Every year when the weather gets cold and snowy mornings fall upon us here in the New York area…I find myself a few new music movies to hunker down with.


The snow came early this year…so let the TBR Film Fest begin!

A few years back I read a small article in Rolling Stone magazine that movie was being made on the recording studio that captured that deep southern rock and soul sound that has “crunch”.


I’m talking about that voodoo sound that spawned from the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd in the quiet northwest corner of Alabama.

This year the movie (simply titled “Muscle Shoals”) hit the circuit hard and to my joy is available on Cablevision’s “On Demand”.


A must see for all friends of the Thunderbird Ranch Ramble!


First of all, the next time someone asks me, “If you can come back as someone else, who would it be?”…Rick Hall (pictured here with the handlebar mustache), the genius behind FAME Studios and the eventual spin-off Muscle Shoals Studio Sound on the other side of town, will cross my mind.


As Bono says in the movie…”It (great music) seems to always generate from rivers…


Liverpool had the Mersey Sound. 


Mississippi has the Delta Blues…Tennessee River has the Muscle Shoals sound.


That deep down music into your stomach, into your heart, from your gut sound!”


One of the cool things for me was seeing how Rick Hall started his own thing after being battered by the big studios. Hall started with cultivating the best studio band around.  Hall’s balls were so big when his studio band revolted and started there own studio across town, he dusted himself off and put together another band, just as good.


Hall’s original band (called “The Swampers”) brought recording artists songs to new places… often including top of the chart positions.


Musicians like The Rolling Stones, Etta James, Steve Winwood, Bob Seger, (pre-Marley) Jimmy Cliff, Paul Simon… traveled from all over the world to get some of that Muscle Shoals southern sound.


3614 Jackson Highway Road was the place.


TBR favorites like John Prine, JJ Cale, Jimmy Buffett, Delbert McClinton and many more recorded within these hallowed studio walls.


You all know that line in “Sweet Home Alabama” that goes “Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers”…well now you know who the heck they are.


For Stones fans, there is great interview with Keith Richards about recording “Wild Horses” there as well as other honky tonk rock and roll songs they pushed out on the early 70s.


The meeting of Wilson Pickett with Duane Allman in the studio yield a super cool version of “Hey Jude”.

http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/B5B1Vfdk7W8&source=uds




Rick Hall resurged Aretha Franklin’s dragging career.  It’s funny that the “Queen of Soul” is backed by the whitest group of musicians on Earth.  Hall did the same for Etta James career.

Here is one of my favorite reviews of the movie by The Washington Post.


Here is the movie below…enjoy!!!

As I always say…”Come on out (in this case “in”) and catch the show.”

Peace.


FYW.