Here's another one of those, "This-is-what-I-absorbed-as-a-kid-now-I'm-going-to-write-about-it," -type blog posts. But there's no denying that my dad's favorite band was the Allman Brothers Band, that I grew up with Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin constantly playing on the radio, and I knew exactly how to get to Muscle Shoals from my childhood home. And so, as summer staggers to an end, I've been playing this on the regular.
This here's a collection of songs recorded at Fame and Muscle Shoals Sound. If you don't know why that matters, then you've come to the right place to find out. Sure, Dave Henderson could have just focused in on the heyday of Paul Simon and the Rolling Stones coming south. But it was a savvy move demonstrating that these are places that still generate classic records. Jason Isbell, the Raconteurs, and St. Paul & The Broken Bones all cut records at Fame over the past twelve months, and when it's not serving as Alabama's top tourist attraction, MSS still offers a killer studio space, hosting Jesper Lindell's latest recordings.
It's a week 'til Labor Day here in the States, so I know the temperature most places is still pretty hot. So play something that fits the weather and hits you right there in your soul.
