, 18 minutes

The Man from Muscle Shoals: My Journey from Shame to Fame

The Man from Muscle Shoals: My Journey from Shame to Fame

by Rick Hall

Narrated by Jeremy Arthur, Rick Hall

Unabridged — 11 hours, 18 minutes

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Overview

The Man From Muscle Shoals tells the story of the legendary record producer Rick Hall and the role he played in history developing the world-famous "Muscle Shoals sound".

When he founded FAME Recording Studios, Rick Hall made history. It was the first professional recording studio in the entire state of Alabama. Hall produced and engineered the area's first national hit - "You Better Move On", a Southern Soul classic by Arthur Alexander, then wen ton to earn international fame and, eventually, a Grammy for a lifetime of achievements.

When Martin Luther King, Jr., was marching for freedom, Hall was acting as a civil rights pioneer through his music. His records helped to introduce white audiences to the black music market and black audiences to the white music market.

As soon as "You Better Move On" hit the charts, record executives literally flocked ot Muscle Shoals to have Hall produce and engineer an almost unbelievable array of major artists including Aretha Franklin, Bobby Gentry, the Osmonds, and Alabama. Hall's incredible production skills were matched by his amazing versatility.

Anyone who loves music or history will delight in the fascinating tales of how Rick Hall launched the music careers of so many famous artists.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

08/03/2015
Hall changed the course of popular music history in the early 1960s when he opened his FAME Recording Studios in the tiny town of Muscle Shoals, Ala.—the first professional studio in the entire state. Hall's memoir is a fascinating tale of how he combined a love of country music and rhythm and blues with a band of talented local musicians ("The Swampers," immortalized in Lynyrd Skynyrd's hit "Sweet Home Alabama") to create "a safe haven where blacks and whites could work together in musical harmony," producing hits for many different musicians including Wilson Pickett, Joe Tex, Clarence Carter, Aretha Franklin, Paul Anka, and the Osmonds. The "Muscle Shoals Sound" created at FAME is often associated with the rival Muscle Shoals Sound Studio founded in 1969 by the Swampers after an acrimonious split with Hall. But the book firmly puts the spotlight on Hall's unique accomplishments, and provides a moving tale of Hall's rise from a poverty-stricken youth surrounded by "starvation, deaths, sickness, divorces, and tornadoes" to his nurturing of a regional sweet soul sound that exploded onto the national music scene. (Mar.)

From the Publisher

“If anyone were ever meant to write a book about music, it would be Rick Hall. If anyone were meant to write a book about Muscle Shoals, Alabama music, that too would be Rick Hall. You can’t be a music fan without being touched by the sounds that Rick has influenced. He has few, if any, equals. The music that Rick has been a part of will live and be played and be heard as long as there are speakers and radios, and as long as the Tennessee River flows. He has cotton field genius. You can’t teach it; you can’t learn it, and you can’t copy it. You have to live it. I wanna congratulate Rick and his beautiful wife Linda and thank them for sharing one of the greatest musical stories. I’m proud to know you, Rick.”
Randy Owen, Alabama


“I’m grateful for my association with Rick. He was the one who inspired the creation and magic of many of my career’s early records. It’s fascinating for me to read his perspective on how it all began. I’ll always be appreciative to Rick for taking a chance, not just on the Osmonds, but on me particularly. I doubt I would have had the career I enjoy today without the genius of Rick Hall.”
Donnie Osmond

“I’ve known Rick Hall for some fifty years now. It’s because of his indomitable spirit and old- fashioned work ethic that my biggest hits were recorded at his FAME studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. This wonderful book answers a lot of questions about the “ Muscle Shoals Mystique” and yes, there IS “ something in the water” down there…”
Mac Davis

“Rick Hall’s “The Man from Muscle Shoals” is a great read! The epitome of hard work, raw drive and belief in one’s self, Rick shows how he overcame personal tragedy, disappointment and powerful industry opposition to establish and transform the small country town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama into a world renown recording mecca.”
Larry King

“The moment I stepped into Rick Hall’s Fame Recording Studios, I felt a buzz! I was giddy like a little girl with excitement! The history, fellowship and talent of the artists who’d come before enveloped and surrounded me and it was powerful. I tasted it on my lips, it sank down to my heart. I wanted to absorb and revel in the ambiance where the beautiful music was created and has gone on to move generations.”
GRAMMY TRUSTEES AWARD By Alicia Keys

“There’s an unwritten mantra in the world and business of entertainment, which states that one never knows where and when extraordinary and unique talent may come from. Rick Hall is perhaps one of those who personifies that concept, coming from a town, and a time which never could have been predicted to yield such an iconic and game-changing creative force, who continues to influence creative musicians and please music-loving fans all around the globe. “
Neal Portnow, President, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (Grammy’s).

“I looked at him and said, so this is Rick Hall, this is FAME recording studios, and I’m in Alabama and I’m gonna get some of this Alabama mud. Rick Hall was the 1st white man I had seen that had that kind of soul; he was an engineer that was soulful. I would be so hard headed and say, don’t tell me nothing, but I finally realized that
everything he used to badger me about, he was always right.”
Etta James

“I was there to make it work period. We would sit there and make that record together, I was singing along, Rick Hall stuck there every minute; we would all work it out together. Rick Hall was his own engineer; he built the studio he knew all the electric wiring in there. After my 1st night in that studio I was convinced that this could be my recording home. Rick Hall and I were the real nitty gritty right down in the cold nitty gritty.”
Wilson Pickett

“Rick Hall is a classic American hero who denied being defeated or overcome by tragedy. Despite heart wrenching odds, he triumphed to birth the quintessential ‘Muscle Shoals Sound’ known and revered by musicians while also helping to craft some of the world’s greatest rock, pop, country, and soul music ever.”
Stephen Badger, Producer, & Greg ‘Freddy’ Camalier, Producer & Director, Muscle Shoals

Product Details

BN ID: 2940178750988
Publisher: Lantern Audio
Publication date: 09/22/2015
Edition description: Unabridged
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