Muscle Shoals Page #2

about 18 months

and we went to Hamilton

to see Benny Martin in concert.

It was about sundown,

and I met a car

who was traveling very fast.

I swerved to go around

that car.

I hit some loose gravels

on the side of the road

and went into a spin,

a tailspin.

The car turned end over end

a couple, three times,

and landed on its top.

I didn't know if she was out

or in, but couldn't find her

in the car, it was

total darkness.

I began to yell for her

and couldn't hear any noise,

except I could hear

gasoline running out

of the gas tank

into the car somewhere.

And I thought, of course,

it's gonna be my death

because the car's

gonna catch fire

and I can't get out.

I got out of the car

and searched around

in kudzu vines up to here.

Finally, some people stopped

with a flashlight

and we found her.

I nursed her on the way

to Hamilton Hospital.

About two o'clock

in the morning,

the doctor came to me and said,

"Your wife has passed on."

And, of course, I freaked out.

I became a drunk, a vagabond.

A tramp.

That changed my whole life.

It was hard times

and all I had to cling to

was my music.

I slept in my car.

I ate in my car.

And I wrote songs in my car.

But I continued playing music

and it was the only love I had

at that time, and, so...

I joined a little

local band in Hamilton.

From that time on,

for five years,

I wrote songs, played music,

and chased the women.

Somebody loan me a dime

I need to call my

old time, used to be

All this gravitated towards,

what am I gonna do

with the rest of my life

and I decided

to come back to Muscle Shoals,

but this time I came back

with a vengeance.

I came back with a determination

that I was gonna

kick some ass

and take some names.

And I was going to make it

in the music business.

And so I set up shop in a little

candy and tobacco warehouse.

I closed the doors,

I hid my car.

I didn't talk to girls,

I didn't make dates,

I didn't do anything

except write songs

and I was totally obsessed

with the business.

And so shortly after that,

I ran into Arthur Alexander,

who was a local bellhop

at the Sheffield Hotel.

And he played me a song

and said, "What do you think?"

And I said,

"I think it's a hit."

So he said, "What are we gonna

do about it?"

And I said, "We're gonna

cut it."

He said, "When,"

I said, "Tomorrow."

I brought my band in.

Norbert Putnam, David Briggs,

Jerry Carrigan,

Peanut Montgomery,

and Terry Thompson were

the first rhythm section

to be in the studio

and to cut a hit record.

Now, you gotta realize

Rick Hall is this older man.

We're all 18, 19 years old.

Rick's what, 28, 29?

He had the vision

for the recording.

Rick made records with

a group of teenage kids, okay,

that became hit records,

world-class records.

You asked me to give up

the hand of the girl I love

You tell me I'm not the man

she's worthy of

The very first record,

"You Better Move On"

by Arthur Alexander

that I produced,

I had anything to do

with was a hit.

Not the second or third,

but the first session we cut

was a hit record.

I know Rick was determined

to cut that hit

and he did it,

but if he hadn't,

I'm of the opinion

that none of this

Muscle Shoals movement

would have ever happened.

That's up to her

Yes, and the Lord above

You better move on

Rest of the world started

looking at Muscle Shoals.

Thank you very much.

We're gonna do a slow one now,

it's called, uh,

"You Better Move On."

It was the only thing

we did like that.

And the girls really adored

this song.

It was a big hit for us

in England.

It was our

number-one record.

If you ask me

to give up the hand

Of the girl I love

I think the Beatles beat us

to Arthur Alexander

by, like, a couple of weeks.

You know, they cut "Anna"

and I think we cut

"Better Move On"

maybe a month later.

There's, uh,

a love of Arthur Alexander.

You ask me

to give up the only love

I've ever had

At that time, we had

no idea where this was recorded,

but it's interesting to know

one of the first things

that we cut was

a Muscle Shoals production,

you know.

Better move on

This original Muscle Shoals

rhythm section

opened for the Beatles in 1964,

their first American concert.

And, of course,

a year later, in '65,

we all go to Nashville.

The guys went on to become

great pickers and producers

and learned from experience

here at FAME,

man, we can do it.

When they left,

there was nobody else.

We were the only game

in town for him to get.

They took the ball

that we started rolling,

and they rolled it

and made it bigger.

Individually, I never really

thought we were great players.

But together, we were

great players.

We had the magic together.

We liked playing funky.

All funky was was that

we didn't know

how to make it smooth.

We're rock 'n' roll

players, okay?

You just didn't expect them

to be as funky

or as greasy as they were.

I know a place

Ain't nobody cryin'

The grooves that we set up

came from

rhythm and blues music.

I remember when Paul Simon

called Stax Records,

talked to Al Bell.

And said, "Hey, man,

I want those same black players"

that played on

'I'll Take You There.'"

He said, "That can happen,

but these guys"

are mighty pale."

Let me take you there

I'll take you there

You got to, got to,

gotta let me

A lot of people could not

believe

that my whole band

was white guys that played

behind me.

People have arrived

at Muscle Shoals

expecting to meet

these black dudes,

and they're a bunch

of white guys

that look like they worked

in the supermarket

around the corner.

Muscle Shoals rhythm section:

David Hood, bass player.

Jimmy Johnson, guitar.

Roger Hawkins, drums.

Barry Beckett, keyboard player.

Later on, became known

as the Swampers.

A strong rhythm section

made the difference

when you went in the studio

every day with the same pickers

and the same players,

and they became a team,

and it was hard to beat that.

We began to bring in

songwriters and musicians,

anybody that wanted

to be in the music business.

I guess during high school,

I started going over

to FAME studio.

That was like a melting pot

for songwriters, musicians.

I was, as a teenager,

really impressed with all that.

I came up here

and I'm just a kid, really.

And all these people here

were kids, too.

I mean, nobody knew anything.

We're just doing our best

to learn how to make records

and learn how to write songs

and learn how to play music.

Most of these guys

around here, including myself,

are country people.

We come from the country.

Arthur Alexander, Jimmy Hughes,

they were the pioneers

as far as the artist goes

down here, Percy Sledge.

These are just local people.

I'm from a small town

called Leighton, right outside

of Muscle Shoals.

I was a little guy

working in the field,

choppin' cotton,

singing to the older people

in the field that always said

that one day,

my voice would be heard

all over the world,

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