Located alongside the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals, Alabama is the
unlikely breeding ground for some of America’s most creative and defiant
music. Under the spiritual influence of the “Singing River,” as Native
Americans called it, the music of Muscle Shoals has helped create some
of the most important and resonant songs of all time. At its heart is
Rick Hall who founded FAME Studios. Overcoming crushing poverty and
staggering tragedies, Hall brought black and white together in Alabama’s
cauldron of racial hostility to create music for the generations. He is
responsible for creating the “Muscle Shoals sound” and The Swampers,
the house band at FAME that eventually left to start their own
successful studio, known as Muscle Shoals Sound. Gregg Allman, Bono,
Clarence Carter, Mick Jagger, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Keith Richards,
Percy Sledge and others bear witness to Muscle Shoals’ magnetism,
mystery and why it remains influential today.