“I’d Rather Go Blind” and “Tell Mama” have gone on to be one of the most acclaimed double-sided single releases of the period and enduring hits.Īs any Lynyrd Skynyrd fan knows, their first album, Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd, was released in 1973.
One of the Swampers, David Hood, recalls James nailing “I’d Rather Go Blind” in a single take saying, “It was a pretty simple song, but her performance was great and apparently our performances were good too.” (Photo by House Of Fame LLC/Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images) Her arm is around her 1st husband Billy Foster who is not credited on the recording. On guitars are Jimmy Ray Jenkins and Albert Lowe. R&B singer Etta James recording with the house band at Fame Studios circa 1967 in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The move to the Muscle Shoals studio both kept her away from the temptations of life in the city and provided new musical inspiration. Her sessions came at a time that the powerhouse vocalist was trying to curb heroin addiction. The session engineer, Tom Dowd, then cleared the room and painstakingly pieced the tape back together, saving what would become one of the biggest soul hits of the ’60s.Įtta James recorded both “Tell Mama” and “I’d Rather Go Blind” at FAME studios. After Pickett finished his final take, the tape flew off the reel and broke into pieces. Once FAME studios caught the attention of Jerry Wexler at Atlantic Records, he sent Pickett there to record “Mustang Sally” along with another one of his classic hits, “Land Of 1,000 Dances.” Pickett’s session of “Mustang Sally” nearly ended up on the cutting room floor -literally. Though this R&B classic was originally recorded by Mack Rice in 1965, it saw greater popularity when Wilson Pickett covered it the following year.
Below, we’re going through 10 of the best songs recorded at FAME Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound. Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty Images)Īfter a disagreement spawned a Swampers-helmed offshoot, called Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, the two studios shared in the great wealth of talent coming to the area, both becoming the backdrop for far too many great songs to focus on just one. Rick Hall, founder of FAME Recording Studios, inside the FAME studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama (Photo by Carol M. The Swampers and Hall’s sharp production paired with the virtually distraction-free area went on to strike gold a number of times throughout the ’60s. The unglamorous and unfettered establishment was home to a top-notch gang of session musicians, The Swampers (of Lynyrd Skynyrd fame), that put an unmistakable flare on everything they touched. The studio behind the magic was Rick Hall’s whole in the wall, FAME Studios. Will look fantastic framed on your man cave, office, bar or living room wall.It happened a fair few times in the ’60s and ’70s that a top star would come down to Muscle Shoals, Alabama looking to tap into whatever mysterious forces were spawning classics like Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman” and Jimmy Hughes’ “Steal Away.” For whatever reason, that little corner of the world was pumping out world-class hits-seemingly out of nowhere. In fact, they look like they could have come straight off the press from the original print run. We stock some awesome Lynyrd Skynyrd Band Concert Posters.Īvailable in different sizes and printed on high quality 210gsm paper, you’ll find no unsightly pin holes, stains or creases. Skynyrd split up after the plane crash, but they reunited a decade later, becoming a popular concert act during the early ’90s. Sadly, it wasn’t until he was killed in a tragic plane crash in 1977 along with two other bandmembers that many listeners began to realize his talents. Throughout the band’s early records, Van Zant demonstrated a knack for lyrical detail and a down-to-earth honesty that had more in common with country than rock & roll.ĭuring the height of Skynyrd‘s popularity in the mid-’70s, however, Van Zant‘s talents were overshadowed by the group’s gritty, greasy blues-rock. Instead, they were a hard-living, hard-driving rock & roll band - they may have jammed endlessly on-stage, but their music remained firmly entrenched in blues, rock, and country.įor many, Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s redneck image tended to obscure the songwriting skills of their leader, Ronnie Van Zant.
Skynyrd never relied on the jazzy improvisations of the Allman Brothers. Lynyrd Skynyrd was the definitive Southern rock band, fusing the overdriven power of blues-rock with a rebellious Southern image and a hard rock swagger.
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