1
00:00:48,515 --> 00:00:52,551
Magic is the word
that comes to mind for me

2
00:00:52,553 --> 00:00:55,020
when I think of Muscle Shoals.

3
00:00:55,022 --> 00:00:59,058
It's about alchemy,
it's about turning metal,

4
00:00:59,060 --> 00:01:03,095
the iron in the ground,
the rust, into gold.

5
00:01:03,097 --> 00:01:04,496
You just have to listen.

6
00:01:04,498 --> 00:01:06,298
And you will be transported.

7
00:01:06,300 --> 00:01:08,233
You will be changed.

8
00:01:08,235 --> 00:01:10,702
You're gonna hear
some of the greatest voices

9
00:01:10,704 --> 00:01:12,271
that ever were.

10
00:01:13,606 --> 00:01:16,642
One, two, three!

11
00:01:16,644 --> 00:01:21,747
One, two, three.

12
00:01:21,749 --> 00:01:23,582
Ow!

13
00:01:23,584 --> 00:01:24,616
Uh!

14
00:01:24,618 --> 00:01:26,385
All right!

15
00:01:26,387 --> 00:01:27,352
Uh!

16
00:01:27,354 --> 00:01:30,322
♪ Got to know how to Pony

17
00:01:30,324 --> 00:01:33,225
♪ Like Bony Moronie

18
00:01:33,227 --> 00:01:35,894
♪ Mash Potato

19
00:01:35,896 --> 00:01:38,397
♪ Do the Alligator

20
00:01:38,399 --> 00:01:41,200
♪ Put your hand on your hips,
yeah ♪

21
00:01:41,202 --> 00:01:44,002
♪ Let your backbone slip

22
00:01:44,004 --> 00:01:46,672
♪ Do the Watusi

23
00:01:46,674 --> 00:01:49,575
♪ Like my little Lucy

24
00:01:49,577 --> 00:01:50,943
Ow!

25
00:01:50,945 --> 00:01:51,977
Uh!

26
00:01:51,979 --> 00:01:54,746
You know, I feel all right.

27
00:01:54,748 --> 00:01:57,749
Feel pretty good, y'all.

28
00:01:57,751 --> 00:02:02,721
♪ Na, na-na na-na, na-na na-na,
na-na na-na na-na ♪

29
00:02:02,723 --> 00:02:04,056
♪ Na-na na-na

30
00:02:04,058 --> 00:02:05,958
Come on, y'all,
let's say it one more time.

31
00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:10,863
♪ Na, na-na na-na, na-na na-na,
na-na na-na na-na ♪

32
00:02:10,865 --> 00:02:12,965
♪ Na-na na-na

33
00:02:12,967 --> 00:02:14,800
Ohh!

34
00:02:14,802 --> 00:02:17,002
♪ Dancin' in the alley

35
00:02:17,004 --> 00:02:20,005
♪ With Long Tall Sally

36
00:02:20,007 --> 00:02:22,474
♪ Twistin' with Lucy

37
00:02:22,476 --> 00:02:25,144
♪ Doin' the Watusi

38
00:02:25,146 --> 00:02:28,080
♪ Roll over on your back

39
00:02:28,082 --> 00:02:30,916
♪ I like it like that

40
00:02:30,918 --> 00:02:33,685
♪ Ohh, help me

41
00:02:33,687 --> 00:02:35,921
♪ Ohh, help me

42
00:02:35,923 --> 00:02:38,557
We started to hear
this sound coming out.

43
00:02:38,559 --> 00:02:40,893
There was an amazing feel.

44
00:02:40,895 --> 00:02:46,365
Kind of, uh, magnetic,
I suppose in a way, sound wise.

45
00:02:46,367 --> 00:02:50,569
And then after a while,
this word, "Muscle Shoals"

46
00:02:50,571 --> 00:02:53,972
comes into the picture,
and you put two and two together

47
00:02:53,974 --> 00:02:57,142
and that was when I said,
"If we get the chance,

48
00:02:57,144 --> 00:02:59,611
we got to go down there,"
you know.

49
00:03:05,084 --> 00:03:07,853
People now still ask me,
"What is it about

50
00:03:07,855 --> 00:03:10,088
Muscle Shoals?"

51
00:03:10,090 --> 00:03:13,659
It's just a little village
on the Alabama border.

52
00:03:13,661 --> 00:03:17,930
Why does that music
come out of there?

53
00:03:17,932 --> 00:03:21,166
It's an enigma.

54
00:03:21,168 --> 00:03:25,637
How did so much music
take place

55
00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:30,342
in such an undescript
little town?

56
00:03:30,344 --> 00:03:32,878
There was just something
about that place,

57
00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:37,216
something that still
to this day nobody can explain.

58
00:03:38,851 --> 00:03:42,754
At different points in time,
on this planet,

59
00:03:42,756 --> 00:03:47,859
there are certain places

60
00:03:47,861 --> 00:03:51,930
where there is a field
of energy.

61
00:03:51,932 --> 00:03:56,101
At this certain point in time
for this number of years,

62
00:03:56,103 --> 00:03:58,503
there was Muscle Shoals.

63
00:04:01,307 --> 00:04:05,444
It's a unique thing,
rooms and record-making

64
00:04:05,446 --> 00:04:08,280
like that, it doesn't happen
very often.

65
00:04:08,282 --> 00:04:12,184
It's usually somebody like
Rick Hall that's like

66
00:04:12,186 --> 00:04:15,454
a type of maniac.

67
00:04:15,456 --> 00:04:19,124
With the drive and the foresight
to do it, you know,

68
00:04:19,126 --> 00:04:21,860
and he's a tough guy.

69
00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:44,283
This area here is where
my roots are.

70
00:04:44,285 --> 00:04:49,154
And it's helped me develop
into whatever I am today.

71
00:04:49,156 --> 00:04:51,990
My father was a sawmiller

72
00:04:51,992 --> 00:04:55,260
and we lived way out
in the Freedom Hills.

73
00:04:55,262 --> 00:04:57,362
No houses, no neighbors.

74
00:04:57,364 --> 00:05:00,499
No kids to play with.

75
00:05:00,501 --> 00:05:03,368
The floor in our house
was dirt.

76
00:05:03,370 --> 00:05:06,905
The heater was made
out of an oil drum.

77
00:05:06,907 --> 00:05:09,841
We slept on straw beds
made out of straw

78
00:05:09,843 --> 00:05:14,780
that we pulled up
in the fields.

79
00:05:14,782 --> 00:05:19,718
We had no bathing facilities,
no toilets, nothing.

80
00:05:21,654 --> 00:05:25,590
And we just kind of grew up
like animals.

81
00:05:31,631 --> 00:05:35,734
That made me a little bitter.

82
00:05:35,736 --> 00:05:38,937
Somewhat driven.

83
00:05:38,939 --> 00:05:41,907
I wanted to be special.

84
00:05:41,909 --> 00:05:44,409
I wanted to be somebody.

85
00:05:57,924 --> 00:06:02,627
♪ Can you slip away,
slip away ♪

86
00:06:02,629 --> 00:06:06,098
♪ Slip away, yeah

87
00:06:06,100 --> 00:06:09,701
♪ Oh, I need you so

88
00:06:12,372 --> 00:06:14,906
The first record I cut
in this studio

89
00:06:14,908 --> 00:06:18,043
was a record called
"Steal Away" by Jimmy Hughes.

90
00:06:18,045 --> 00:06:19,611
Brand new building.

91
00:06:19,613 --> 00:06:21,446
And I was hoping it had
the magic.

92
00:06:21,448 --> 00:06:22,781
I didn't know.

93
00:06:22,783 --> 00:06:24,850
So I brought my band in,
and I went up

94
00:06:24,852 --> 00:06:27,319
in the control room
and sat down.

95
00:06:27,321 --> 00:06:28,754
Okay, all set?

96
00:06:28,756 --> 00:06:31,423
I turned on the microphones
and nervously hit

97
00:06:31,425 --> 00:06:32,991
the talk-back button
to the musicians

98
00:06:32,993 --> 00:06:37,662
and said with a slight crackle
in my voice, "Rolling."

99
00:06:37,664 --> 00:06:42,667
One, two, one, two,
three, four.

100
00:06:45,738 --> 00:06:47,205
When they kicked off
"Steal Away,"

101
00:06:47,207 --> 00:06:52,711
I sat behind the console
and wept.

102
00:06:52,713 --> 00:06:56,181
I just had huge chill bumps
come up on my arms.

103
00:06:56,183 --> 00:07:00,819
And the hair on the back
of my neck actually stood up.

104
00:07:00,821 --> 00:07:04,222
And of course,
this was the birth

105
00:07:04,224 --> 00:07:07,159
of the Muscle Shoals sound.

106
00:07:07,161 --> 00:07:13,231
♪ I've got to see you

107
00:07:13,233 --> 00:07:16,635
♪ Somehow

108
00:07:16,637 --> 00:07:21,106
♪ Not tomorrow

109
00:07:21,108 --> 00:07:24,309
♪ Right now

110
00:07:24,311 --> 00:07:30,615
♪ I know it's late, whoa,
I can't wait ♪

111
00:07:30,617 --> 00:07:35,187
♪ So come on and steal away ♪

112
00:07:35,189 --> 00:07:37,889
I've heard entertainers
and producers tell me

113
00:07:37,891 --> 00:07:39,858
that we got some kind
of sound here

114
00:07:39,860 --> 00:07:42,127
that they can't get
anywhere else.

115
00:07:42,129 --> 00:07:43,862
They have to come here.

116
00:07:43,864 --> 00:07:47,933
It's that oh, deep down
into your stomach,

117
00:07:47,935 --> 00:07:49,701
coming up out of your gut,

118
00:07:49,703 --> 00:07:51,636
coming up out of your heart.

119
00:07:51,638 --> 00:07:54,573
There's that
Muscle Shoals sound.

120
00:07:55,308 --> 00:07:58,176
♪ I won't tell

121
00:07:58,178 --> 00:08:01,346
♪ Anybody else

122
00:08:01,348 --> 00:08:09,348
♪ I'll keep it to myself ♪

123
00:08:09,690 --> 00:08:16,828
♪ I know it's late, whoa,
I can't wait ♪

124
00:08:16,830 --> 00:08:20,665
♪ So come on and steal away ♪

125
00:08:20,667 --> 00:08:24,669
That sound made it through
to even Ireland

126
00:08:24,671 --> 00:08:26,905
and Britain.

127
00:08:26,907 --> 00:08:29,908
And we felt the blood in that.

128
00:08:29,910 --> 00:08:33,778
We felt the...
the sort of pulse of it.

129
00:08:33,780 --> 00:08:37,048
And we wanted some, you know?

130
00:08:41,621 --> 00:08:43,855
You gotta understand
that Muscle Shoals

131
00:08:43,857 --> 00:08:45,757
had its own kind of R&B.

132
00:08:45,759 --> 00:08:48,660
Different from Memphis,
different from Detroit,

133
00:08:48,662 --> 00:08:51,129
different from New York,
different from L.A.

134
00:08:51,131 --> 00:08:52,764
How did it happen
in this little town

135
00:08:52,766 --> 00:08:56,067
of 8,000 people,
to start this whole style

136
00:08:56,069 --> 00:08:58,136
of music?

137
00:09:00,339 --> 00:09:03,375
It always seems
to come out of the river.

138
00:09:03,377 --> 00:09:05,877
You know, even in Liverpool,

139
00:09:05,879 --> 00:09:08,647
you know, the Mersey sound.

140
00:09:08,649 --> 00:09:11,516
And then of course,
Mississippi.

141
00:09:11,518 --> 00:09:14,886
And here you have
the Tennessee River.

142
00:09:14,888 --> 00:09:17,789
It's like the songs
come out of the mud.

143
00:09:42,548 --> 00:09:45,216
We're at a place
called Ishatae.

144
00:09:45,218 --> 00:09:47,786
It means it's a special place,
a holy place.

145
00:09:47,788 --> 00:09:50,889
It's a place of music.

146
00:09:50,891 --> 00:09:53,658
And it's a place of people.

147
00:09:53,660 --> 00:09:55,860
I've been working on it
for 32 years.

148
00:09:55,862 --> 00:09:59,598
There's over eight million
pounds of stones here.

149
00:10:01,334 --> 00:10:04,102
It's a memorial to
my great-great-grandmother.

150
00:10:04,104 --> 00:10:09,174
She was an American Indian,
and her people were Euchee.

151
00:10:09,176 --> 00:10:11,009
My grandmother's people
called this river

152
00:10:11,011 --> 00:10:13,111
that we call the Tennessee
today, they called it

153
00:10:13,113 --> 00:10:15,880
Nunnuhsae, the river
that sings.

154
00:10:15,882 --> 00:10:17,482
They believed a young woman
lived in the river,

155
00:10:17,484 --> 00:10:20,118
sang songs to 'em,
and protected 'em.

156
00:10:25,124 --> 00:10:27,993
In the year 1839,
my great-great-grandmother

157
00:10:27,995 --> 00:10:31,296
was removed from right here
in Muscle Shoals.

158
00:10:31,298 --> 00:10:32,964
She was taken to
the Indian Nations,

159
00:10:32,966 --> 00:10:36,968
what is now present-day
Muskogee, Oklahoma.

160
00:10:36,970 --> 00:10:38,870
When Grandmother got out there
to Oklahoma,

161
00:10:38,872 --> 00:10:40,438
she said there were no songs.

162
00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:42,674
She went and listened to all
the streams she could find

163
00:10:42,676 --> 00:10:45,844
and there were no songs.

164
00:10:45,846 --> 00:10:48,213
They couldn't sing,
they couldn't dance.

165
00:10:48,215 --> 00:10:51,750
They couldn't hold
their ceremonies.

166
00:10:51,752 --> 00:10:55,220
And they got to be
very sad people.

167
00:10:55,222 --> 00:10:57,856
So, she started
to come back home.

168
00:10:57,858 --> 00:11:00,592
She walked all the way back.

169
00:11:00,594 --> 00:11:03,161
It took her roughly five years.

170
00:11:07,199 --> 00:11:09,868
She had to come back
to this river.

171
00:11:09,870 --> 00:11:12,671
The river that sings.

172
00:11:12,673 --> 00:11:16,241
The great dams have softened
the woman in the river's songs,

173
00:11:16,243 --> 00:11:18,710
but if you go to very quiet
places and listen,

174
00:11:18,712 --> 00:11:20,578
you can still hear her songs.

175
00:11:20,580 --> 00:11:24,049
I know; I hear her songs
nearly every day.

176
00:11:29,021 --> 00:11:32,924
When I was a young man, starting
out in the music business,

177
00:11:32,926 --> 00:11:35,827
Billy Sherrill and I,
who were writing partners,

178
00:11:35,829 --> 00:11:37,996
got a phone call from
a guy that wanted

179
00:11:37,998 --> 00:11:40,298
to start a publishing
company with us,

180
00:11:40,300 --> 00:11:44,936
and had the sum of $500
to spend on us,

181
00:11:44,938 --> 00:11:48,139
which we thought was
a gold mine.

182
00:11:48,141 --> 00:11:52,977
So, Tom Stafford
was a dream come true.

183
00:11:52,979 --> 00:11:56,181
We went in business
and we had a little bitty studio

184
00:11:56,183 --> 00:11:59,350
over Tom's father's drugstore.

185
00:12:02,021 --> 00:12:04,422
We got a few cuts,
made a few bucks,

186
00:12:04,424 --> 00:12:07,192
and one day, I was called in
to a meeting with Billy and Tom

187
00:12:07,194 --> 00:12:09,094
and they advised me that
they were not happy

188
00:12:09,096 --> 00:12:11,196
with the way things
were going and thought

189
00:12:11,198 --> 00:12:14,766
that I was a little too much
of a workaholic.

190
00:12:15,968 --> 00:12:17,936
And said that they wanted
to have fun

191
00:12:17,938 --> 00:12:19,871
while they were having
hit records,

192
00:12:19,873 --> 00:12:21,673
and that I was just too adamant

193
00:12:21,675 --> 00:12:24,576
and too, uh,
strong-willed

194
00:12:24,578 --> 00:12:25,844
and too pushy.

195
00:12:25,846 --> 00:12:29,414
So, they decided to...
to let me go.

196
00:12:30,916 --> 00:12:34,919
So, I obviously went home,
began to lick my wounds,

197
00:12:34,921 --> 00:12:38,289
and was very bitter.

198
00:12:43,462 --> 00:12:45,663
During this time,
I worked at a place called

199
00:12:45,665 --> 00:12:49,134
Reynolds Metals Company
in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

200
00:12:49,136 --> 00:12:53,037
And I married my first wife,
Faye Marie, there.

201
00:12:53,039 --> 00:12:56,074
She and I had been married
about 18 months

202
00:12:56,076 --> 00:13:01,913
and we went to Hamilton
to see Benny Martin in concert.

203
00:13:01,915 --> 00:13:05,016
It was about sundown,
and I met a car

204
00:13:05,018 --> 00:13:06,785
who was traveling very fast.

205
00:13:06,787 --> 00:13:08,953
I swerved to go around
that car.

206
00:13:08,955 --> 00:13:11,689
I hit some loose gravels
on the side of the road

207
00:13:11,691 --> 00:13:14,192
and went into a spin,
a tailspin.

208
00:13:14,194 --> 00:13:17,495
The car turned end over end
a couple, three times,

209
00:13:17,497 --> 00:13:19,364
and landed on its top.

210
00:13:19,366 --> 00:13:21,833
I didn't know if she was out
or in, but couldn't find her

211
00:13:21,835 --> 00:13:24,102
in the car, it was
total darkness.

212
00:13:24,104 --> 00:13:28,039
I began to yell for her
and couldn't hear any noise,

213
00:13:28,041 --> 00:13:30,775
except I could hear
gasoline running out

214
00:13:30,777 --> 00:13:33,812
of the gas tank
into the car somewhere.

215
00:13:33,814 --> 00:13:36,848
And I thought, of course,
it's gonna be my death

216
00:13:36,850 --> 00:13:38,850
because the car's
gonna catch fire

217
00:13:38,852 --> 00:13:42,253
and I can't get out.

218
00:13:42,255 --> 00:13:44,756
I got out of the car
and searched around

219
00:13:44,758 --> 00:13:49,160
in kudzu vines up to here.

220
00:13:49,162 --> 00:13:51,696
Finally, some people stopped
with a flashlight

221
00:13:51,698 --> 00:13:53,331
and we found her.

222
00:13:53,333 --> 00:13:55,967
I nursed her on the way
to Hamilton Hospital.

223
00:13:55,969 --> 00:13:57,468
About two o'clock
in the morning,

224
00:13:57,470 --> 00:14:01,172
the doctor came to me and said,
"Your wife has passed on."

225
00:14:03,943 --> 00:14:08,112
And, of course, I freaked out.

226
00:14:08,114 --> 00:14:11,316
I became a drunk, a vagabond.

227
00:14:11,318 --> 00:14:13,551
A tramp.

228
00:14:17,389 --> 00:14:21,092
That changed my whole life.

229
00:14:27,166 --> 00:14:29,567
It was hard times
and all I had to cling to

230
00:14:29,569 --> 00:14:31,002
was my music.

231
00:14:31,004 --> 00:14:32,971
I slept in my car.

232
00:14:32,973 --> 00:14:35,073
I ate in my car.

233
00:14:35,075 --> 00:14:37,775
And I wrote songs in my car.

234
00:14:37,777 --> 00:14:40,879
But I continued playing music
and it was the only love I had

235
00:14:40,881 --> 00:14:44,349
at that time, and, so...

236
00:14:44,351 --> 00:14:49,287
I joined a little
local band in Hamilton.

237
00:14:49,289 --> 00:14:51,122
From that time on,
for five years,

238
00:14:51,124 --> 00:14:57,762
I wrote songs, played music,

239
00:14:57,764 --> 00:15:00,164
and chased the women.

240
00:15:00,166 --> 00:15:07,972
♪ Somebody loan me a dime ♪

241
00:15:07,974 --> 00:15:15,113
♪ I need to call my
old time, used to be ♪

242
00:15:15,115 --> 00:15:19,083
All this gravitated towards,
what am I gonna do

243
00:15:19,085 --> 00:15:21,119
with the rest of my life
and I decided

244
00:15:21,121 --> 00:15:22,520
to come back to Muscle Shoals,

245
00:15:22,522 --> 00:15:25,523
but this time I came back
with a vengeance.

246
00:15:25,525 --> 00:15:28,126
I came back with a determination
that I was gonna

247
00:15:28,128 --> 00:15:30,428
kick some ass
and take some names.

248
00:15:30,430 --> 00:15:36,200
And I was going to make it
in the music business.

249
00:15:36,202 --> 00:15:41,472
And so I set up shop in a little
candy and tobacco warehouse.

250
00:15:41,474 --> 00:15:43,574
I closed the doors,
I hid my car.

251
00:15:43,576 --> 00:15:45,376
I didn't talk to girls,
I didn't make dates,

252
00:15:45,378 --> 00:15:48,646
I didn't do anything
except write songs

253
00:15:48,648 --> 00:15:51,716
and I was totally obsessed
with the business.

254
00:15:51,718 --> 00:15:55,320
And so shortly after that,
I ran into Arthur Alexander,

255
00:15:55,322 --> 00:15:58,756
who was a local bellhop
at the Sheffield Hotel.

256
00:15:58,758 --> 00:16:01,426
And he played me a song
and said, "What do you think?"

257
00:16:01,428 --> 00:16:05,330
And I said,
"I think it's a hit."

258
00:16:05,332 --> 00:16:06,464
So he said, "What are we gonna
do about it?"

259
00:16:06,466 --> 00:16:07,932
And I said, "We're gonna
cut it."

260
00:16:07,934 --> 00:16:10,268
He said, "When,"
I said, "Tomorrow."

261
00:16:11,870 --> 00:16:13,204
I brought my band in.

262
00:16:13,206 --> 00:16:15,440
Norbert Putnam, David Briggs,

263
00:16:15,442 --> 00:16:17,709
Jerry Carrigan,
Peanut Montgomery,

264
00:16:17,711 --> 00:16:20,478
and Terry Thompson were
the first rhythm section

265
00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,114
to be in the studio
and to cut a hit record.

266
00:16:23,116 --> 00:16:25,950
Now, you gotta realize
Rick Hall is this older man.

267
00:16:25,952 --> 00:16:28,219
We're all 18, 19 years old.

268
00:16:28,221 --> 00:16:30,588
Rick's what, 28, 29?

269
00:16:30,590 --> 00:16:32,890
He had the vision
for the recording.

270
00:16:32,892 --> 00:16:37,562
Rick made records with
a group of teenage kids, okay,

271
00:16:37,564 --> 00:16:41,399
that became hit records,
world-class records.

272
00:16:41,401 --> 00:16:49,401
♪ You asked me to give up
the hand of the girl I love ♪

273
00:16:49,709 --> 00:16:56,414
♪ You tell me I'm not the man
she's worthy of ♪

274
00:16:56,416 --> 00:16:57,982
The very first record,
"You Better Move On"

275
00:16:57,984 --> 00:16:59,550
by Arthur Alexander
that I produced,

276
00:16:59,552 --> 00:17:01,285
I had anything to do
with was a hit.

277
00:17:01,287 --> 00:17:03,254
Not the second or third,
but the first session we cut

278
00:17:03,256 --> 00:17:04,622
was a hit record.

279
00:17:04,624 --> 00:17:07,458
I know Rick was determined
to cut that hit

280
00:17:07,460 --> 00:17:09,293
and he did it,
but if he hadn't,

281
00:17:09,295 --> 00:17:11,562
I'm of the opinion
that none of this

282
00:17:11,564 --> 00:17:14,932
Muscle Shoals movement
would have ever happened.

283
00:17:14,934 --> 00:17:18,336
♪ That's up to her

284
00:17:18,338 --> 00:17:22,740
♪ Yes, and the Lord above

285
00:17:22,742 --> 00:17:25,676
♪ You better move on

286
00:17:25,678 --> 00:17:29,213
Rest of the world started
looking at Muscle Shoals.

287
00:17:29,215 --> 00:17:30,848
Thank you very much.

288
00:17:30,850 --> 00:17:33,051
We're gonna do a slow one now,
it's called, uh,

289
00:17:33,053 --> 00:17:35,253
"You Better Move On."

290
00:17:35,255 --> 00:17:37,155
It was the only thing
we did like that.

291
00:17:37,157 --> 00:17:39,991
And the girls really adored
this song.

292
00:17:39,993 --> 00:17:41,559
It was a big hit for us
in England.

293
00:17:41,561 --> 00:17:43,127
It was our
number-one record.

294
00:17:43,129 --> 00:17:46,964
♪ If you ask me
to give up the hand ♪

295
00:17:46,966 --> 00:17:48,800
♪ Of the girl I love

296
00:17:48,802 --> 00:17:52,136
I think the Beatles beat us
to Arthur Alexander

297
00:17:52,138 --> 00:17:53,771
by, like, a couple of weeks.

298
00:17:53,773 --> 00:17:56,307
You know, they cut "Anna"
and I think we cut

299
00:17:56,309 --> 00:17:58,709
"Better Move On"
maybe a month later.

300
00:17:58,711 --> 00:18:02,447
There's, uh,
a love of Arthur Alexander.

301
00:18:02,449 --> 00:18:06,417
♪ You ask me
to give up the only love ♪

302
00:18:06,419 --> 00:18:09,487
♪ I've ever had

303
00:18:09,489 --> 00:18:13,157
At that time, we had
no idea where this was recorded,

304
00:18:13,159 --> 00:18:14,392
but it's interesting to know

305
00:18:14,394 --> 00:18:17,161
one of the first things
that we cut was

306
00:18:17,163 --> 00:18:20,798
a Muscle Shoals production,
you know.

307
00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:23,501
♪ Better move on

308
00:18:25,370 --> 00:18:28,172
This original Muscle Shoals
rhythm section

309
00:18:28,174 --> 00:18:30,108
opened for the Beatles in 1964,

310
00:18:30,110 --> 00:18:32,643
their first American concert.

311
00:18:32,645 --> 00:18:34,745
And, of course,
a year later, in '65,

312
00:18:34,747 --> 00:18:36,114
we all go to Nashville.

313
00:18:36,116 --> 00:18:39,784
The guys went on to become
great pickers and producers

314
00:18:39,786 --> 00:18:43,354
and learned from experience
here at FAME,

315
00:18:43,356 --> 00:18:45,223
man, we can do it.

316
00:18:45,225 --> 00:18:47,492
When they left,
there was nobody else.

317
00:18:47,494 --> 00:18:51,496
We were the only game
in town for him to get.

318
00:18:54,633 --> 00:18:57,435
They took the ball
that we started rolling,

319
00:18:57,437 --> 00:18:59,704
and they rolled it
and made it bigger.

320
00:18:59,706 --> 00:19:04,408
Individually, I never really
thought we were great players.

321
00:19:04,410 --> 00:19:07,011
But together, we were
great players.

322
00:19:07,013 --> 00:19:09,547
We had the magic together.

323
00:19:14,153 --> 00:19:15,653
We liked playing funky.

324
00:19:15,655 --> 00:19:17,822
All funky was was that
we didn't know

325
00:19:17,824 --> 00:19:19,390
how to make it smooth.

326
00:19:19,392 --> 00:19:21,626
We're rock 'n' roll
players, okay?

327
00:19:21,628 --> 00:19:24,562
You just didn't expect them
to be as funky

328
00:19:24,564 --> 00:19:26,898
or as greasy as they were.

329
00:19:28,066 --> 00:19:32,270
♪ I know a place

330
00:19:32,272 --> 00:19:33,538
♪ Ain't nobody cryin'

331
00:19:33,540 --> 00:19:36,107
The grooves that we set up
came from

332
00:19:36,109 --> 00:19:37,808
rhythm and blues music.

333
00:19:37,810 --> 00:19:41,179
I remember when Paul Simon
called Stax Records,

334
00:19:41,181 --> 00:19:42,880
talked to Al Bell.

335
00:19:42,882 --> 00:19:45,616
And said, "Hey, man,
I want those same black players"

336
00:19:45,618 --> 00:19:48,553
that played on
'I'll Take You There.'"

337
00:19:48,555 --> 00:19:50,421
He said, "That can happen,
but these guys"

338
00:19:50,423 --> 00:19:51,989
are mighty pale."

339
00:19:51,991 --> 00:19:54,025
♪ Let me take you there

340
00:19:54,027 --> 00:19:55,793
♪ I'll take you there

341
00:19:55,795 --> 00:19:59,397
♪ You got to, got to,
gotta let me ♪

342
00:19:59,399 --> 00:20:02,266
A lot of people could not
believe

343
00:20:02,268 --> 00:20:05,169
that my whole band
was white guys that played

344
00:20:05,171 --> 00:20:06,437
behind me.

345
00:20:06,439 --> 00:20:08,506
People have arrived
at Muscle Shoals

346
00:20:08,508 --> 00:20:11,242
expecting to meet
these black dudes,

347
00:20:11,244 --> 00:20:12,944
and they're a bunch
of white guys

348
00:20:12,946 --> 00:20:15,012
that look like they worked
in the supermarket

349
00:20:15,014 --> 00:20:16,948
around the corner.

350
00:20:16,950 --> 00:20:21,285
Muscle Shoals rhythm section:
David Hood, bass player.

351
00:20:23,422 --> 00:20:26,123
Jimmy Johnson, guitar.

352
00:20:26,125 --> 00:20:29,093
Roger Hawkins, drums.

353
00:20:29,095 --> 00:20:31,262
Barry Beckett, keyboard player.

354
00:20:36,602 --> 00:20:39,470
Later on, became known
as the Swampers.

355
00:20:42,174 --> 00:20:44,442
A strong rhythm section
made the difference

356
00:20:44,444 --> 00:20:46,877
when you went in the studio
every day with the same pickers

357
00:20:46,879 --> 00:20:50,414
and the same players,
and they became a team,

358
00:20:50,416 --> 00:20:53,517
and it was hard to beat that.

359
00:20:53,519 --> 00:20:57,788
We began to bring in
songwriters and musicians,

360
00:20:57,790 --> 00:21:01,325
anybody that wanted
to be in the music business.

361
00:21:22,714 --> 00:21:25,916
I guess during high school,
I started going over

362
00:21:25,918 --> 00:21:27,818
to FAME studio.

363
00:21:27,820 --> 00:21:31,922
That was like a melting pot
for songwriters, musicians.

364
00:21:31,924 --> 00:21:36,594
I was, as a teenager,
really impressed with all that.

365
00:21:36,596 --> 00:21:39,430
I came up here
and I'm just a kid, really.

366
00:21:39,432 --> 00:21:42,266
And all these people here
were kids, too.

367
00:21:42,268 --> 00:21:44,635
I mean, nobody knew anything.

368
00:21:51,143 --> 00:21:55,346
We're just doing our best
to learn how to make records

369
00:21:55,348 --> 00:22:00,985
and learn how to write songs
and learn how to play music.

370
00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:18,235
Most of these guys
around here, including myself,

371
00:22:18,237 --> 00:22:20,771
are country people.

372
00:22:20,773 --> 00:22:22,773
We come from the country.

373
00:22:22,775 --> 00:22:24,542
Arthur Alexander, Jimmy Hughes,

374
00:22:24,544 --> 00:22:27,411
they were the pioneers
as far as the artist goes

375
00:22:27,413 --> 00:22:29,213
down here, Percy Sledge.

376
00:22:29,215 --> 00:22:33,017
These are just local people.

377
00:22:33,019 --> 00:22:36,120
I'm from a small town
called Leighton, right outside

378
00:22:36,122 --> 00:22:38,956
of Muscle Shoals.

379
00:22:38,958 --> 00:22:40,858
I was a little guy
working in the field,

380
00:22:40,860 --> 00:22:43,594
choppin' cotton,
singing to the older people

381
00:22:43,596 --> 00:22:45,963
in the field that always said
that one day,

382
00:22:45,965 --> 00:22:47,965
my voice would be heard
all over the world,

383
00:22:47,967 --> 00:22:52,503
but I never thought
that would happen.

384
00:22:52,505 --> 00:22:57,041
Percy worked at
the local hospital.

385
00:22:57,043 --> 00:23:00,578
I was a orderly working
with the sick people.

386
00:23:00,580 --> 00:23:02,346
I'd sing a song for 'em,
you know,

387
00:23:02,348 --> 00:23:03,914
and they'd go to sleep.

388
00:23:03,916 --> 00:23:06,584
I got such a big kick
out of that, you know,

389
00:23:06,586 --> 00:23:09,153
and I could see my patient
layin' up there,

390
00:23:09,155 --> 00:23:13,090
smilin', you know,
and feelin' better.

391
00:23:13,092 --> 00:23:16,560
So one day I was invited to
sing at the Elks Club

392
00:23:16,562 --> 00:23:18,662
here in Sheffield.

393
00:23:18,664 --> 00:23:20,798
And it just so happened
Quin Ivy,

394
00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:23,000
who was a disc jockey at WLAY,

395
00:23:23,002 --> 00:23:24,935
and he heard me sing this song.

396
00:23:24,937 --> 00:23:28,305
He loved the melody
and the feel.

397
00:23:28,307 --> 00:23:30,708
He said, "Percy Sledge,
have you ever been interested"

398
00:23:30,710 --> 00:23:33,010
in cuttin' a record?"

399
00:23:33,012 --> 00:23:34,945
I remember the day
I got the call.

400
00:23:34,947 --> 00:23:37,815
"Will you come do keyboards
on this recording session?

401
00:23:37,817 --> 00:23:41,519
Be the first recording
this artist has ever done."

402
00:23:41,521 --> 00:23:43,654
When I came in to the studio,

403
00:23:43,656 --> 00:23:45,356
I was shakin' like a leaf.

404
00:23:45,358 --> 00:23:46,557
I was scared.

405
00:23:46,559 --> 00:23:51,695
♪ When a man loves a woman ♪

406
00:23:51,697 --> 00:23:55,299
♪ Can't keep his mind
on nothin' else ♪

407
00:23:55,301 --> 00:24:00,271
♪ He'll trade the world
for the good thing he's found ♪

408
00:24:00,273 --> 00:24:02,072
Every time that he sang
the song,

409
00:24:02,074 --> 00:24:05,242
he had different levels
for different parts

410
00:24:05,244 --> 00:24:06,911
of the song.

411
00:24:06,913 --> 00:24:09,346
And everything had to be
in your wrist.

412
00:24:09,348 --> 00:24:11,282
Bring the level up and down.

413
00:24:11,284 --> 00:24:13,551
All I had was a voice,
I didn't know anything

414
00:24:13,553 --> 00:24:16,086
about no singing, you know.

415
00:24:16,088 --> 00:24:20,658
Somehow, I got one down,
and Percy was on time with me

416
00:24:20,660 --> 00:24:23,027
with a great vocal.

417
00:24:23,029 --> 00:24:28,599
♪ He'd give up all
his comforts ♪

418
00:24:28,601 --> 00:24:32,336
♪ And sleep out in the rain ♪

419
00:24:32,338 --> 00:24:37,675
♪ If she said that's the way
it ought to be ♪

420
00:24:37,677 --> 00:24:40,344
All this was just so new
to me and these guys

421
00:24:40,346 --> 00:24:41,979
made me feel like hey, man,

422
00:24:41,981 --> 00:24:44,415
you can do it,
you've got it, you know.

423
00:24:44,417 --> 00:24:46,617
I used to call them my family.

424
00:24:46,619 --> 00:24:49,153
Donna Thatcher,
all of them, you know.

425
00:24:49,155 --> 00:24:53,958
My first wonderful experience
was singing on

426
00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:56,160
"When a Man Loves a Woman"
with Percy Sledge

427
00:24:56,162 --> 00:25:01,065
and you'd never know
when you're making history.

428
00:25:01,067 --> 00:25:09,067
♪ Baby, please don't
treat me bad ♪

429
00:25:09,542 --> 00:25:11,108
Quin called me
one Sunday afternoon

430
00:25:11,110 --> 00:25:13,444
and said, "Do you know
of a place we can get a deal?"

431
00:25:13,446 --> 00:25:15,579
And I said, "I think so,"
and I picked up the phone

432
00:25:15,581 --> 00:25:17,815
and called Jerry Wexler
in New York.

433
00:25:17,817 --> 00:25:21,585
Jerry Wexler was probably
the biggest record company guru

434
00:25:21,587 --> 00:25:23,821
in the world.

435
00:25:23,823 --> 00:25:27,391
It was a man named Rick Hall
who had a studio

436
00:25:27,393 --> 00:25:29,093
in Muscle Shoals.

437
00:25:29,095 --> 00:25:31,128
I said, "You told me
if I've heard something"

438
00:25:31,130 --> 00:25:32,630
I thought was a big hit

439
00:25:32,632 --> 00:25:34,265
"to call you,
and I'm callin' you."

440
00:25:34,267 --> 00:25:36,667
Play a little bit
of this thing here.

441
00:25:37,802 --> 00:25:40,304
And I heard some music
coming from there,

442
00:25:40,306 --> 00:25:43,307
and it was fabulous.

443
00:25:43,309 --> 00:25:44,608
What do you think?

444
00:25:44,610 --> 00:25:46,577
We pressed and distributed
the record,

445
00:25:46,579 --> 00:25:47,878
and that was a big hit.

446
00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:52,917
♪ When a man loves a woman ♪

447
00:25:52,919 --> 00:25:56,086
That began a great relationship
between Jerry Wexler,

448
00:25:56,088 --> 00:25:58,088
Atlantic Records,
and Rick Hall.

449
00:25:58,090 --> 00:26:00,691
And of course, the record's
still one of the most

450
00:26:00,693 --> 00:26:02,626
classic records
in the business.

451
00:26:02,628 --> 00:26:07,965
♪ If she's played him
for a fool ♪

452
00:26:07,967 --> 00:26:09,366
♪ He's the last one to know ♪

453
00:26:09,368 --> 00:26:12,970
Same melody that I sang
when I'm in the field.

454
00:26:12,972 --> 00:26:14,905
I just wails out in the woods

455
00:26:14,907 --> 00:26:17,541
and let the echo
come back to me.

456
00:26:17,543 --> 00:26:23,314
♪ When a man loves a woman ♪

457
00:26:23,316 --> 00:26:26,183
♪ He can do her no wrong ♪

458
00:26:26,185 --> 00:26:28,285
I, George C. Wallace...

459
00:26:28,287 --> 00:26:32,156
During that era of recording
basically all-black acts,

460
00:26:32,158 --> 00:26:34,158
you gotta remember that
George Wallace

461
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:35,859
was standing in
the schoolhouse door

462
00:26:35,861 --> 00:26:37,861
at the University of Alabama,

463
00:26:37,863 --> 00:26:40,764
making sure that no black people
came to school there.

464
00:26:40,766 --> 00:26:45,502
And I say segregation now,
segregation tomorrow,

465
00:26:45,504 --> 00:26:47,972
and segregation forever.

466
00:26:50,642 --> 00:26:53,110
This was a politics
that could not see

467
00:26:53,112 --> 00:26:55,913
past the color of your skin.

468
00:26:58,650 --> 00:27:01,352
It's the kind of thing
that I know people

469
00:27:01,354 --> 00:27:05,823
of this era, they wouldn't want
to believe what it used to be.

470
00:27:05,825 --> 00:27:09,026
I think of all the times
when we used to take a break

471
00:27:09,028 --> 00:27:11,295
from the studio
to go out and to eat.

472
00:27:11,297 --> 00:27:14,331
I was somewhat frightened
from time to time

473
00:27:14,333 --> 00:27:18,636
when we'd go and buy dinner
for half a dozen black people.

474
00:27:20,005 --> 00:27:23,941
That's where you saw,
like, what are you...

475
00:27:23,943 --> 00:27:27,778
what are y'all doin'
sitting there?

476
00:27:27,780 --> 00:27:30,114
Even though the civil rights
movement was already

477
00:27:30,116 --> 00:27:33,651
in effect, it still hadn't
dawned on people

478
00:27:33,653 --> 00:27:36,220
that this is the new era.

479
00:27:39,557 --> 00:27:43,394
I have a dream that one day,

480
00:27:43,396 --> 00:27:49,933
down in Alabama
with its vicious racists,

481
00:27:49,935 --> 00:27:52,069
one day right there in Alabama,

482
00:27:52,071 --> 00:27:54,571
little black boys
and black girls

483
00:27:54,573 --> 00:27:57,207
will be able to join hands
with little white boys

484
00:27:57,209 --> 00:27:59,643
and white girls
as sisters and brothers.

485
00:27:59,645 --> 00:28:01,945
I have a dream today.

486
00:28:08,687 --> 00:28:10,020
When I was a young boy,

487
00:28:10,022 --> 00:28:13,123
it was always, uh,
if I met a white boy,

488
00:28:13,125 --> 00:28:17,895
I had to say,
"This is Mr. Robert

489
00:28:17,897 --> 00:28:20,864
or, uh, Mr. Jimmy."

490
00:28:20,866 --> 00:28:23,701
But... but in the studio,
we got away from that,

491
00:28:23,703 --> 00:28:27,538
it was Jimmy, it was Robert,
it was Clarence, you know.

492
00:28:27,540 --> 00:28:28,639
Go that way.

493
00:28:28,641 --> 00:28:29,807
♪ On the go

494
00:28:29,809 --> 00:28:31,542
Or something like, you know.

495
00:28:31,544 --> 00:28:32,876
Do it one more time.

496
00:28:32,878 --> 00:28:35,979
You just work together,
you never thought about

497
00:28:35,981 --> 00:28:39,983
who was white
and who was black.

498
00:28:39,985 --> 00:28:41,952
You thought about
the common thing

499
00:28:41,954 --> 00:28:44,121
and it was the music.

500
00:28:47,358 --> 00:28:48,525
We were color blind.

501
00:28:48,527 --> 00:28:50,794
There was never
any situation that came up

502
00:28:50,796 --> 00:28:53,864
in the studio here ever

503
00:28:53,866 --> 00:28:56,600
about, "You're black
and I'm white."

504
00:28:56,602 --> 00:28:58,302
And you think about the South.

505
00:28:58,304 --> 00:28:59,937
They didn't believe
that black and white people

506
00:28:59,939 --> 00:29:01,672
could live together.

507
00:29:01,674 --> 00:29:05,109
And here are vinyl records

508
00:29:05,111 --> 00:29:08,345
that prove that not only
can they live together,

509
00:29:08,347 --> 00:29:13,083
you might not know
who's black and who's white.

510
00:29:13,085 --> 00:29:17,154
At the time,
this was revolutionary stuff.

511
00:29:20,391 --> 00:29:24,461
Music played a big part
in changing the thoughts

512
00:29:24,463 --> 00:29:28,432
of people, especially
in the South, about race.

513
00:29:30,268 --> 00:29:34,438
By us being in Muscle Shoals
and puttin'

514
00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:36,273
music together,

515
00:29:36,275 --> 00:29:39,710
I think it went a long ways
to help people understand

516
00:29:39,712 --> 00:29:43,814
that we all were just humans.

517
00:29:43,816 --> 00:29:46,083
My stock went sky-high
with Wexler after

518
00:29:46,085 --> 00:29:50,053
the Percy Sledge single went
number one worldwide,

519
00:29:50,055 --> 00:29:52,489
and he said, "Rick,
I have a little bit of a dispute"

520
00:29:52,491 --> 00:29:55,325
with Jim Stewart at Stax
and he don't want me to cut

521
00:29:55,327 --> 00:29:57,394
"any more records over
at his studio."

522
00:29:57,396 --> 00:30:02,299
The welcoming mat for me
at Memphis was cold.

523
00:30:02,301 --> 00:30:04,268
So I got the idea
of calling Rick Hall

524
00:30:04,270 --> 00:30:06,870
and saying, "Hey, can I bring
Wilson Pickett down here"

525
00:30:06,872 --> 00:30:09,706
and, uh, make some records
with you guys?"

526
00:30:09,708 --> 00:30:11,074
Which we did.

527
00:30:17,849 --> 00:30:19,950
I gets off the plane,
southern airlines,

528
00:30:19,952 --> 00:30:23,487
and here, this long, tall
white man,

529
00:30:23,489 --> 00:30:25,155
we call 'em peckerwoods.

530
00:30:25,157 --> 00:30:28,392
I met Wilson Pickett,
picked him up at the airport.

531
00:30:28,394 --> 00:30:32,563
He looked like, to me,
a dangerous man.

532
00:30:32,565 --> 00:30:35,265
He walked up like
he'd known me for 500 years.

533
00:30:35,267 --> 00:30:36,567
"Hey, Wilson, come on, come on.

534
00:30:36,569 --> 00:30:38,168
We gon' cut
some fuckin' records."

535
00:30:38,170 --> 00:30:39,636
Why, we gon' really cut
some records.

536
00:30:39,638 --> 00:30:41,205
Come on, Wilson, come on,"
I said, "Wait, wait,"

537
00:30:41,207 --> 00:30:43,073
I'm nervous,
you know what I mean?

538
00:30:43,075 --> 00:30:45,609
Now what this white man know
about producin'

539
00:30:45,611 --> 00:30:49,046
a Wilson Pickett?

540
00:30:49,048 --> 00:30:50,480
And on the way to the studio,

541
00:30:50,482 --> 00:30:52,216
I'll look at him
and he'll look at me,

542
00:30:52,218 --> 00:30:53,884
and I could see it
in his eyes, he was thinkin',

543
00:30:53,886 --> 00:30:55,185
"What am I doin'
with this cracker

544
00:30:55,187 --> 00:30:57,821
down here in Alabama?"

545
00:30:57,823 --> 00:30:59,356
We went through
the cotton patch,

546
00:30:59,358 --> 00:31:01,491
people still pickin' cotton.

547
00:31:01,493 --> 00:31:04,928
I said, "Is that what
I think it is?"

548
00:31:04,930 --> 00:31:07,364
"Yeah, Wilson, they're still
picking cotton down here."

549
00:31:07,366 --> 00:31:10,267
You can see his studio
from the cotton patch.

550
00:31:13,972 --> 00:31:17,007
Pickett had a very
quick temper.

551
00:31:17,009 --> 00:31:19,610
I was there to make it work,
period.

552
00:31:19,612 --> 00:31:22,145
You know what I mean?

553
00:31:22,147 --> 00:31:24,081
On session, if he didn't like
what was goin' on

554
00:31:24,083 --> 00:31:25,449
and didn't like the attitude,

555
00:31:25,451 --> 00:31:27,818
he's just liable
to whip the drummer.

556
00:31:27,820 --> 00:31:30,320
Say, "Come out, son,
I'm gonna beat your ass."

557
00:31:30,322 --> 00:31:33,290
I was nervous,
I was sittin' behind the drums

558
00:31:33,292 --> 00:31:36,059
and I was gettin' things
together, like drummers do,

559
00:31:36,061 --> 00:31:37,628
checkin' things.

560
00:31:37,630 --> 00:31:40,831
Our band was super nervous
the first time we worked

561
00:31:40,833 --> 00:31:42,165
for Jerry Wexler.

562
00:31:42,167 --> 00:31:44,701
We had this feeling that
if we couldn't play

563
00:31:44,703 --> 00:31:47,037
what he asked us to play,
we'd probably be fired

564
00:31:47,039 --> 00:31:48,472
on the spot.

565
00:31:48,474 --> 00:31:50,941
I was apprehensive, very leery,

566
00:31:50,943 --> 00:31:53,243
because it was
entirely different

567
00:31:53,245 --> 00:31:56,513
from what we had been
doing in New York,

568
00:31:56,515 --> 00:31:59,583
which was recording
with written arrangements,

569
00:31:59,585 --> 00:32:03,420
arrangers, and studio players
who read the charts.

570
00:32:03,422 --> 00:32:05,489
We would get in the studio
and would add a little bit

571
00:32:05,491 --> 00:32:07,224
of this, a little bit of that,

572
00:32:07,226 --> 00:32:08,892
and then we'll go to lunch,
come back,

573
00:32:08,894 --> 00:32:10,294
and we didn't like that,
take it away,

574
00:32:10,296 --> 00:32:11,929
you know, that kind of stuff.

575
00:32:11,931 --> 00:32:14,665
We would sit there and we'd
make that record together.

576
00:32:19,570 --> 00:32:21,571
Those guys are sittin' there
in the studio,

577
00:32:21,573 --> 00:32:23,740
and just find the groove,
you know?

578
00:32:23,742 --> 00:32:25,642
And I'd be right there
with 'em, singing along

579
00:32:25,644 --> 00:32:27,945
and we'd all
work it out together.

580
00:32:27,947 --> 00:32:31,214
Rick Hall, he stood there
every minute.

581
00:32:31,216 --> 00:32:32,749
Rick Hall was his own engineer.

582
00:32:32,751 --> 00:32:34,217
He built the studio.

583
00:32:34,219 --> 00:32:38,021
He knew all the electrical
wiring in there.

584
00:32:38,023 --> 00:32:39,990
And that drummer they had
was fantastic.

585
00:32:39,992 --> 00:32:41,725
He was a funky drummer,
but he wasn't

586
00:32:41,727 --> 00:32:45,128
wearing himself out
all over the place.

587
00:32:45,130 --> 00:32:48,098
He was just...
he was just there.

588
00:32:50,268 --> 00:32:51,535
We was cookin' away
on the thing

589
00:32:51,537 --> 00:32:53,470
and Wexler was in
the control room.

590
00:32:53,472 --> 00:32:55,906
He said, "Baby, it's working."

591
00:32:55,908 --> 00:32:58,008
Hey, baby,
it's funky."

592
00:33:03,648 --> 00:33:09,553
Rick Hall had a rhythm section
of exceptional players.

593
00:33:14,192 --> 00:33:17,127
This was very inspirational
to me.

594
00:33:17,129 --> 00:33:20,130
Jerry came out
at the end of the first day,

595
00:33:20,132 --> 00:33:24,067
we had just cut
"Land of 1,000 Dances,"

596
00:33:24,069 --> 00:33:26,136
and he walks out
in front of Roger,

597
00:33:26,138 --> 00:33:30,941
and Roger's ears had never heard
anything like this.

598
00:33:30,943 --> 00:33:32,109
He said, "Roger."

599
00:33:32,111 --> 00:33:33,377
I said, "Yes, sir?"

600
00:33:33,379 --> 00:33:37,214
He said, "Roger,
you're a great drummer."

601
00:33:37,216 --> 00:33:38,715
And all of a sudden,
it just-

602
00:33:38,717 --> 00:33:42,919
I just kind of relaxed
and became a great drummer,

603
00:33:42,921 --> 00:33:46,556
just like he said I was.

604
00:33:46,558 --> 00:33:48,892
After my first night
in that studio with them,

605
00:33:48,894 --> 00:33:52,729
I was convinced that that could
be a recording home for me.

606
00:33:52,731 --> 00:33:55,732
♪ Mustang Sally

607
00:33:55,734 --> 00:33:59,669
We cut "Mustang Sally"
all that, "Funky Broadway,"

608
00:33:59,671 --> 00:34:03,140
"The Land of 1,000
Whole Dances."

609
00:34:03,142 --> 00:34:05,175
Boy, these dirty slickers
chewin' the...

610
00:34:05,177 --> 00:34:07,477
"How do you like that,
Wilson?"

611
00:34:07,479 --> 00:34:11,014
Pickett and I were
soul brothers, we were.

612
00:34:11,016 --> 00:34:12,049
We was nitty gritty.

613
00:34:12,051 --> 00:34:15,585
Down in the cold nitty gritty.

614
00:34:15,587 --> 00:34:19,723
♪ Oh, guess I have to put your
flat feet on the ground now ♪

615
00:34:19,725 --> 00:34:23,927
Everything was just roses
with me, with Jerry Wexler.

616
00:34:23,929 --> 00:34:26,196
Jerry took a liking to us

617
00:34:26,198 --> 00:34:30,967
from the very beginning.

618
00:34:30,969 --> 00:34:33,203
There's just something
that leaps out of a record,

619
00:34:33,205 --> 00:34:36,640
I call it the sonority
of the record.

620
00:34:36,642 --> 00:34:39,142
It's the way the sound
of the record impacts

621
00:34:39,144 --> 00:34:41,711
on the ear, instantly.

622
00:34:41,713 --> 00:34:43,346
And to me, that's
the magic ingredient

623
00:34:43,348 --> 00:34:45,015
in a phonograph record.

624
00:34:45,017 --> 00:34:50,253
♪ Oh, I got to put your flat
feet on the ground ♪

625
00:34:50,255 --> 00:34:52,756
The Rolling Stones had it,
the Beatles had it,

626
00:34:52,758 --> 00:34:56,460
and they had it,
and so from then on,

627
00:34:56,462 --> 00:34:59,796
Muscle Shoals became the place
that I preferred to go

628
00:34:59,798 --> 00:35:01,465
and loved to go.

629
00:35:08,906 --> 00:35:14,010
I grew up north of Florence.

630
00:35:14,012 --> 00:35:15,979
It really wasn't a town,

631
00:35:15,981 --> 00:35:18,281
just a dirt road.

632
00:35:20,918 --> 00:35:23,019
The only way to get
to Florence, at that time,

633
00:35:23,021 --> 00:35:24,454
we had no car.

634
00:35:24,456 --> 00:35:26,690
My mom and I would walk

635
00:35:26,692 --> 00:35:30,026
from the dirt road down
to the highway

636
00:35:30,028 --> 00:35:32,829
to catch a bus
to go into Florence,

637
00:35:32,831 --> 00:35:36,333
which was five miles away.

638
00:35:36,335 --> 00:35:38,335
I was born in Sheffield,
Alabama,

639
00:35:38,337 --> 00:35:41,738
and graduated from
Sheffield High School.

640
00:35:41,740 --> 00:35:44,040
While in high school,
I would see

641
00:35:44,042 --> 00:35:45,775
Hollis Dixon and the Keynotes.

642
00:35:45,777 --> 00:35:48,211
Was the first rock 'n' roll
band around here,

643
00:35:48,213 --> 00:35:49,746
and I just fell in love
with that.

644
00:35:49,748 --> 00:35:52,816
I thought, "I've gotta learn
how to do that."

645
00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:57,587
You got Roger Hawkins
in a group called

646
00:35:57,589 --> 00:35:58,622
The Del Rays.

647
00:35:58,624 --> 00:36:00,457
Jimmy Johnson was playing
guitar.

648
00:36:00,459 --> 00:36:01,825
I remember hearing the Del Rays

649
00:36:01,827 --> 00:36:04,227
when I was going to
University of Alabama.

650
00:36:04,229 --> 00:36:05,996
And I remember,
I could not get into

651
00:36:05,998 --> 00:36:07,664
the fraternity house.

652
00:36:07,666 --> 00:36:09,699
So I had to stay outside
and listen to it.

653
00:36:09,701 --> 00:36:12,969
I mean, the ground
was rumbling, okay?

654
00:36:12,971 --> 00:36:15,572
It was such a great band.

655
00:36:15,574 --> 00:36:18,542
We met each other
when we started playing

656
00:36:18,544 --> 00:36:20,377
at the Tuscumbia
National Guard Armory

657
00:36:20,379 --> 00:36:23,213
at the square dance.

658
00:36:23,215 --> 00:36:25,215
Half the night
was rock 'n' roll,

659
00:36:25,217 --> 00:36:29,119
and then after that
it was all square dance.

660
00:36:29,121 --> 00:36:31,888
We made $10 each for that.

661
00:36:38,863 --> 00:36:44,134
After Wilson Pickett, I became
Jerry's right hand man.

662
00:36:44,136 --> 00:36:48,104
And so he said, "I'm thinkin'
about signing a new act",

663
00:36:48,106 --> 00:36:49,506
her name is Aretha Franklin.

664
00:36:49,508 --> 00:36:51,608
She's on CBS Records
and it's not happening,

665
00:36:51,610 --> 00:36:53,777
they can't sell records on her.

666
00:36:53,779 --> 00:37:00,884
♪ I'm only one step
ahead of heartbreak ♪

667
00:37:00,886 --> 00:37:03,186
I had heard her
real smooth records

668
00:37:03,188 --> 00:37:04,688
on Columbia.

669
00:37:04,690 --> 00:37:07,224
You couldn't really
get your teeth into 'em.

670
00:37:07,226 --> 00:37:11,494
♪ One step is
all I have to take ♪

671
00:37:11,496 --> 00:37:13,930
These lush arrangements
that she was doing at CBS,

672
00:37:13,932 --> 00:37:16,600
which weren't
successful either.

673
00:37:16,602 --> 00:37:17,701
No one knew
what to do with her,

674
00:37:17,703 --> 00:37:19,202
she had this great voice,

675
00:37:19,204 --> 00:37:21,838
but lots of people
have a great voice.

676
00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:25,442
I've still got to find out
who and what I really am.

677
00:37:25,444 --> 00:37:27,477
I don't know yet.

678
00:37:27,479 --> 00:37:29,646
I'm trying to find the answer.

679
00:37:29,648 --> 00:37:31,548
I wasn't exactly hoping
that she wouldn't have

680
00:37:31,550 --> 00:37:33,917
any hits on Columbia Records,

681
00:37:33,919 --> 00:37:36,820
but the way it went, they
dropped her after five years.

682
00:37:36,822 --> 00:37:38,888
A week later we were in
my office in New York,

683
00:37:38,890 --> 00:37:40,290
we signed her up.

684
00:37:40,292 --> 00:37:43,026
He said, "You know, I've got
this great little studio"

685
00:37:43,028 --> 00:37:45,428
down in Muscle Shoals,

686
00:37:45,430 --> 00:37:48,832
and these cats... these cats
are really greasy.

687
00:37:48,834 --> 00:37:50,533
"You gonna love it."

688
00:37:50,535 --> 00:37:53,136
♪

689
00:37:53,138 --> 00:37:55,272
She walks in,

690
00:37:55,274 --> 00:37:56,706
right over there.

691
00:37:56,708 --> 00:37:58,541
♪

692
00:37:58,543 --> 00:38:02,445
And she's got this aura
around her pretty thick.

693
00:38:02,447 --> 00:38:06,716
I mean, the girl was special.

694
00:38:06,718 --> 00:38:10,820
I remember watchin' the guys
bein' good southern boys,

695
00:38:10,822 --> 00:38:12,622
and they'd carry on
with anything

696
00:38:12,624 --> 00:38:15,258
except looking
or dealing with her.

697
00:38:15,260 --> 00:38:17,661
♪

698
00:38:17,663 --> 00:38:20,897
So she walked right over
to the piano.

699
00:38:20,899 --> 00:38:23,933
She sat there a moment.

700
00:38:23,935 --> 00:38:27,704
And then she just hit this
unknown chord, I would say.

701
00:38:27,706 --> 00:38:30,607
♪

702
00:38:30,609 --> 00:38:34,978
Didn't anybody have to say,
"We're about to cut."

703
00:38:34,980 --> 00:38:38,381
We did what we called head
sessions at that time,

704
00:38:38,383 --> 00:38:41,718
and there was no real music
written for it.

705
00:38:41,720 --> 00:38:45,622
The musicians would just listen
to what it was I was doing,

706
00:38:45,624 --> 00:38:49,759
and then they would decide what
they were gonna do around that.

707
00:38:49,761 --> 00:38:53,029
I think we heard a little demo
of this song,

708
00:38:53,031 --> 00:38:55,498
"Never Loved a Man
the Way I Loved You."

709
00:38:55,500 --> 00:38:58,001
To me it sounded
pretty much like junk.

710
00:38:58,003 --> 00:39:01,438
I'm thinkin', "That's the song
they gonna cut?"

711
00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:02,672
There was discussions.

712
00:39:02,674 --> 00:39:04,674
Jerry Wexler and Rick.

713
00:39:04,676 --> 00:39:07,711
There was a little confusion
and there was a little turmoil.

714
00:39:07,713 --> 00:39:09,979
Everybody was a little uptight.

715
00:39:09,981 --> 00:39:14,417
We can't find a groove, a beat,
a place to start.

716
00:39:14,419 --> 00:39:16,820
They were... just had
all these gears workin',

717
00:39:16,822 --> 00:39:22,225
but finally
it just came to a...

718
00:39:22,227 --> 00:39:25,562
And suddenly
it was really quiet.

719
00:39:25,564 --> 00:39:27,297
They had a song,
they had an artist,

720
00:39:27,299 --> 00:39:29,199
but nobody knew what to do.

721
00:39:29,201 --> 00:39:32,535
Not even all these geniuses.

722
00:39:32,537 --> 00:39:35,605
But out of that quietness
came Spooner with...

723
00:39:35,607 --> 00:39:36,107
♪

724
00:39:39,711 --> 00:39:42,112
And I said,
"Hey, Spooner's got it!

725
00:39:42,114 --> 00:39:43,446
That's it."

726
00:39:43,448 --> 00:39:45,582
Aretha jumped right on it.

727
00:39:45,584 --> 00:39:50,086
♪ You're a no good
heartbreaker ♪

728
00:39:50,088 --> 00:39:53,456
♪ You're a liar
and you're a cheat ♪

729
00:39:53,458 --> 00:39:56,526
It was cut within
15 to 20 minutes.

730
00:39:56,528 --> 00:39:58,695
You didn't have to ask,
"What do you think?"

731
00:39:58,697 --> 00:40:00,296
Everybody knew it was a hit.

732
00:40:00,298 --> 00:40:04,067
I think everything came together
for Aretha in Muscle Shoals.

733
00:40:04,069 --> 00:40:08,905
They got Aretha to record
a much more funky kind of style

734
00:40:08,907 --> 00:40:10,006
in Muscle Shoals.

735
00:40:10,008 --> 00:40:13,276
It was really
the essence of her.

736
00:40:13,278 --> 00:40:16,012
♪ 'Cause I ain't never

737
00:40:16,014 --> 00:40:17,781
♪ I ain't never

738
00:40:17,783 --> 00:40:20,884
♪ I ain't never, no, no ♪

739
00:40:20,886 --> 00:40:26,489
♪ Loved a man the way that I
I love you ♪

740
00:40:26,491 --> 00:40:29,592
Coming to Muscle Shoals
was the turning point.

741
00:40:29,594 --> 00:40:32,495
That's where I recorded
"I Never Loved a Man,"

742
00:40:32,497 --> 00:40:36,065
which became my first
million-selling record.

743
00:40:36,067 --> 00:40:39,636
So absolutely
it was a milestone

744
00:40:39,638 --> 00:40:43,907
and the turning point
in my career.

745
00:40:43,909 --> 00:40:46,176
♪ Oh oh oh

746
00:40:46,178 --> 00:40:48,011
♪ Yeah

747
00:40:48,013 --> 00:40:50,480
♪ Yeah

748
00:40:50,482 --> 00:40:52,215
♪ I ain't never loved a man

749
00:40:52,217 --> 00:40:55,718
We cut "I Never Loved a Man,"
which people to this day

750
00:40:55,720 --> 00:40:59,722
still regard as being
maybe her most soulful

751
00:40:59,724 --> 00:41:01,491
and really funkiest record.

752
00:41:01,493 --> 00:41:03,660
♪ Well, this is what
I'm gonna do about it ♪

753
00:41:03,662 --> 00:41:06,329
That's one of those songs,

754
00:41:06,331 --> 00:41:08,565
the ones that give you
the chills,

755
00:41:08,567 --> 00:41:10,867
the ones that give you
the goose bumps,

756
00:41:10,869 --> 00:41:12,001
the ones that you're like,

757
00:41:12,003 --> 00:41:15,071
"I wish I sang a record
like that."

758
00:41:15,073 --> 00:41:18,341
♪

759
00:41:18,343 --> 00:41:22,345
We had a whole week planned
to cut tracks, a whole week,

760
00:41:22,347 --> 00:41:24,047
but at the end of the session

761
00:41:24,049 --> 00:41:27,784
we found out
that there was a problem.

762
00:41:27,786 --> 00:41:29,686
There was a ruckus.

763
00:41:29,688 --> 00:41:31,120
One of the horn players,

764
00:41:31,122 --> 00:41:33,590
and Aretha's then husband,
Ted White,

765
00:41:33,592 --> 00:41:36,159
got into it.

766
00:41:36,161 --> 00:41:39,162
This new horn player started
saying things like,

767
00:41:39,164 --> 00:41:42,899
"Aretha, baby,"
and it was just enough

768
00:41:42,901 --> 00:41:45,401
that Ted White got offended.

769
00:41:45,403 --> 00:41:47,837
They'd been drinkin'
from the same jug,

770
00:41:47,839 --> 00:41:50,707
and now this camaraderie
and great palship

771
00:41:50,709 --> 00:41:55,311
turned into some kind
of alcoholic hostility.

772
00:41:55,313 --> 00:41:58,648
Ted comes into the control room
with Wexler and I and says,

773
00:41:58,650 --> 00:42:01,718
"I want the trumpet player
fired."

774
00:42:01,720 --> 00:42:03,219
I looked at Wexler and I said,
"What do you think?"

775
00:42:03,221 --> 00:42:05,722
He said, "Go fire him."

776
00:42:05,724 --> 00:42:08,024
So I went and fired him.

777
00:42:08,026 --> 00:42:13,630
That later caused a big argument
and caused the session to end.

778
00:42:13,632 --> 00:42:15,098
I got a hold
of the bottle of vodka

779
00:42:15,100 --> 00:42:18,067
and I took a couple...
three drinks of it.

780
00:42:18,069 --> 00:42:19,969
And I said, "Wexler,
I'm gonna go over to the hotel"

781
00:42:19,971 --> 00:42:25,642
and get with Ted and them
and we'll work this thing out."

782
00:42:25,644 --> 00:42:27,477
He said, "No,
I don't want you to go."

783
00:42:27,479 --> 00:42:29,979
And I said, "Yeah, well, I'm
not gonna start any trouble,"

784
00:42:29,981 --> 00:42:31,548
I said, "I'll go over
and work it out."

785
00:42:31,550 --> 00:42:32,849
We'll become buddies

786
00:42:32,851 --> 00:42:34,484
"and I'll work
everything out."

787
00:42:34,486 --> 00:42:38,655
He said, "No, Rick, don't go,
please don't go."

788
00:42:38,657 --> 00:42:41,357
So anyhow, I had had
a couple more drinks

789
00:42:41,359 --> 00:42:43,226
and I went over then.

790
00:42:43,228 --> 00:42:43,728
♪

791
00:42:49,501 --> 00:42:51,334
Banged on Ted and Aretha's door

792
00:42:51,336 --> 00:42:52,869
and Ted came to the door.

793
00:42:52,871 --> 00:42:55,538
And he started pointing his
finger in my face and so forth.

794
00:42:55,540 --> 00:42:57,640
And we fought
and fought and fought.

795
00:42:57,642 --> 00:42:59,442
He was trying to throw me
over the balcony

796
00:42:59,444 --> 00:43:00,476
and I was trying to throw him.

797
00:43:00,478 --> 00:43:01,578
It was downtown, and we was up

798
00:43:01,580 --> 00:43:03,179
on about the fourth floor.

799
00:43:03,181 --> 00:43:06,683
♪

800
00:43:06,685 --> 00:43:10,753
My former husband
never came back that night

801
00:43:10,755 --> 00:43:13,122
and I decided
that I was leaving.

802
00:43:13,124 --> 00:43:15,725
I had never been
to Muscle Shoals before,

803
00:43:15,727 --> 00:43:18,127
or away from home,
really, by myself.

804
00:43:18,129 --> 00:43:20,263
And so I just said,
"I'm going to the airport."

805
00:43:20,265 --> 00:43:24,267
And when I got to the airport,
I saw him with the bell captain.

806
00:43:24,269 --> 00:43:28,771
I said, "Whoa, this son of a gun
was gonna leave me down here."

807
00:43:28,773 --> 00:43:30,373
Unbelievable.

808
00:43:30,375 --> 00:43:33,643
♪

809
00:43:33,645 --> 00:43:36,746
They left town
the next day, early.

810
00:43:36,748 --> 00:43:38,448
So Wexler came and said to me,

811
00:43:38,450 --> 00:43:42,352
"I will never set foot in this
studio as long as I live again.

812
00:43:42,354 --> 00:43:44,253
I will bury you."

813
00:43:44,255 --> 00:43:45,521
And I said,
"You can't bury me."

814
00:43:45,523 --> 00:43:46,689
He said, "Why can't I?"

815
00:43:46,691 --> 00:43:48,858
I said,
"Because you're too old.

816
00:43:48,860 --> 00:43:50,994
I'll be around
after you're gone."

817
00:43:50,996 --> 00:43:51,496
♪

818
00:43:55,567 --> 00:43:58,935
So the next day I showed up
and on the board it says,

819
00:43:58,937 --> 00:44:01,137
"Session Cancelled."

820
00:44:01,139 --> 00:44:06,075
And I thought, "Oh, man,
it's over, we've had it."

821
00:44:06,077 --> 00:44:08,745
But a few days later
Jerry Wexler calls

822
00:44:08,747 --> 00:44:10,980
and asks if we can
go to New York

823
00:44:10,982 --> 00:44:13,549
and finish the album there.

824
00:44:13,551 --> 00:44:15,618
He didn't have to ask us twice.

825
00:44:15,620 --> 00:44:19,322
♪

826
00:44:19,324 --> 00:44:24,727
On that album was
"R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Respect."

827
00:44:24,729 --> 00:44:26,829
♪ What you want

828
00:44:26,831 --> 00:44:29,032
♪ Baby I got

829
00:44:29,034 --> 00:44:30,833
To be a part
of something like that

830
00:44:30,835 --> 00:44:32,735
is unbelievable.

831
00:44:32,737 --> 00:44:35,204
It was milestone stuff.

832
00:44:35,206 --> 00:44:37,173
♪ Is for a little respect
when you come home ♪

833
00:44:37,175 --> 00:44:39,275
- ♪ Just a little bit
- ♪ Hey, baby

834
00:44:39,277 --> 00:44:42,345
- ♪ When you get home
- ♪ Just a little bit

835
00:44:42,347 --> 00:44:45,314
- ♪ Mister
- ♪ Just a little bit

836
00:44:45,316 --> 00:44:47,950
The Swampers went on
and recorded with Aretha

837
00:44:47,952 --> 00:44:49,318
on many hit records.

838
00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:51,821
"Sweet, Sweet Baby,"
"Natural Woman,"

839
00:44:51,823 --> 00:44:54,023
"Think,"
"The House that Jack Built,"

840
00:44:54,025 --> 00:44:56,826
"Call Me,"
"Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,"

841
00:44:56,828 --> 00:45:01,230
"Chain of Fools,"
and so many, many others.

842
00:45:01,232 --> 00:45:03,466
Of course it worked out
incredibly.

843
00:45:03,468 --> 00:45:05,868
And it's been one
of the anomalies, I think,

844
00:45:05,870 --> 00:45:09,839
of the era that
Aretha's greatest work

845
00:45:09,841 --> 00:45:12,275
came with a studio full
of Caucasian musicians.

846
00:45:12,277 --> 00:45:13,409
How do you figure it?

847
00:45:13,411 --> 00:45:15,578
This is the Queen of Soul
acknowledged.

848
00:45:15,580 --> 00:45:17,680
Here we have Roger Hawkins,

849
00:45:17,682 --> 00:45:19,749
and David Hood, Jimmy Johnson,

850
00:45:19,751 --> 00:45:22,285
Barry Beckett, Spooner Oldham

851
00:45:22,287 --> 00:45:24,087
coming out with
probably the deepest

852
00:45:24,089 --> 00:45:26,489
and most intense R&B
of the era.

853
00:45:26,491 --> 00:45:30,693
♪ R-E-S-P-E-C-T
find out what it means to me ♪

854
00:45:30,695 --> 00:45:34,697
♪ R-E-S-P-E-C-T
take care T-C-B ♪

855
00:45:34,699 --> 00:45:37,266
♪ Oh a little respect

856
00:45:37,268 --> 00:45:38,835
♪ Sock it to me, sock it to me,
sock it to me ♪

857
00:45:38,837 --> 00:45:41,537
♪ Whoa, babe,
a little respect ♪

858
00:45:41,539 --> 00:45:42,905
♪ Just a little bit

859
00:45:42,907 --> 00:45:46,609
♪ I get tired Keep on tryin' ♪

860
00:45:46,611 --> 00:45:49,278
♪ You're running out of fools
and I ain't lyin' ♪

861
00:45:49,280 --> 00:45:51,914
So after my dispute
with Wexler,

862
00:45:51,916 --> 00:45:54,984
he took Aretha away.

863
00:45:54,986 --> 00:45:57,954
And on my part, I felt like
I had really screwed up,

864
00:45:57,956 --> 00:46:02,625
so I went to Chicago
and I spoke to Leonard Chess

865
00:46:02,627 --> 00:46:04,594
'cause he said,
"I wonder what I gotta do

866
00:46:04,596 --> 00:46:08,131
to get you to do some sides
for Chess Records."

867
00:46:08,133 --> 00:46:09,565
I said, "Who do you
want me to do?"

868
00:46:09,567 --> 00:46:11,601
He said, "I'd like you
to do Etta James."

869
00:46:11,603 --> 00:46:12,103
♪

870
00:46:17,142 --> 00:46:19,175
When I looked at him,
I says, "God, Rick Hall."

871
00:46:19,177 --> 00:46:21,611
So this is fame,
recording studios,

872
00:46:21,613 --> 00:46:25,181
and I'm in Alabama
and now this is gonna be,

873
00:46:25,183 --> 00:46:26,549
you know, the real thing here.

874
00:46:26,551 --> 00:46:28,451
"I'm gonna get some
of the Alabama mud,"

875
00:46:28,453 --> 00:46:30,653
you know,
all of that kind of stuff.

876
00:46:30,655 --> 00:46:35,725
Etta James is probably one of
my favorite chicks of all time.

877
00:46:35,727 --> 00:46:39,695
Leonard said, "You know, Rick,
I built my company on her back."

878
00:46:39,697 --> 00:46:43,499
When you think she's singing
as good as she can sing,

879
00:46:43,501 --> 00:46:48,237
"if you'll kick her ass
and wind her up,"

880
00:46:48,239 --> 00:46:52,542
he said, "She can rattle
the shingles on this studio."

881
00:46:52,544 --> 00:46:56,379
♪ You thought
you hadn't found a good girl ♪

882
00:46:56,381 --> 00:46:59,982
♪ One to love you
and give you the world ♪

883
00:46:59,984 --> 00:47:03,586
Rick Hall was actually
the first white man

884
00:47:03,588 --> 00:47:06,522
that I had seen that
had that kind of soul,

885
00:47:06,524 --> 00:47:10,993
that was an engineer
and was soulful, you know?

886
00:47:10,995 --> 00:47:13,129
We recorded
a Clarence Carter song.

887
00:47:13,131 --> 00:47:15,364
With Clarence it was,
"Tell Daddy,"

888
00:47:15,366 --> 00:47:18,100
but with Etta it was,
"Tell Mama."

889
00:47:18,102 --> 00:47:20,036
She didn't want to do the song

890
00:47:20,038 --> 00:47:22,271
because I think
she had a problem

891
00:47:22,273 --> 00:47:24,574
with somebody suggesting to her

892
00:47:24,576 --> 00:47:27,510
that she was gonna
take care of some man.

893
00:47:27,512 --> 00:47:29,879
I would be so hardheaded
and, you know, just,

894
00:47:29,881 --> 00:47:32,215
"Don't tell me nothin',"
you know?

895
00:47:32,217 --> 00:47:35,985
She had a temper like a lion.

896
00:47:35,987 --> 00:47:37,453
I said, "If you'll do it
for an hour",

897
00:47:37,455 --> 00:47:39,322
and it's not happening,
we'll garbage it,

898
00:47:39,324 --> 00:47:40,923
"we'll throw it
in the garbage."

899
00:47:40,925 --> 00:47:42,191
I finally realized

900
00:47:42,193 --> 00:47:46,395
everything that he used
to badger me about,

901
00:47:46,397 --> 00:47:48,297
he was always right.

902
00:47:48,299 --> 00:47:52,201
♪ Tell mama all about it ♪

903
00:47:52,203 --> 00:47:56,405
♪ Tell mama what you need ♪

904
00:47:56,407 --> 00:47:58,241
♪ Tell mama

905
00:47:58,243 --> 00:48:02,278
And, of course, the record was
to become a big, big hit on her.

906
00:48:02,280 --> 00:48:05,581
Everybody said that that song
raised her from the grave,

907
00:48:05,583 --> 00:48:09,085
you know, and brought her
back to prominence.

908
00:48:09,087 --> 00:48:12,922
Each time a person
went to Muscle Shoals,

909
00:48:12,924 --> 00:48:14,557
they came out of there
with a hit record.

910
00:48:14,559 --> 00:48:17,693
You had to know that
there was something magic

911
00:48:17,695 --> 00:48:19,929
in Muscle Shoals.

912
00:48:41,351 --> 00:48:43,119
The spirit of Muscle Shoals

913
00:48:43,121 --> 00:48:50,226
permeates not only
the city itself, physically,

914
00:48:50,228 --> 00:48:53,696
but I think the people
who came through there.

915
00:48:55,899 --> 00:48:58,167
The place has a soul.

916
00:48:58,169 --> 00:48:58,669
♪

917
00:49:07,078 --> 00:49:10,046
W.C. Handy was from
the Muscle Shoals area

918
00:49:10,048 --> 00:49:14,150
and everyone that knows
about the blues

919
00:49:14,152 --> 00:49:16,819
is familiar
with W.C. Handy.

920
00:49:16,821 --> 00:49:17,321
♪

921
00:49:21,759 --> 00:49:25,261
Well, he's one of the great
popularizers of the blues.

922
00:49:25,263 --> 00:49:28,464
Before it was
a kind of gutbucket music

923
00:49:28,466 --> 00:49:31,000
that didn't have
a lot of respect.

924
00:49:31,002 --> 00:49:35,171
He kind of legitimized
the music.

925
00:49:35,173 --> 00:49:36,405
♪

926
00:49:36,407 --> 00:49:39,075
All the bands were playing
the same thing,

927
00:49:39,077 --> 00:49:41,344
but no one had written it down.

928
00:49:41,346 --> 00:49:44,880
Well, he was the first one
to write it down.

929
00:49:44,882 --> 00:49:46,882
That made him
Father of the Blues

930
00:49:46,884 --> 00:49:48,818
and made this area famous.

931
00:49:48,820 --> 00:49:52,788
♪

932
00:49:52,790 --> 00:49:56,058
Sam Phillips was also from
the Muscle Shoals area.

933
00:49:56,060 --> 00:49:59,962
And Sam was kind of my tutor
and I kind of looked upon him

934
00:49:59,964 --> 00:50:03,199
as being the guy
I wanted to be.

935
00:50:03,201 --> 00:50:05,434
♪

936
00:50:05,436 --> 00:50:07,470
Sam Phillips came out of there.

937
00:50:07,472 --> 00:50:09,805
I mean, didn't he invent
rock and roll or something?

938
00:50:09,807 --> 00:50:13,209
My dad, Sam Phillips,
was the first to record Elvis,

939
00:50:13,211 --> 00:50:17,446
Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis,
Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison,

940
00:50:17,448 --> 00:50:19,181
but a lot of people
don't realize

941
00:50:19,183 --> 00:50:21,317
that he only worked specifically
with black artists

942
00:50:21,319 --> 00:50:23,152
in the very beginning.

943
00:50:23,154 --> 00:50:25,755
Well, the basic feeling
I had for black artists

944
00:50:25,757 --> 00:50:28,724
of course originated
when I was very young

945
00:50:28,726 --> 00:50:31,494
on a farm in Alabama.

946
00:50:31,496 --> 00:50:35,364
I felt a certain spirituality
about the black man's music.

947
00:50:35,366 --> 00:50:37,700
And hearin' it
in the cotton fields,

948
00:50:37,702 --> 00:50:42,605
that made one hell
of an impression on me.

949
00:50:42,607 --> 00:50:46,175
Mr. Phillips heard people
singing in the fields

950
00:50:46,177 --> 00:50:48,577
and heard trains
rumbling through

951
00:50:48,579 --> 00:50:50,913
and the river
roaring around the bend

952
00:50:50,915 --> 00:50:52,681
down here in the shoals.

953
00:50:52,683 --> 00:50:56,352
It's a subconscious rhythm
that gets in your head.

954
00:50:56,354 --> 00:50:58,587
There's like a groove,
there's a pocket

955
00:50:58,589 --> 00:51:01,791
that sticks in your gut.

956
00:51:01,793 --> 00:51:03,626
It's connected all of us.

957
00:51:03,628 --> 00:51:04,128
♪

958
00:51:07,665 --> 00:51:11,233
Helen Keller was
from Muscle Shoals,

959
00:51:11,235 --> 00:51:14,103
and it was just
always amazing to me

960
00:51:14,105 --> 00:51:17,339
the things she was able
to accomplish

961
00:51:17,341 --> 00:51:19,875
being blind and deaf.

962
00:51:19,877 --> 00:51:22,645
♪

963
00:51:22,647 --> 00:51:26,315
Helen Keller was deaf,
completely mute,

964
00:51:26,317 --> 00:51:27,883
completely blind.

965
00:51:27,885 --> 00:51:30,286
And her only way of
communicating with the world

966
00:51:30,288 --> 00:51:34,323
is with gestures.

967
00:51:34,325 --> 00:51:37,560
You can still go to her house
and see the well

968
00:51:37,562 --> 00:51:40,663
where she learned
her first word,

969
00:51:40,665 --> 00:51:42,832
which was "water."

970
00:51:42,834 --> 00:51:45,534
There's obviously
an incredible connection

971
00:51:45,536 --> 00:51:47,803
to water here.

972
00:51:47,805 --> 00:51:51,307
So you can see why
that would be the first word

973
00:51:51,309 --> 00:51:55,344
that Helen Keller
learned, "water."

974
00:51:55,346 --> 00:52:00,015
There's such a power
in this place,

975
00:52:00,017 --> 00:52:02,985
and you feel it whether
you can hear it and see it

976
00:52:02,987 --> 00:52:04,687
or not.

977
00:52:04,689 --> 00:52:05,189
♪

978
00:52:17,235 --> 00:52:19,935
I'm a great believer
that landscape

979
00:52:19,937 --> 00:52:24,273
is always very important
in music,

980
00:52:24,275 --> 00:52:29,278
and somehow music
can reflect landscapes.

981
00:52:29,280 --> 00:52:34,783
♪ Something told me
it was over ♪

982
00:52:34,785 --> 00:52:36,152
♪

983
00:52:36,154 --> 00:52:38,487
♪ Yeah

984
00:52:38,489 --> 00:52:42,925
♪ When I saw you
and her talking ♪

985
00:52:42,927 --> 00:52:47,096
People ask me always, "What
is the Muscle Shoals sound?"

986
00:52:47,098 --> 00:52:48,564
You had a lot
of black musicians

987
00:52:48,566 --> 00:52:50,733
playing with a lot
of white musicians,

988
00:52:50,735 --> 00:52:53,035
and we all got
a different way of playing,

989
00:52:53,037 --> 00:52:54,937
but it blends so well together.

990
00:52:54,939 --> 00:52:58,407
There was this coming together
of styles.

991
00:52:58,409 --> 00:53:00,576
And there was some hillbilly
background there,

992
00:53:00,578 --> 00:53:02,411
there's some black music.

993
00:53:02,413 --> 00:53:07,183
We were open minded
to be any genre.

994
00:53:07,185 --> 00:53:09,251
♪ Ooh

995
00:53:09,253 --> 00:53:13,756
♪ I would rather I would rather
go blind, boy ♪

996
00:53:13,758 --> 00:53:14,258
♪

997
00:53:17,929 --> 00:53:22,998
♪ Than to see you
walk away from me, child ♪

998
00:53:23,000 --> 00:53:25,167
♪

999
00:53:25,169 --> 00:53:26,268
♪ Hoo

1000
00:53:26,270 --> 00:53:27,803
The Muscle Shoals sound,
I think,

1001
00:53:27,805 --> 00:53:32,908
has a very heavy bass and drum
featured in the sound.

1002
00:53:32,910 --> 00:53:36,212
And it's just... that was
what sounded right to us.

1003
00:53:36,214 --> 00:53:38,581
"Turn up the bass,
turn up the drums."

1004
00:53:38,583 --> 00:53:41,784
This was, at the time,
cutting edge technology.

1005
00:53:41,786 --> 00:53:45,588
The fact that a drum kit
could be close-mic'd

1006
00:53:45,590 --> 00:53:48,057
meant that they could
turn up the bass drum.

1007
00:53:48,059 --> 00:53:52,294
That's what created that blacker
sound, that African sound,

1008
00:53:52,296 --> 00:53:55,831
that allowed you
to be sweet on the topsoil

1009
00:53:55,833 --> 00:53:58,067
but knowing that deep down
in the ground

1010
00:53:58,069 --> 00:54:00,002
there was some fierceness.

1011
00:54:00,004 --> 00:54:01,537
♪ Ooh

1012
00:54:01,539 --> 00:54:05,407
♪ I was just I was just ♪

1013
00:54:05,409 --> 00:54:09,111
♪ I was just
sittin' here thinkin' ♪

1014
00:54:09,113 --> 00:54:10,613
♪ Ooh

1015
00:54:10,615 --> 00:54:15,517
♪ Of your kiss
and your warm embrace yeah ♪

1016
00:54:15,519 --> 00:54:18,721
Woo, come on, there.

1017
00:54:21,124 --> 00:54:23,592
Woo! Woo!

1018
00:54:23,594 --> 00:54:24,094
♪

1019
00:54:28,299 --> 00:54:30,032
When I was a young boy,

1020
00:54:30,034 --> 00:54:32,234
my mother was washing clothes

1021
00:54:32,236 --> 00:54:35,771
out in the yard
with a wash pot.

1022
00:54:35,773 --> 00:54:40,276
And the pot had
boiling hot water in it.

1023
00:54:40,278 --> 00:54:42,645
My brother,
who was three years old,

1024
00:54:42,647 --> 00:54:45,881
was playing in the backyard
with my first cousin,

1025
00:54:45,883 --> 00:54:48,417
and they were
pulling on a stick.

1026
00:54:48,419 --> 00:54:49,852
My brother ran backwards

1027
00:54:49,854 --> 00:54:52,621
and fell into the pot
of scalding water.

1028
00:54:52,623 --> 00:54:55,958
♪

1029
00:54:55,960 --> 00:54:58,494
So my mother took him
in her arms

1030
00:54:58,496 --> 00:55:00,529
and went screaming
across the field

1031
00:55:00,531 --> 00:55:02,998
hunting my father.

1032
00:55:03,000 --> 00:55:05,968
He came running
and they took him to the doctor

1033
00:55:05,970 --> 00:55:08,671
in Red Bay, Alabama.

1034
00:55:08,673 --> 00:55:11,173
And they took his clothes off

1035
00:55:11,175 --> 00:55:12,608
and all of his skin came off

1036
00:55:12,610 --> 00:55:14,810
inside of his clothes.

1037
00:55:14,812 --> 00:55:15,312
♪

1038
00:55:19,383 --> 00:55:21,583
He died three days later.

1039
00:55:21,585 --> 00:55:24,186
♪

1040
00:55:24,188 --> 00:55:25,988
That was the start
of the decline

1041
00:55:25,990 --> 00:55:29,792
between my father's
and my mother's relationship.

1042
00:55:29,794 --> 00:55:32,561
♪

1043
00:55:32,563 --> 00:55:35,664
He kind of blamed her
for the accident,

1044
00:55:35,666 --> 00:55:38,901
and she probably blamed him
for not being at home.

1045
00:55:38,903 --> 00:55:41,804
♪

1046
00:55:41,806 --> 00:55:43,872
She left us and said,

1047
00:55:43,874 --> 00:55:45,274
"I'll never live
with you again,"

1048
00:55:45,276 --> 00:55:47,643
and, "Forget about me."

1049
00:55:47,645 --> 00:55:49,912
♪

1050
00:55:49,914 --> 00:55:56,585
She moved in with Aunt Ess
who ran a red-light district.

1051
00:55:56,587 --> 00:55:59,722
♪

1052
00:55:59,724 --> 00:56:04,893
So my father asked people
what she was doing up here.

1053
00:56:04,895 --> 00:56:08,430
And they said, "Well, Herman",

1054
00:56:08,432 --> 00:56:12,301
do you know what
the other girls are doing?"

1055
00:56:12,303 --> 00:56:14,503
And he said, "Yes, I do."

1056
00:56:14,505 --> 00:56:19,608
And they said, "Dolly
is doing the same thing."

1057
00:56:19,610 --> 00:56:22,711
♪

1058
00:56:22,713 --> 00:56:25,114
It was earth shattering for me.

1059
00:56:25,116 --> 00:56:25,616
♪

1060
00:56:30,121 --> 00:56:32,888
Even after all these years
and being away from her

1061
00:56:32,890 --> 00:56:37,192
and not spending much time
with her in my life,

1062
00:56:37,194 --> 00:56:40,662
not a day goes by that I don't
really miss my mother.

1063
00:56:40,664 --> 00:56:41,164
♪

1064
00:56:50,073 --> 00:56:51,974
More acoustic guitar.

1065
00:56:51,976 --> 00:56:52,476
♪

1066
00:56:59,483 --> 00:57:02,284
♪ I ain't easy to love

1067
00:57:02,286 --> 00:57:05,053
♪

1068
00:57:05,055 --> 00:57:08,357
♪ Scars have made me
black and blue ♪

1069
00:57:08,359 --> 00:57:11,627
♪

1070
00:57:11,629 --> 00:57:14,329
♪ But I feel
a lot less broken ♪

1071
00:57:14,331 --> 00:57:16,165
Okay, all right, hold on.

1072
00:57:16,167 --> 00:57:18,000
There's too much happening.

1073
00:57:18,002 --> 00:57:20,436
I just need the intro and
everybody needs to cool it

1074
00:57:20,438 --> 00:57:22,037
a little bit and back off.

1075
00:57:22,039 --> 00:57:23,906
If everybody comes in
from the top,

1076
00:57:23,908 --> 00:57:25,574
where are you gonna
go from there?

1077
00:57:25,576 --> 00:57:28,243
If you get a chance or two
to cut a record,

1078
00:57:28,245 --> 00:57:30,212
produce a record and
get a budget to do it with

1079
00:57:30,214 --> 00:57:33,849
and you don't have a hit,
you will never get another call.

1080
00:57:33,851 --> 00:57:35,451
So I was always aware of that.

1081
00:57:35,453 --> 00:57:40,689
I always felt
that every record,

1082
00:57:40,691 --> 00:57:43,091
my life depended on it.

1083
00:57:43,093 --> 00:57:44,827
Time is like, "time."

1084
00:57:44,829 --> 00:57:46,261
It's like you're
whispering that part.

1085
00:57:46,263 --> 00:57:49,131
All right, you know,
I can always do mine over.

1086
00:57:49,133 --> 00:57:51,400
I know we can, honey,
but I'd like to do it this way.

1087
00:57:51,402 --> 00:57:52,434
All right.

1088
00:57:52,436 --> 00:57:54,236
Rick is so meticulous.

1089
00:57:54,238 --> 00:57:58,073
Oh, it's just a joy and pain
to work with Rick.

1090
00:57:58,075 --> 00:58:01,910
'Cause he won't stop
until he gets what he wants.

1091
00:58:01,912 --> 00:58:04,980
If it takes three days
on one song,

1092
00:58:04,982 --> 00:58:06,782
Rick's gonna get what he wants.

1093
00:58:06,784 --> 00:58:08,550
We're doing just what we just
got through doing.

1094
00:58:08,552 --> 00:58:11,119
We're doing the same thing
over again,

1095
00:58:11,121 --> 00:58:14,122
and I just want to perfect it
a little better.

1096
00:58:14,124 --> 00:58:16,391
We've changed a couple
of things, so you gotta listen.

1097
00:58:16,393 --> 00:58:18,961
Rick was a very demanding boss.

1098
00:58:18,963 --> 00:58:23,165
He would take
a thousand takes of something

1099
00:58:23,167 --> 00:58:24,433
till he was satisfied.

1100
00:58:24,435 --> 00:58:26,502
And sometimes he would not know

1101
00:58:26,504 --> 00:58:27,736
what he was looking for,

1102
00:58:27,738 --> 00:58:29,938
but he would keep
working until he got it.

1103
00:58:29,940 --> 00:58:31,507
I'm talking about...
it's too bright.

1104
00:58:31,509 --> 00:58:33,775
Oh, okay, I thought you were...
wanted it to be bright.

1105
00:58:33,777 --> 00:58:35,577
Well, I did want it bright
until I heard it,

1106
00:58:35,579 --> 00:58:37,946
when you hear it with the track
it's a whole different thing.

1107
00:58:37,948 --> 00:58:39,481
You gotta listen
to it in perspective.

1108
00:58:39,483 --> 00:58:42,150
That was very frustrating
and hard on the musicians

1109
00:58:42,152 --> 00:58:44,086
because you think,
"Well, I already did that."

1110
00:58:44,088 --> 00:58:46,688
Nobody ever worked
in the music business

1111
00:58:46,690 --> 00:58:49,024
without getting
their ass kicked.

1112
00:58:49,026 --> 00:58:50,792
If they did, they're out
on the street somewhere

1113
00:58:50,794 --> 00:58:53,795
pushin' a wheelbarrow
of concrete.

1114
00:58:53,797 --> 00:58:55,864
He was kind of like
a task master,

1115
00:58:55,866 --> 00:58:57,332
and I don't fault him for that

1116
00:58:57,334 --> 00:59:01,570
because he is
an imperfect perfectionist.

1117
00:59:01,572 --> 00:59:03,705
That's what made him
great though.

1118
00:59:03,707 --> 00:59:06,975
♪ Oh, please forgive me,
darlin' ♪

1119
00:59:06,977 --> 00:59:09,578
♪

1120
00:59:09,580 --> 00:59:14,116
♪ I ain't easy to love

1121
00:59:15,885 --> 00:59:16,385
♪

1122
00:59:25,195 --> 00:59:27,529
Duane Allman, of course,
came into Muscle Shoals

1123
00:59:27,531 --> 00:59:29,064
and wanted a gig.

1124
00:59:29,066 --> 00:59:31,567
So he put up his pup tent
on my parking lot

1125
00:59:31,569 --> 00:59:33,602
at the studio and found me.

1126
00:59:33,604 --> 00:59:35,737
I gave him his shot.

1127
00:59:35,739 --> 00:59:37,172
When Duane showed up,

1128
00:59:37,174 --> 00:59:39,107
he was probably
one of the first guys

1129
00:59:39,109 --> 00:59:41,710
with long hair
and kind of the hippie look,

1130
00:59:41,712 --> 00:59:43,312
but what really
made him stand out was

1131
00:59:43,314 --> 00:59:45,981
that he was
a wonderful guitar player.

1132
00:59:45,983 --> 00:59:46,483
♪

1133
00:59:55,559 --> 00:59:57,826
I had never heard
a slide guitar

1134
00:59:57,828 --> 01:00:00,262
played like Duane Allman
could play it.

1135
01:00:00,264 --> 01:00:02,297
♪

1136
01:00:02,299 --> 01:00:04,132
Duane had been in Los Angeles,

1137
01:00:04,134 --> 01:00:06,535
had a group
called The Hourglass

1138
01:00:06,537 --> 01:00:08,003
with his brother Gregg.

1139
01:00:08,005 --> 01:00:10,339
They signed us
on this big contract,

1140
01:00:10,341 --> 01:00:12,741
and they wouldn't
let us play anywhere.

1141
01:00:12,743 --> 01:00:14,242
I think the first year
we were there

1142
01:00:14,244 --> 01:00:15,677
we played like three concerts.

1143
01:00:15,679 --> 01:00:17,713
So he finally said, "Hey,
I've had it with this place."

1144
01:00:17,715 --> 01:00:19,581
I'm leavin'."

1145
01:00:19,583 --> 01:00:22,384
And he wound up
in Muscle Shoals.

1146
01:00:22,386 --> 01:00:24,987
But right before he left,

1147
01:00:24,989 --> 01:00:27,155
I talked him into going
horseback riding with me

1148
01:00:27,157 --> 01:00:28,790
'cause we weren't
doing anything.

1149
01:00:28,792 --> 01:00:30,225
Finally went out there
and I said,

1150
01:00:30,227 --> 01:00:33,095
"Listen, we go from
the barn out to the field.

1151
01:00:33,097 --> 01:00:35,864
We gotta cross
a paved road."

1152
01:00:35,866 --> 01:00:38,166
I said, "The horse is shod."
He says, "What?"

1153
01:00:38,168 --> 01:00:40,035
"It's got shoes on, you know?"

1154
01:00:40,037 --> 01:00:42,938
And if he slips,
he'll bust both of yous' butts,

1155
01:00:42,940 --> 01:00:45,240
"so don't give him
any reigns."

1156
01:00:45,242 --> 01:00:46,942
And guess what happened?

1157
01:00:46,944 --> 01:00:49,678
And he hit right here.

1158
01:00:49,680 --> 01:00:51,346
He couldn't play.

1159
01:00:51,348 --> 01:00:53,782
And he wouldn't let me in
his house for about six weeks.

1160
01:00:53,784 --> 01:00:55,517
And, I mean, that was...
that was terrible

1161
01:00:55,519 --> 01:00:58,053
'cause, I mean, you know,
growin' up without a father,

1162
01:00:58,055 --> 01:01:00,422
he was somewhat
of a father figure to me

1163
01:01:00,424 --> 01:01:03,859
even though he was only
a year and 18 days older.

1164
01:01:03,861 --> 01:01:06,428
So it came his birthday,
November the 20th,

1165
01:01:06,430 --> 01:01:09,765
and I went out and bought
the first Taj Mahal record

1166
01:01:09,767 --> 01:01:12,167
and a bottle
of Coricidin pills.

1167
01:01:12,169 --> 01:01:15,070
He had this cold
and he had his arm in a sling,

1168
01:01:15,072 --> 01:01:16,972
he was pissed off at the world,

1169
01:01:16,974 --> 01:01:19,241
and I did what I could do.

1170
01:01:19,243 --> 01:01:20,776
I put it down
in front of his door,

1171
01:01:20,778 --> 01:01:22,210
I had it wrapped up
and everything.

1172
01:01:22,212 --> 01:01:25,013
And I knocked on the door
and ran.

1173
01:01:25,015 --> 01:01:25,515
♪

1174
01:01:31,422 --> 01:01:34,156
I guess about two
and a half hours later

1175
01:01:34,158 --> 01:01:36,224
my phone rings and it's him.

1176
01:01:36,226 --> 01:01:40,028
He says, "Get over here,
baybrah, quick!"

1177
01:01:40,030 --> 01:01:44,733
And baybrah, he called me that,
"baby brother,"

1178
01:01:44,735 --> 01:01:48,170
endearing handle he had for me.

1179
01:01:48,172 --> 01:01:50,639
♪

1180
01:01:50,641 --> 01:01:52,841
He said, "Man, check this out."

1181
01:01:52,843 --> 01:01:54,276
He had been listening
to Jesse Ed Davis

1182
01:01:54,278 --> 01:01:57,479
play Taj Mahal
and he's playing slide.

1183
01:01:57,481 --> 01:01:57,981
♪

1184
01:02:03,520 --> 01:02:05,954
He said, "Man, I dumped out
all of them pills",

1185
01:02:05,956 --> 01:02:08,724
and I washed the label
off the bottle."

1186
01:02:08,726 --> 01:02:10,125
He said,
"Check this out."

1187
01:02:10,127 --> 01:02:11,393
And he's got his hand
still in the sling

1188
01:02:11,395 --> 01:02:13,962
and he's going,
"do-do-n-do", you know,

1189
01:02:13,964 --> 01:02:17,399
and he's just already
killin' it, you know?

1190
01:02:17,401 --> 01:02:17,901
♪

1191
01:02:25,209 --> 01:02:30,112
I've still got that bottle,
by the way, somehow.

1192
01:02:30,114 --> 01:02:31,913
When Duane came here,

1193
01:02:31,915 --> 01:02:35,517
he was on the Wilson Pickett
session that we did.

1194
01:02:35,519 --> 01:02:38,820
There was always a slight
problem when we would go out

1195
01:02:38,822 --> 01:02:41,056
all of us white boys
with a black artist

1196
01:02:41,058 --> 01:02:44,860
that we would get looks, okay?

1197
01:02:44,862 --> 01:02:47,429
But there was nothin'
as bad as going out

1198
01:02:47,431 --> 01:02:51,199
with a long-haired hippie
with us white boys.

1199
01:02:51,201 --> 01:02:54,870
They couldn't
stand that, right?

1200
01:02:54,872 --> 01:02:57,639
And so both of them
stayed back.

1201
01:02:57,641 --> 01:02:59,040
So, they went on lunch break

1202
01:02:59,042 --> 01:03:02,144
and my brother went up
to Wilson and he said,

1203
01:03:02,146 --> 01:03:04,813
"Man, why don't you
cut 'Hey Jude, '

1204
01:03:04,815 --> 01:03:06,414
you know,
the Beatles song?"

1205
01:03:06,416 --> 01:03:09,484
And at that point I was
mostly trying to create

1206
01:03:09,486 --> 01:03:12,420
an original career
Wilson Pickett, right?

1207
01:03:12,422 --> 01:03:13,722
My songs.

1208
01:03:13,724 --> 01:03:15,690
Pickett and I,
in unison, both said,

1209
01:03:15,692 --> 01:03:16,958
"Look, are you crazy?

1210
01:03:16,960 --> 01:03:19,895
We're gonna cover
the Beatles?"

1211
01:03:19,897 --> 01:03:22,164
And of course Duane said,
"Exactly."

1212
01:03:22,166 --> 01:03:25,634
While we were gone,
Duane changed our whole session.

1213
01:03:25,636 --> 01:03:30,605
♪ Just remember
to let her under your skin ♪

1214
01:03:30,607 --> 01:03:32,040
When you get to the vamp,

1215
01:03:32,042 --> 01:03:36,912
it goes into just
an unbelievable groove.

1216
01:03:36,914 --> 01:03:38,880
♪ Ow

1217
01:03:38,882 --> 01:03:40,248
♪ Ah

1218
01:03:40,250 --> 01:03:42,784
♪ Ahhh

1219
01:03:42,786 --> 01:03:45,887
♪ Oh oh ooh

1220
01:03:45,889 --> 01:03:48,323
♪ Hey Jude

1221
01:03:48,325 --> 01:03:50,225
♪ Ahh

1222
01:03:50,227 --> 01:03:55,463
Duane Allman was playing
such great guitar fields

1223
01:03:55,465 --> 01:03:59,534
that somethin' happened
in that vamp.

1224
01:03:59,536 --> 01:04:02,337
♪ Ahh hey

1225
01:04:02,339 --> 01:04:06,541
And all of a sudden,
there was southern rock.

1226
01:04:06,543 --> 01:04:08,810
♪ Gonna be all right

1227
01:04:08,812 --> 01:04:10,779
♪

1228
01:04:10,781 --> 01:04:14,416
That was the beginnings
of The Allman Brothers Band.

1229
01:04:16,219 --> 01:04:18,687
Jaimoe met my brother first.

1230
01:04:18,689 --> 01:04:20,522
The two of them got together.

1231
01:04:20,524 --> 01:04:23,291
When I met Duane,
he had a cabin he lived in

1232
01:04:23,293 --> 01:04:25,360
down on the river
in Muscle Shoals.

1233
01:04:25,362 --> 01:04:29,731
And it was like... well,
it was a nice place down there.

1234
01:04:29,733 --> 01:04:33,335
In his spare time,
he would do a lot of fishin'.

1235
01:04:33,337 --> 01:04:35,370
Muscle Shoals seemed to be

1236
01:04:35,372 --> 01:04:38,740
the place for him
to be at that time.

1237
01:04:38,742 --> 01:04:40,175
He would do sessions.

1238
01:04:40,177 --> 01:04:41,843
And I would sit over
with them at practice.

1239
01:04:41,845 --> 01:04:43,278
And when he would
get through the session,

1240
01:04:43,280 --> 01:04:45,780
he'd roll his amplifier
over there

1241
01:04:45,782 --> 01:04:47,782
and the two of us would play.

1242
01:04:47,784 --> 01:04:52,320
And then when
Berry Oakley came down,

1243
01:04:52,322 --> 01:04:57,759
boy, the three of us had never
played music like that.

1244
01:04:57,761 --> 01:05:00,729
But that was pretty much the
base of what turned out to be

1245
01:05:00,731 --> 01:05:02,530
The Allman Brothers Band.

1246
01:05:02,532 --> 01:05:03,032
♪

1247
01:05:07,437 --> 01:05:09,571
Duane said, "Well, Rick,
this is the kind of music"

1248
01:05:09,573 --> 01:05:11,106
that's coming in,
this is gonna be big again.

1249
01:05:11,108 --> 01:05:12,707
"The kids are really
liking this stuff."

1250
01:05:12,709 --> 01:05:15,043
And I said, "Yeah, yeah,
don't breathe on me, Duane",

1251
01:05:15,045 --> 01:05:16,511
back off."

1252
01:05:16,513 --> 01:05:17,013
♪

1253
01:05:20,951 --> 01:05:22,984
I never believed him
and I told Phil Walden,

1254
01:05:22,986 --> 01:05:24,386
"I don't understand this."

1255
01:05:24,388 --> 01:05:26,087
They're sleeping
in the studio all day

1256
01:05:26,089 --> 01:05:27,289
under quilts and things,

1257
01:05:27,291 --> 01:05:28,590
and I wake up Duane
and he says,

1258
01:05:28,592 --> 01:05:31,026
"Man, you know,
the stars and the moon

1259
01:05:31,028 --> 01:05:32,327
are not quite
lined up right."

1260
01:05:32,329 --> 01:05:33,962
I'm not into all that.

1261
01:05:33,964 --> 01:05:35,697
He said,
"Well, hang in there, man."

1262
01:05:35,699 --> 01:05:37,832
Turn on the machines
and let 'em run

1263
01:05:37,834 --> 01:05:40,402
"and eventually you're gonna
make a billion dollars."

1264
01:05:40,404 --> 01:05:43,405
♪

1265
01:05:43,407 --> 01:05:45,840
I said, "Ah, I can't do that,
it's not me."

1266
01:05:45,842 --> 01:05:47,742
So I missed the boat
on that one.

1267
01:05:47,744 --> 01:05:48,244
♪

1268
01:06:04,627 --> 01:06:05,127
♪

1269
01:06:09,967 --> 01:06:11,700
Time, old time.

1270
01:06:11,702 --> 01:06:12,202
♪

1271
01:06:17,174 --> 01:06:20,141
Things change it, you know.

1272
01:06:20,143 --> 01:06:23,178
I never will forget
when Jimi Hendrix

1273
01:06:23,180 --> 01:06:27,015
played behind me on Broadway.

1274
01:06:27,017 --> 01:06:28,616
He was playing the band
with King Curtis.

1275
01:06:28,618 --> 01:06:31,186
And I told King,
"I think I'm gonna steal

1276
01:06:31,188 --> 01:06:33,221
that guitar player
you got."

1277
01:06:33,223 --> 01:06:35,323
He said, "Percy Sledge,
that guy there"

1278
01:06:35,325 --> 01:06:37,225
is gonna be so big
in the next year or two,"

1279
01:06:37,227 --> 01:06:38,660
he said, "I can't keep him"

1280
01:06:38,662 --> 01:06:41,229
and you won't be able
to keep him either."

1281
01:06:41,231 --> 01:06:44,666
When Jimi came out
with his style of music,

1282
01:06:44,668 --> 01:06:48,570
well, our style of music
kind of slacked back.

1283
01:06:48,572 --> 01:06:52,474
♪

1284
01:06:52,476 --> 01:06:54,876
Time always changes
organizations

1285
01:06:54,878 --> 01:06:57,379
and things that
you're doin' in life.

1286
01:06:57,381 --> 01:06:57,881
♪

1287
01:07:03,687 --> 01:07:08,490
Things happened in our world
that changed everything.

1288
01:07:08,492 --> 01:07:11,726
We decided
to become entrepreneurs

1289
01:07:11,728 --> 01:07:13,862
and become studio owners.

1290
01:07:13,864 --> 01:07:15,663
So we had to tell Rick,

1291
01:07:15,665 --> 01:07:20,435
who was our mentor and friend
and who had gave us our chance.

1292
01:07:20,437 --> 01:07:23,505
We elected Roger
to go break the news to him.

1293
01:07:23,507 --> 01:07:28,109
I had gone to LA to try to make
a new deal with Capitol Records.

1294
01:07:28,111 --> 01:07:30,912
We made a great deal
and things were really exciting,

1295
01:07:30,914 --> 01:07:34,816
and I came back and had a
meeting with the Swampers.

1296
01:07:34,818 --> 01:07:37,285
We were supposed to come up
and sign the contract

1297
01:07:37,287 --> 01:07:39,054
and be exclusive to Rick.

1298
01:07:39,056 --> 01:07:40,655
Rick's office is upstairs

1299
01:07:40,657 --> 01:07:43,625
and we're just kind of
looking at each other like,

1300
01:07:43,627 --> 01:07:46,961
"Oh, my God,
we gotta go up those stairs."

1301
01:07:46,963 --> 01:07:48,263
♪

1302
01:07:48,265 --> 01:07:53,101
Up the stairs we go,
knock on the door.

1303
01:07:53,103 --> 01:07:56,137
Everybody's quiet.

1304
01:07:56,139 --> 01:07:58,440
I began to tell them
of this great new deal

1305
01:07:58,442 --> 01:08:00,108
we've made with Capitol.

1306
01:08:00,110 --> 01:08:03,044
I'm lookin' at them like,
"Come on, guys, help me."

1307
01:08:03,046 --> 01:08:04,379
And they're just like...

1308
01:08:04,381 --> 01:08:06,448
One of the guys
stopped me and said,

1309
01:08:06,450 --> 01:08:08,316
"We've already made a deal
with Jerry Wexler"

1310
01:08:08,318 --> 01:08:12,487
and he is going to build us
a studio across town.

1311
01:08:12,489 --> 01:08:15,590
"We'll be leaving here,
going with him."

1312
01:08:15,592 --> 01:08:18,760
♪

1313
01:08:18,762 --> 01:08:22,163
And when Roger dropped that bomb
in that office,

1314
01:08:22,165 --> 01:08:24,899
we were expecting
a huge explosion.

1315
01:08:24,901 --> 01:08:26,534
♪

1316
01:08:26,536 --> 01:08:31,406
I felt like the whole bottom
of my life had fell out.

1317
01:08:31,408 --> 01:08:35,176
It's like we have thrown
shit on his dreams.

1318
01:08:35,178 --> 01:08:36,578
Do you remember what he said?

1319
01:08:36,580 --> 01:08:38,913
He said, "You're never
gonna make it."

1320
01:08:38,915 --> 01:08:40,915
♪

1321
01:08:40,917 --> 01:08:43,551
It was war.

1322
01:08:43,553 --> 01:08:45,019
Total war.

1323
01:08:45,021 --> 01:08:46,921
♪

1324
01:08:46,923 --> 01:08:50,325
♪ Oh ooh oh, baby

1325
01:08:50,327 --> 01:08:51,860
♪

1326
01:08:51,862 --> 01:08:54,696
♪ There's gonna be judgment
in the morning ♪

1327
01:08:54,698 --> 01:08:57,699
When we bought the studio,
we were very nervous

1328
01:08:57,701 --> 01:08:59,801
about whether or not
we would have any hits.

1329
01:08:59,803 --> 01:09:02,604
And you have to have to hits
to keep recording.

1330
01:09:02,606 --> 01:09:06,541
Jerry came to record at our
place, and he brought Cher in,

1331
01:09:06,543 --> 01:09:08,643
and that was our first client.

1332
01:09:08,645 --> 01:09:11,513
Nothin' happened,
it wasn't any good.

1333
01:09:11,515 --> 01:09:13,314
♪

1334
01:09:13,316 --> 01:09:15,283
Six months went by,
seven months,

1335
01:09:15,285 --> 01:09:17,519
almost eight months.

1336
01:09:17,521 --> 01:09:21,556
I think we would have killed
for the hit record.

1337
01:09:21,558 --> 01:09:24,392
We always wanted to own
a studio and it was like,

1338
01:09:24,394 --> 01:09:26,928
"What the hell
have we done?"

1339
01:09:26,930 --> 01:09:29,497
♪

1340
01:09:29,499 --> 01:09:32,867
And then all of a sudden
the English rock and roll guys

1341
01:09:32,869 --> 01:09:35,170
started wantin' to come
to Muscle Shoals.

1342
01:09:35,172 --> 01:09:36,604
When we went to record
in Muscle Shoals,

1343
01:09:36,606 --> 01:09:38,573
it was a really
lightning visit.

1344
01:09:38,575 --> 01:09:40,008
You know, we just
went in there, set up,

1345
01:09:40,010 --> 01:09:43,711
and, you know, played our stuff
for a couple of days.

1346
01:09:43,713 --> 01:09:47,315
The sound was in my head
before I even got there.

1347
01:09:47,317 --> 01:09:48,716
And then, of course,

1348
01:09:48,718 --> 01:09:51,920
when that actually
lives up to it and beyond,

1349
01:09:51,922 --> 01:09:55,957
you know, then you're in
rock and roll heaven, man.

1350
01:09:55,959 --> 01:09:59,360
♪ You got to move

1351
01:09:59,362 --> 01:10:03,164
♪ You got to move

1352
01:10:03,166 --> 01:10:06,968
♪ You got to move, child

1353
01:10:06,970 --> 01:10:09,604
♪ You got to move

1354
01:10:09,606 --> 01:10:10,772
♪

1355
01:10:10,774 --> 01:10:17,545
♪ Oh, when the Lord
gets ready ♪

1356
01:10:17,547 --> 01:10:20,281
♪ You got to move

1357
01:10:20,283 --> 01:10:23,017
The first thing we did
was a blues tune,

1358
01:10:23,019 --> 01:10:24,886
"You've Gotta Move."

1359
01:10:24,888 --> 01:10:27,755
We're down in Alabama,
you know, in Muscle Shoals,

1360
01:10:27,757 --> 01:10:30,959
we've gotta cut
some Fred McDowell stuff.

1361
01:10:30,961 --> 01:10:33,828
If ever I'm gonna do it,
it's gotta be here, you know,

1362
01:10:33,830 --> 01:10:35,296
and we're probably soaking up

1363
01:10:35,298 --> 01:10:38,967
a little Indian maiden,
too, you know?

1364
01:10:38,969 --> 01:10:42,203
♪ Get ready

1365
01:10:42,205 --> 01:10:45,440
♪ You got to move

1366
01:10:45,442 --> 01:10:47,942
We don't come from here,
but we know quite a bit

1367
01:10:47,944 --> 01:10:50,211
about the deep south.

1368
01:10:50,213 --> 01:10:53,147
From here.

1369
01:10:53,149 --> 01:10:55,683
Their producer did not show.

1370
01:10:55,685 --> 01:10:57,986
And it wound up
I became the engineer.

1371
01:10:57,988 --> 01:11:01,155
And I was thinkin', "Oh, man,
can you believe this?" You know?

1372
01:11:01,157 --> 01:11:03,858
Because right when they
come in, you know, you're...

1373
01:11:03,860 --> 01:11:06,127
Yeah, but that's there, it
doesn't come in till the solo.

1374
01:11:06,129 --> 01:11:07,462
No, I know, I know.

1375
01:11:07,464 --> 01:11:09,464
But I must point
something out here,

1376
01:11:09,466 --> 01:11:14,802
that nobody was drinkin'
and nobody was druggin'.

1377
01:11:14,804 --> 01:11:17,472
Well...

1378
01:11:17,474 --> 01:11:20,708
♪ You got to move

1379
01:11:24,280 --> 01:11:26,381
I think we were drinking
quite a lot.

1380
01:11:26,383 --> 01:11:27,649
I'm sure there were
lots of drinking

1381
01:11:27,651 --> 01:11:30,084
and smoking marijuana
and so on.

1382
01:11:30,086 --> 01:11:31,452
Well, you know, I mean,

1383
01:11:31,454 --> 01:11:34,589
you put it on a scale
of what, you know?

1384
01:11:34,591 --> 01:11:36,824
That was recording
in those days,

1385
01:11:36,826 --> 01:11:38,126
that was part of it.

1386
01:11:38,128 --> 01:11:41,329
But otherwise it was a lot
of serious work as well.

1387
01:11:41,331 --> 01:11:44,666
And once we knew
the room was tuned to us

1388
01:11:44,668 --> 01:11:47,835
and we were tuned to the room,
then it became, you know,

1389
01:11:47,837 --> 01:11:51,039
"Right, let's get as much
done here as we possibly can,"

1390
01:11:51,041 --> 01:11:52,140
you know?

1391
01:11:52,142 --> 01:11:53,441
♪

1392
01:11:53,443 --> 01:11:54,909
Keith had this tune
"Wild Horses,"

1393
01:11:54,911 --> 01:11:56,744
but I don't think
that was really finished.

1394
01:11:56,746 --> 01:11:59,147
He had the chorus,
but that was about it.

1395
01:11:59,149 --> 01:12:00,948
So that was all written
on the spot.

1396
01:12:00,950 --> 01:12:02,283
It was just an idea

1397
01:12:02,285 --> 01:12:05,620
and it had to go to the
bathroom for a little while

1398
01:12:05,622 --> 01:12:07,722
just to sort of figure it out.

1399
01:12:07,724 --> 01:12:09,691
And then say,
"Okay, I'm ready,"

1400
01:12:09,693 --> 01:12:12,560
back in, and then take,
you know?

1401
01:12:12,562 --> 01:12:17,799
♪ Childhood living

1402
01:12:20,469 --> 01:12:25,606
♪ Is easy to do

1403
01:12:27,776 --> 01:12:33,815
♪ The things you wanted

1404
01:12:33,817 --> 01:12:37,385
Muscle Shoals Studio is in this
rather interesting place.

1405
01:12:37,387 --> 01:12:41,489
Being there does inspire you
to do it slightly differently.

1406
01:12:41,491 --> 01:12:44,025
"Wild Horses" is a sort
of country song,

1407
01:12:44,027 --> 01:12:46,327
and I remember
we used Jim Dickinson,

1408
01:12:46,329 --> 01:12:48,629
he played tack piano.

1409
01:12:48,631 --> 01:12:53,101
♪ A sin and a lie

1410
01:12:55,371 --> 01:12:59,974
♪ I have my freedom

1411
01:13:01,810 --> 01:13:06,047
♪ But I don't have much time ♪

1412
01:13:08,384 --> 01:13:14,389
♪ Wild horses

1413
01:13:14,391 --> 01:13:18,993
♪ Couldn't drag me away

1414
01:13:21,163 --> 01:13:26,968
♪ Wild, wild horses

1415
01:13:26,970 --> 01:13:32,407
♪ We'll ride them someday

1416
01:13:41,083 --> 01:13:43,184
I thought it was
one of the easiest

1417
01:13:43,186 --> 01:13:46,187
and rockingest sessions
that we'd ever done.

1418
01:13:46,189 --> 01:13:49,857
I don't think we'd been
quite so prolific ever.

1419
01:13:49,859 --> 01:13:52,193
I mean, we cut three
or four tracks in two days,

1420
01:13:52,195 --> 01:13:56,164
and that, for the Stones,
is going some...

1421
01:14:00,869 --> 01:14:03,905
We left on a high
with "Brown Sugar."

1422
01:14:03,907 --> 01:14:07,942
We knew we had one of the best
things we'd ever done.

1423
01:14:07,944 --> 01:14:09,744
The thing about "Brown Sugar,"
it had this sound,

1424
01:14:09,746 --> 01:14:11,546
it was quite distorted.

1425
01:14:11,548 --> 01:14:13,014
It was pretty funky, you know.

1426
01:14:13,016 --> 01:14:17,618
That was the whole idea of it.

1427
01:14:17,620 --> 01:14:20,788
I always wanted to go
back there and cut more,

1428
01:14:20,790 --> 01:14:22,990
then shit happened,
so we ended up in France

1429
01:14:22,992 --> 01:14:25,159
in a basement doing
"Exile on Main St." there,

1430
01:14:25,161 --> 01:14:28,062
but otherwise, "Exile"
would probably have been cut

1431
01:14:28,064 --> 01:14:29,464
in Muscle Shoals,

1432
01:14:29,466 --> 01:14:31,032
but politically,
it wasn't possible.

1433
01:14:31,034 --> 01:14:33,401
I wasn't allowed
in the country at the time.

1434
01:14:33,403 --> 01:14:36,537
So, there's that, you know.

1435
01:14:36,539 --> 01:14:38,239
♪ Brown sugar

1436
01:14:38,241 --> 01:14:44,111
♪ How come you taste so good ♪

1437
01:14:44,113 --> 01:14:45,680
♪ Brown sugar

1438
01:14:45,682 --> 01:14:48,416
♪ Just like
a young girl should ♪

1439
01:14:48,418 --> 01:14:51,118
Those sessions
were as vital to me

1440
01:14:51,120 --> 01:14:53,488
as any I ever done.

1441
01:14:53,490 --> 01:14:55,857
I mean, all this other stuff,

1442
01:14:55,859 --> 01:14:59,060
"Beggars Banquet"
and the other stuff we did,

1443
01:14:59,062 --> 01:15:01,696
"Gimme Shelter,"
"Street Fighting Man,"

1444
01:15:01,698 --> 01:15:03,798
"Jumpin' Jack Flash," you know,

1445
01:15:03,800 --> 01:15:07,101
but I've always wondered

1446
01:15:07,103 --> 01:15:09,036
that if we'd have cut
them in Muscle Shoals,

1447
01:15:09,038 --> 01:15:11,472
if they might not have
been a little bit funkier.

1448
01:15:11,474 --> 01:15:11,974
♪

1449
01:15:18,948 --> 01:15:22,517
♪ Drums beatin',
cold English blood runs hot ♪

1450
01:15:22,519 --> 01:15:26,387
♪ Lady of the house wonderin'
where it's gonna stop ♪

1451
01:15:26,389 --> 01:15:30,091
♪ House boy knows that
he's doing all right ♪

1452
01:15:30,093 --> 01:15:34,729
♪ You shoulda heard him
just around midnight ♪

1453
01:15:47,209 --> 01:15:50,177
So, I got this great new
deal with Capitol Records,

1454
01:15:50,179 --> 01:15:51,779
but I've had this
feud with Wexler,

1455
01:15:51,781 --> 01:15:53,814
and he's taking my musicians

1456
01:15:53,816 --> 01:15:55,783
and going across town
and going to put me

1457
01:15:55,785 --> 01:15:57,952
out of business, so he says.

1458
01:15:57,954 --> 01:15:59,754
I imagine Rick was pissed.

1459
01:15:59,756 --> 01:16:01,556
Hey, I got this deal,

1460
01:16:01,558 --> 01:16:04,125
and I don't have
a rhythm section.

1461
01:16:04,127 --> 01:16:06,861
But if Jerry thinks
these are the only guys

1462
01:16:06,863 --> 01:16:08,696
left in the world that you
can cut hit records on,

1463
01:16:08,698 --> 01:16:10,464
then he's mistaken
because I believed

1464
01:16:10,466 --> 01:16:16,203
that I could cut hit records
with any group of musicians.

1465
01:16:16,205 --> 01:16:18,806
We began to call
every musician we knew

1466
01:16:18,808 --> 01:16:21,342
and put them under contract.

1467
01:16:25,213 --> 01:16:27,949
So, that's why he calls me,
get me up there real quick,

1468
01:16:27,951 --> 01:16:29,317
and he said,
"Do you know a bass player?"

1469
01:16:29,319 --> 01:16:31,652
I said, "I know
a great bass player."

1470
01:16:31,654 --> 01:16:33,120
So, I started playing,
and he said,

1471
01:16:33,122 --> 01:16:35,590
"Do you know of any
other rhythm guys?"

1472
01:16:35,592 --> 01:16:38,326
I said, "Yeah, Freeman Brown,"

1473
01:16:38,328 --> 01:16:40,861
who became one of the best
fat back drummers

1474
01:16:40,863 --> 01:16:44,699
for Muscle Shoals.

1475
01:16:44,701 --> 01:16:46,834
He said, "And I also
need a horn section,"

1476
01:16:46,836 --> 01:16:48,402
and I said, "Yeah,
there's some guys"

1477
01:16:48,404 --> 01:16:51,105
that I met
out of Nashville."

1478
01:16:51,107 --> 01:16:53,608
Rick Hall wanted
to put a band together

1479
01:16:53,610 --> 01:16:55,109
and called it the "Fame Gang,"

1480
01:16:55,111 --> 01:16:59,146
and I ended up
being part of that.

1481
01:16:59,148 --> 01:17:02,116
For me to surround myself with
the strongest people I could

1482
01:17:02,118 --> 01:17:05,219
made me a better producer.

1483
01:17:05,221 --> 01:17:07,888
Now, here's what we're going
to do, we're going to let him

1484
01:17:07,890 --> 01:17:09,724
play back the tape
four or five times

1485
01:17:09,726 --> 01:17:11,626
in succession, I want
to work with the horns.

1486
01:17:11,628 --> 01:17:14,295
This is a sad song,

1487
01:17:14,297 --> 01:17:17,832
you know, so don't
jazz it up too much...

1488
01:17:17,834 --> 01:17:19,133
and take away from the lyrics

1489
01:17:19,135 --> 01:17:21,135
so it sounds
like a dance record.

1490
01:17:21,137 --> 01:17:22,937
The truth is
after Barry Beckett

1491
01:17:22,939 --> 01:17:24,739
and Jimmy Johnson,
Roger Hawkins, David Hood

1492
01:17:24,741 --> 01:17:26,173
left and bought
their own studio,

1493
01:17:26,175 --> 01:17:28,142
we come in here with this
new rhythm section

1494
01:17:28,144 --> 01:17:30,578
who was not a real
studio band yet,

1495
01:17:30,580 --> 01:17:33,447
but 1971, Rick Hall's
the producer of the year.

1496
01:17:33,449 --> 01:17:35,616
He didn't have that
with the other guys.

1497
01:17:35,618 --> 01:17:36,951
I started over again,

1498
01:17:36,953 --> 01:17:38,986
and I believed I was
as good as anybody.

1499
01:17:38,988 --> 01:17:40,588
Here's Candi Staton

1500
01:17:40,590 --> 01:17:43,024
to sing her big,
big hit on FAME.

1501
01:17:43,026 --> 01:17:45,993
At FAME, we experienced
a lot of great artists,

1502
01:17:45,995 --> 01:17:49,997
starting with Candi Staton.

1503
01:17:49,999 --> 01:17:51,332
We started to explode.

1504
01:17:51,334 --> 01:17:53,601
The world was coming
to Muscle Shoals.

1505
01:17:53,603 --> 01:17:55,603
♪ You may think I'm silly ♪

1506
01:17:55,605 --> 01:17:58,039
♪ To love a man twice my age ♪

1507
01:17:58,041 --> 01:18:00,775
♪ But I know from
experience, girls ♪

1508
01:18:00,777 --> 01:18:02,143
♪ Sometime, it pays

1509
01:18:02,145 --> 01:18:04,745
I did Bobbie Gentry
for Capitol Records,

1510
01:18:04,747 --> 01:18:07,715
I did King Curtis,
I did Lou Rawls.

1511
01:18:07,717 --> 01:18:09,817
Little Richard,
Willie Hightower,

1512
01:18:09,819 --> 01:18:11,686
Mac Davis, Joe Tex.

1513
01:18:11,688 --> 01:18:14,989
♪ I'd rather be
an old man's sweetheart ♪

1514
01:18:14,991 --> 01:18:17,525
♪ Than to be
a young man's fool ♪

1515
01:18:17,527 --> 01:18:19,760
And we cut all those records
when Donny Osmond,

1516
01:18:19,762 --> 01:18:21,862
the Osmond Brothers, in 1971,

1517
01:18:21,864 --> 01:18:23,197
I think they sold something
in the neighborhood

1518
01:18:23,199 --> 01:18:25,499
of 23 million records
in one year.

1519
01:18:25,501 --> 01:18:27,535
Joe Simon, the group Alabama,

1520
01:18:27,537 --> 01:18:29,870
Paul Anka, and Tom Jones.

1521
01:18:29,872 --> 01:18:33,074
Clarence Carter,
Wilson Pickett, Bobby Womack.

1522
01:18:33,076 --> 01:18:34,742
I had one of the biggest
record companies

1523
01:18:34,744 --> 01:18:36,010
in the world behind me,

1524
01:18:36,012 --> 01:18:38,212
I was getting twice
the quality rate

1525
01:18:38,214 --> 01:18:42,683
that I was getting
from Atlantic and Chess.

1526
01:18:42,685 --> 01:18:45,953
So I was shitting
in high cotton.

1527
01:18:45,955 --> 01:18:49,090
♪ I'd rather be
an old man's sweetheart ♪

1528
01:18:49,092 --> 01:18:52,426
♪ Than to be
a young man's fool ♪

1529
01:18:52,428 --> 01:18:53,928
♪ Don't want to be your fool ♪

1530
01:18:53,930 --> 01:18:56,430
We were forming
a production company

1531
01:18:56,432 --> 01:18:59,400
in about '69 or '70,

1532
01:18:59,402 --> 01:19:01,936
and our friend, Alan Walden,

1533
01:19:01,938 --> 01:19:05,539
found this band in Jacksonville
called Lynyrd Skynyrd.

1534
01:19:05,541 --> 01:19:10,411
I was a sucker to want
to cut that band immediately,

1535
01:19:10,413 --> 01:19:12,213
so we signed them.

1536
01:19:12,215 --> 01:19:14,582
When I first joined
Lynyrd Skynyrd,

1537
01:19:14,584 --> 01:19:17,485
Ronnie had always talked
about the guys in Muscle Shoals.

1538
01:19:17,487 --> 01:19:20,354
Apparently they had
gone up there and recorded

1539
01:19:20,356 --> 01:19:24,391
an entire album
with Jimmy Johnson producing.

1540
01:19:24,393 --> 01:19:26,293
They had no money,

1541
01:19:26,295 --> 01:19:28,329
and I remember they
would come up here

1542
01:19:28,331 --> 01:19:30,664
and they'd check
in a truck stop

1543
01:19:30,666 --> 01:19:33,134
where they'd get in fights
with the truckers

1544
01:19:33,136 --> 01:19:36,070
'cause their long hair,
and basically,

1545
01:19:36,072 --> 01:19:39,440
all they had to eat
was peanut butter sandwiches

1546
01:19:39,442 --> 01:19:41,909
the whole time,

1547
01:19:41,911 --> 01:19:44,345
but I loved this band.

1548
01:19:44,347 --> 01:19:46,013
I didn't know if it'd be a hit,

1549
01:19:46,015 --> 01:19:47,114
but I'll tell you one thing,

1550
01:19:47,116 --> 01:19:49,350
if you listen to those songs,

1551
01:19:49,352 --> 01:19:51,585
some of the best
rock and roll songs

1552
01:19:51,587 --> 01:19:53,687
I've ever heard,

1553
01:19:53,689 --> 01:19:55,923
especially one.

1554
01:19:58,093 --> 01:20:00,628
At the time we were
cutting "Free Bird,"

1555
01:20:00,630 --> 01:20:02,263
we took a little lunch break,

1556
01:20:02,265 --> 01:20:06,267
we walk in, the engineer
had started playing the tape.

1557
01:20:06,269 --> 01:20:08,502
Billy Powell, who's the roadie,

1558
01:20:08,504 --> 01:20:11,872
he was sitting there
playing this concert piano

1559
01:20:11,874 --> 01:20:13,774
that was so unbelievable

1560
01:20:13,776 --> 01:20:17,578
that we walked in
just in, like... awe,

1561
01:20:17,580 --> 01:20:20,247
with our mouth open.

1562
01:20:20,249 --> 01:20:22,149
And I look at Ronnie
and he looks at me,

1563
01:20:22,151 --> 01:20:24,218
and I say, "I gotta go
and record with that."

1564
01:20:24,220 --> 01:20:25,319
I don't know
about you."

1565
01:20:25,321 --> 01:20:26,921
And he said,
"You got it."

1566
01:20:26,923 --> 01:20:29,456
We put him on the record,
and then he became

1567
01:20:29,458 --> 01:20:32,259
a band member
within a few months.

1568
01:20:32,261 --> 01:20:34,728
He was a concert pianist,

1569
01:20:34,730 --> 01:20:38,032
and nobody knew it,
not anybody.

1570
01:20:41,536 --> 01:20:43,704
I think he thought
they wouldn't like that,

1571
01:20:43,706 --> 01:20:46,040
you know, that he had studied,

1572
01:20:46,042 --> 01:20:50,044
but what a great thing
he added to their records.

1573
01:20:55,517 --> 01:20:58,152
But there was something
different about this band.

1574
01:20:58,154 --> 01:21:02,389
I mean, on this album,
I had a nine-minute single,

1575
01:21:02,391 --> 01:21:05,192
and I'm gonna go and try
to sell it to a record company

1576
01:21:05,194 --> 01:21:08,829
that's never had a single
over three and a half minutes.

1577
01:21:08,831 --> 01:21:10,764
I mean, I got problems.

1578
01:21:10,766 --> 01:21:15,402
♪ If I leave here tomorrow ♪

1579
01:21:18,273 --> 01:21:22,142
♪ Would you still remember me ♪

1580
01:21:22,144 --> 01:21:24,245
But there started to be
a lot of interest,

1581
01:21:24,247 --> 01:21:26,780
and they said,
"We want you to cut it down

1582
01:21:26,782 --> 01:21:28,382
to 3:45
on this one."

1583
01:21:28,384 --> 01:21:30,751
I said, "Nope,
can't do it."

1584
01:21:30,753 --> 01:21:33,220
And I knew that if I did that,

1585
01:21:33,222 --> 01:21:36,090
I'd destroy the integrity
of the band.

1586
01:21:36,092 --> 01:21:38,459
I said, "Go listen to 'em live",

1587
01:21:38,461 --> 01:21:41,996
and then you'll know
what to do."

1588
01:21:41,998 --> 01:21:47,201
♪ If I stay here with you now ♪

1589
01:21:49,938 --> 01:21:53,007
♪ Things just couldn't
be the same ♪

1590
01:21:53,009 --> 01:21:56,210
Not one A&R department
would go listen to 'em,

1591
01:21:56,212 --> 01:22:00,481
so it wound up, I lost a band.

1592
01:22:00,483 --> 01:22:00,983
♪

1593
01:22:08,190 --> 01:22:11,158
And here, I had
all these great cuts,

1594
01:22:11,160 --> 01:22:13,761
I cut the first "Free Bird,"
"Simple Man,"

1595
01:22:13,763 --> 01:22:16,597
I mean, all this
stuff, you know?

1596
01:22:19,267 --> 01:22:22,436
And I wasted almost
two years of my life,

1597
01:22:22,438 --> 01:22:25,205
and it's very
depressing for me,

1598
01:22:25,207 --> 01:22:28,909
and I'm sure it was for them.

1599
01:22:28,911 --> 01:22:33,981
♪ And this bird
you cannot change ♪

1600
01:22:33,983 --> 01:22:35,983
♪ Oh

1601
01:22:35,985 --> 01:22:37,885
But the Skynyrd boys
had one thing

1602
01:22:37,887 --> 01:22:39,954
in their favor going for them:

1603
01:22:39,956 --> 01:22:42,156
that guy, Alan Walden,
that I talked to about,

1604
01:22:42,158 --> 01:22:44,992
he got 'em on a Who tour.

1605
01:22:44,994 --> 01:22:46,660
World tour with The Who.

1606
01:22:46,662 --> 01:22:49,096
When they came off
of that Who tour,

1607
01:22:49,098 --> 01:22:52,166
they were a hit band.

1608
01:22:52,168 --> 01:22:57,104
♪ Lord, I can't change

1609
01:22:57,106 --> 01:23:00,874
♪ Won't you fly high

1610
01:23:00,876 --> 01:23:04,511
♪ Free bird, yeah

1611
01:23:04,513 --> 01:23:05,013
♪

1612
01:23:14,623 --> 01:23:15,123
♪

1613
01:23:51,326 --> 01:23:53,660
And then the crash happened.

1614
01:24:00,502 --> 01:24:04,605
And Gary and Allen got
well enough from the crash,

1615
01:24:04,607 --> 01:24:07,341
they come to me and say,
"We want 11 songs

1616
01:24:07,343 --> 01:24:10,611
of your 17 to be
the next album,"

1617
01:24:10,613 --> 01:24:13,580
and it was called,
"First and... Last."

1618
01:24:39,674 --> 01:24:43,343
My father raised me,
he cooked the meals,

1619
01:24:43,345 --> 01:24:45,479
he got us off to school.

1620
01:24:45,481 --> 01:24:47,347
I spent hours and hours

1621
01:24:47,349 --> 01:24:49,483
in the woods with him
cutting timber.

1622
01:24:49,485 --> 01:24:51,351
He preached to me constantly,

1623
01:24:51,353 --> 01:24:53,153
"You got to be the best
at whatever you do,"

1624
01:24:53,155 --> 01:24:54,755
and good is not good enough,

1625
01:24:54,757 --> 01:24:56,523
you've got to be
the best in the world,

1626
01:24:56,525 --> 01:24:59,259
"not just the best
in this county."

1627
01:24:59,261 --> 01:25:02,029
He had worked hard,
and I'd worked hard

1628
01:25:02,031 --> 01:25:03,430
with him all of our lives,

1629
01:25:03,432 --> 01:25:05,265
and so I wanted to do something

1630
01:25:05,267 --> 01:25:06,834
to make life easier for him,

1631
01:25:06,836 --> 01:25:12,106
so I bought him a new
John Deere tractor.

1632
01:25:12,108 --> 01:25:14,308
He'd always wanted a tractor.

1633
01:25:14,310 --> 01:25:17,044
We never could
afford a tractor.

1634
01:25:17,046 --> 01:25:17,546
♪

1635
01:25:24,620 --> 01:25:26,286
During this time,

1636
01:25:26,288 --> 01:25:28,522
my dad was plying
on the little tractor

1637
01:25:28,524 --> 01:25:31,625
about a quarter of a mile
from our house.

1638
01:25:31,627 --> 01:25:34,761
My stepmother went out
to look for my father,

1639
01:25:34,763 --> 01:25:38,198
and she saw the tractor wheels
turned up in the air,

1640
01:25:38,200 --> 01:25:40,601
and she knew something
bad had happened.

1641
01:25:40,603 --> 01:25:42,669
He was pinned
under the tractor.

1642
01:25:42,671 --> 01:25:46,206
He had tried to get away
and had pawed in the ground

1643
01:25:46,208 --> 01:25:48,876
trying to free himself.

1644
01:25:48,878 --> 01:25:50,944
Of course, after his death,

1645
01:25:50,946 --> 01:25:53,213
I went into a deep stupor.

1646
01:25:53,215 --> 01:25:56,416
I mean, it's just overwhelming.

1647
01:25:58,119 --> 01:26:01,488
I was playing in Texas,

1648
01:26:01,490 --> 01:26:03,757
and Rick Hall
called me and told me

1649
01:26:03,759 --> 01:26:06,827
he had a song he wanted me
to come up there and do.

1650
01:26:06,829 --> 01:26:09,897
♪ I was born and raised
down in Alabama ♪

1651
01:26:09,899 --> 01:26:12,432
♪ On a farm way back
up in the woods ♪

1652
01:26:12,434 --> 01:26:15,169
♪ I was so ragged that folks
used to call me Patches ♪

1653
01:26:15,171 --> 01:26:16,670
♪ Papa used to tease
me about it ♪

1654
01:26:16,672 --> 01:26:18,372
♪ Of course, deep down
inside, he was hurt ♪

1655
01:26:18,374 --> 01:26:20,941
♪ 'Cause he'd done
all he could ♪

1656
01:26:20,943 --> 01:26:22,943
When Rick played
the song to me,

1657
01:26:22,945 --> 01:26:25,612
I said, "We're going
the wrong direction."

1658
01:26:25,614 --> 01:26:27,414
He didn't like the song

1659
01:26:27,416 --> 01:26:29,316
because he thought
it was a downer

1660
01:26:29,318 --> 01:26:31,385
for his people,
the black people.

1661
01:26:31,387 --> 01:26:33,854
♪ My papa was a great old man ♪

1662
01:26:33,856 --> 01:26:35,355
"My papa was a great old man,"

1663
01:26:35,357 --> 01:26:38,692
I can see him with
a shovel in his hand.

1664
01:26:38,694 --> 01:26:40,794
Education he never had,

1665
01:26:40,796 --> 01:26:43,030
"but he did wonders
when times got bad."

1666
01:26:43,032 --> 01:26:45,265
♪ The little money
from the crops he raised ♪

1667
01:26:45,267 --> 01:26:48,402
And it was my story
about me and my father.

1668
01:26:48,404 --> 01:26:51,405
♪ Oh, life had kicked him
down to the ground ♪

1669
01:26:51,407 --> 01:26:54,308
♪ When he tried to get up,
life would kick him back down ♪

1670
01:26:54,310 --> 01:26:57,077
♪ One day Papa called
me to his dying bed ♪

1671
01:26:57,079 --> 01:26:59,913
♪ Put his hands on my shoulders
and in tears he said ♪

1672
01:26:59,915 --> 01:27:04,585
♪ He said, Patches,
I'm depending on you, son ♪

1673
01:27:04,587 --> 01:27:07,521
♪ To pull the family through ♪

1674
01:27:07,523 --> 01:27:12,626
♪ My son, it's all
left up to you ♪

1675
01:27:16,297 --> 01:27:17,831
All the things
went through my mind

1676
01:27:17,833 --> 01:27:21,535
of how he killed himself
working for his son

1677
01:27:21,537 --> 01:27:23,704
and had lived
vicariously through me

1678
01:27:23,706 --> 01:27:25,205
thinking, "I couldn't make it",

1679
01:27:25,207 --> 01:27:26,974
but maybe my son,
Rick, can make it."

1680
01:27:26,976 --> 01:27:30,077
♪ Sometimes I felt
that I couldn't go on ♪

1681
01:27:30,079 --> 01:27:32,879
♪ I wanted to leave,
just run away from home ♪

1682
01:27:32,881 --> 01:27:36,216
♪ But I would remember
what my daddy said ♪

1683
01:27:36,218 --> 01:27:39,620
♪ With tears in his eyes
on his dying bed ♪

1684
01:27:39,622 --> 01:27:42,222
So, I was so taken by the story

1685
01:27:42,224 --> 01:27:45,559
that I wanted to do a special
production on it with strings,

1686
01:27:45,561 --> 01:27:48,528
and I wanted to go to L.A.
and do it, and I did.

1687
01:27:48,530 --> 01:27:51,632
♪ ...To do the rest

1688
01:27:51,634 --> 01:27:55,736
I was a believer in Rick Hall
knowing what to do,

1689
01:27:55,738 --> 01:27:58,038
and if he said
that was a good song,

1690
01:27:58,040 --> 01:28:00,207
okay, let's sing the song.

1691
01:28:00,209 --> 01:28:04,411
♪ Patches, I'm depending
on you, son ♪

1692
01:28:04,413 --> 01:28:08,048
♪ To pull the family through ♪

1693
01:28:08,050 --> 01:28:09,349
When it came out,

1694
01:28:09,351 --> 01:28:12,286
it was going up
the charts in a hurry.

1695
01:28:12,288 --> 01:28:15,255
That was a number one record.

1696
01:28:15,257 --> 01:28:19,359
♪ Patches, I'm depending
on you, son ♪

1697
01:28:19,361 --> 01:28:22,429
♪ I tried to do my best ♪

1698
01:28:22,431 --> 01:28:26,033
♪ It's up to you
to do the rest ♪

1699
01:28:26,035 --> 01:28:26,535
♪

1700
01:28:36,211 --> 01:28:37,444
The artists who come here,

1701
01:28:37,446 --> 01:28:39,980
they come to get
away from it all.

1702
01:28:39,982 --> 01:28:42,482
They can rest,

1703
01:28:42,484 --> 01:28:44,618
stay away from the telephone,

1704
01:28:44,620 --> 01:28:47,587
hustle and bustle,
and people bugging them

1705
01:28:47,589 --> 01:28:49,856
regarding autographs
or what have you.

1706
01:28:49,858 --> 01:28:54,995
Nobody knows them here,
in other words.

1707
01:28:54,997 --> 01:28:57,030
People like to go to places

1708
01:28:57,032 --> 01:29:02,135
that had a kind of magical
kind of vibe about them,

1709
01:29:02,137 --> 01:29:03,904
but they also liked
to get out of New York

1710
01:29:03,906 --> 01:29:06,006
or out of L.A.
or out of London sometimes

1711
01:29:06,008 --> 01:29:08,575
to do these sessions.

1712
01:29:11,412 --> 01:29:13,080
I mean, that was really
the first of its kind

1713
01:29:13,082 --> 01:29:15,382
that attracted music people
from all over the world.

1714
01:29:15,384 --> 01:29:17,551
Sure, people go
to New York to record.

1715
01:29:17,553 --> 01:29:18,819
You know, big deal.

1716
01:29:18,821 --> 01:29:20,454
You know,
go to Muscle Shoals where

1717
01:29:20,456 --> 01:29:22,055
you can actually get
lunch at a meat and three

1718
01:29:22,057 --> 01:29:24,491
and really experience
the Southern way of life.

1719
01:29:24,493 --> 01:29:27,661
I mean, there's
nothing like it.

1720
01:29:30,431 --> 01:29:31,898
When I went
to Muscle Shoals to record,

1721
01:29:31,900 --> 01:29:35,302
for me, it was more
like going to my village

1722
01:29:35,304 --> 01:29:37,871
in Somerton in Jamaica.

1723
01:29:37,873 --> 01:29:41,675
I did actually
feel I'm at home.

1724
01:29:41,677 --> 01:29:45,479
♪ Sitting here in limbo ♪

1725
01:29:45,481 --> 01:29:48,315
♪ But I know it won't be long ♪

1726
01:29:48,317 --> 01:29:52,085
Jimmy had a very definite
Jamaican songwriting style,

1727
01:29:52,087 --> 01:29:53,820
and this was
pre-Bob Marley,

1728
01:29:53,822 --> 01:29:58,191
so nobody was really hip
to the Jamaican sound that much.

1729
01:29:58,193 --> 01:29:59,493
Here I am, going there

1730
01:29:59,495 --> 01:30:01,995
with a different
brand of feeling,

1731
01:30:01,997 --> 01:30:05,298
and they were readily
adaptable to it.

1732
01:30:05,300 --> 01:30:06,767
When an artist would come in,

1733
01:30:06,769 --> 01:30:08,735
what our job was to us

1734
01:30:08,737 --> 01:30:11,238
is to become their band.

1735
01:30:11,240 --> 01:30:13,774
They were able
to change who they were

1736
01:30:13,776 --> 01:30:16,343
depending on the artist
that walked in the door.

1737
01:30:16,345 --> 01:30:18,645
That was the true genius of it.

1738
01:30:18,647 --> 01:30:21,581
♪ I can't say what
life will show me ♪

1739
01:30:21,583 --> 01:30:24,551
♪ But I know what I've seen ♪

1740
01:30:24,553 --> 01:30:27,454
♪ I can't say where
life will leave me ♪

1741
01:30:27,456 --> 01:30:30,457
♪ But I know where I've been ♪

1742
01:30:30,459 --> 01:30:33,393
♪ Tried my hand
at love and friendship ♪

1743
01:30:33,395 --> 01:30:37,097
♪ But all that
is past and gone ♪

1744
01:30:37,099 --> 01:30:43,036
♪ This little boy
is moving on ♪

1745
01:30:43,038 --> 01:30:45,205
The song, "Sitting in Limbo,"

1746
01:30:45,207 --> 01:30:48,542
was such a fresh piece of music

1747
01:30:48,544 --> 01:30:50,744
that you couldn't
help but notice it.

1748
01:30:50,746 --> 01:30:53,013
♪ Sitting in limbo

1749
01:30:53,015 --> 01:30:55,649
And so, definitely
the Swampers,

1750
01:30:55,651 --> 01:30:58,518
all white guys,
played their role

1751
01:30:58,520 --> 01:31:02,155
in bringing reggae
to the forefront of the public.

1752
01:31:02,157 --> 01:31:05,625
♪ Sitting in limbo,
limbo, limbo ♪

1753
01:31:05,627 --> 01:31:07,427
It was after those sessions

1754
01:31:07,429 --> 01:31:09,563
that Chris Blackwell
had the idea

1755
01:31:09,565 --> 01:31:13,033
to link them up
with Steve Winwood.

1756
01:31:13,035 --> 01:31:15,569
When we were going
through our formative years,

1757
01:31:15,571 --> 01:31:18,705
I started hearing
this Southern soul music,

1758
01:31:18,707 --> 01:31:22,309
and of course, I didn't
really have any concept

1759
01:31:22,311 --> 01:31:26,179
of Muscle Shoals
or the musicians

1760
01:31:26,181 --> 01:31:27,981
or their background

1761
01:31:27,983 --> 01:31:30,083
when I was first
hearing this music,

1762
01:31:30,085 --> 01:31:34,254
I just knew that the music had
something very special for me,

1763
01:31:34,256 --> 01:31:36,690
so when we actually
got to work with them,

1764
01:31:36,692 --> 01:31:39,459
it was an amazing
experience for us.

1765
01:31:39,461 --> 01:31:44,898
♪ Sometimes I feel
so uninspired ♪

1766
01:31:44,900 --> 01:31:47,801
Recording with Traffic
was a very strange thing.

1767
01:31:47,803 --> 01:31:51,104
It was... to me,
it was strange.

1768
01:31:51,106 --> 01:31:55,542
Of course, Traffic weren't
a mainstream band at all.

1769
01:31:55,544 --> 01:31:58,278
We would try and take elements

1770
01:31:58,280 --> 01:32:02,749
of rock, jazz, folk music,

1771
01:32:02,751 --> 01:32:05,218
all sorts of different
ethnic music.

1772
01:32:05,220 --> 01:32:10,690
Our own particular name for it
was Headless Horseman music.

1773
01:32:10,692 --> 01:32:14,094
♪ But don't let
it get you down ♪

1774
01:32:14,096 --> 01:32:18,732
They didn't go about recording
the way that we were used to.

1775
01:32:18,734 --> 01:32:21,801
At that time, I was
trying to be real precise.

1776
01:32:21,803 --> 01:32:23,703
Traffic was the exact opposite.

1777
01:32:23,705 --> 01:32:25,238
It sounds terrible,
let's play it anyway.

1778
01:32:25,240 --> 01:32:27,674
It might not ever sound
good, but let's play it.

1779
01:32:27,676 --> 01:32:31,578
It wasn't an immediate,
easy marriage.

1780
01:32:31,580 --> 01:32:33,079
But as time went on, I started,

1781
01:32:33,081 --> 01:32:35,715
I guess you might say,
opening up a little bit.

1782
01:32:35,717 --> 01:32:39,619
I was forced to learn
how to jam again.

1783
01:32:44,025 --> 01:32:47,594
The song that stands out
for me off that album

1784
01:32:47,596 --> 01:32:50,196
is "(Sometimes I Feel So)
Uninspired."

1785
01:32:50,198 --> 01:32:52,766
What Muscle Shoals
did to that song

1786
01:32:52,768 --> 01:32:56,036
was truly spectacular,
they brought

1787
01:32:56,038 --> 01:32:59,105
these rhythmic elements
and harmonic elements

1788
01:32:59,107 --> 01:33:03,376
that we could
never have reached.

1789
01:33:03,378 --> 01:33:03,878
♪

1790
01:33:09,851 --> 01:33:12,352
And then, Chris Blackwell says,

1791
01:33:12,354 --> 01:33:13,720
"Well, we'd like for you guys

1792
01:33:13,722 --> 01:33:15,789
to go on the road
with us."

1793
01:33:15,791 --> 01:33:18,124
And so, we'd go out
and play with Traffic

1794
01:33:18,126 --> 01:33:22,195
at these big venues
and 20,000 people.

1795
01:33:22,197 --> 01:33:24,331
We were just thrilled
that they agreed,

1796
01:33:24,333 --> 01:33:26,266
but of course,
they'd actually never

1797
01:33:26,268 --> 01:33:28,935
been on the road with anyone.

1798
01:33:28,937 --> 01:33:32,172
There were times
when Jim and I and Chris

1799
01:33:32,174 --> 01:33:33,974
would get together
and sort of worry,

1800
01:33:33,976 --> 01:33:38,044
say, "Are we corrupting
these guys' minds?"

1801
01:33:38,046 --> 01:33:41,014
and that their music
possibly came out

1802
01:33:41,016 --> 01:33:43,083
of some sort of innocence.

1803
01:33:43,085 --> 01:33:47,621
We suffered a certain
amount of guilt for that.

1804
01:33:51,025 --> 01:33:54,194
Musicians are pretty noted
for the gypsy life,

1805
01:33:54,196 --> 01:33:57,230
moving around and playing
a different venue every night,

1806
01:33:57,232 --> 01:34:01,167
but we really liked
our family life.

1807
01:34:01,169 --> 01:34:01,669
♪

1808
01:34:06,174 --> 01:34:09,442
When I first started in music,
I had visions of New York

1809
01:34:09,444 --> 01:34:12,479
and Los Angeles and travel,
different places,

1810
01:34:12,481 --> 01:34:14,881
and the more I've done that,
the more I've realized

1811
01:34:14,883 --> 01:34:16,716
that this is the best place.

1812
01:34:16,718 --> 01:34:20,186
It is my home
and I love it here.

1813
01:34:20,188 --> 01:34:23,323
We had many opportunities
to move our operation.

1814
01:34:23,325 --> 01:34:25,125
We thought,
"People would come to us."

1815
01:34:25,127 --> 01:34:26,793
Why would we have to go to them

1816
01:34:26,795 --> 01:34:28,995
"when they'll
come to us?"

1817
01:34:28,997 --> 01:34:31,097
♪ Sometimes even now

1818
01:34:31,099 --> 01:34:35,869
♪ When I'm feeling
lonely and beat ♪

1819
01:34:35,871 --> 01:34:41,374
♪ I drift back in time
and I find my feet ♪

1820
01:34:41,376 --> 01:34:45,178
♪ Down on Mainstreet

1821
01:34:45,180 --> 01:34:47,280
I'm gonna tell you,
working with Bob Seger

1822
01:34:47,282 --> 01:34:49,749
was just magnificent,
it really was.

1823
01:34:49,751 --> 01:34:55,288
He was the kind of guy
that he had no ego.

1824
01:34:55,290 --> 01:34:57,557
♪ Down on Mainstreet

1825
01:34:57,559 --> 01:35:00,293
And "Mainstreet" is one
of my really favorite cuts.

1826
01:35:00,295 --> 01:35:02,629
Seger really put
his heart in that one.

1827
01:35:02,631 --> 01:35:06,166
Most of the people in Detroit
and the Muscle Shoals people

1828
01:35:06,168 --> 01:35:08,468
thought they were talking
about the Main Street

1829
01:35:08,470 --> 01:35:10,870
of their town.

1830
01:35:10,872 --> 01:35:13,039
We had a ten-year
run with him

1831
01:35:13,041 --> 01:35:15,675
that we were at least
doing half the album

1832
01:35:15,677 --> 01:35:17,510
each time he put out an album.

1833
01:35:17,512 --> 01:35:18,012
♪

1834
01:35:25,487 --> 01:35:30,724
The studio just started
taking a life of its own.

1835
01:35:32,026 --> 01:35:34,527
Stars fell on Alabama,

1836
01:35:34,529 --> 01:35:37,063
and everybody who was anybody

1837
01:35:37,065 --> 01:35:39,199
came to record at that studio.

1838
01:35:39,201 --> 01:35:42,202
♪ When I think back
on all the crap ♪

1839
01:35:42,204 --> 01:35:47,474
♪ I learned in high school ♪

1840
01:35:47,476 --> 01:35:50,977
♪ It's a wonder
I can think at all ♪

1841
01:35:50,979 --> 01:35:53,246
When we really got
moving in the '70s,

1842
01:35:53,248 --> 01:35:55,515
we were doing like,
50 albums a year.

1843
01:35:55,517 --> 01:35:58,118
It was one of the best rooms
I've ever worked in.

1844
01:35:58,120 --> 01:36:00,086
The sound was like
the perfect sound.

1845
01:36:00,088 --> 01:36:02,922
It was the sound that
you'd been going for

1846
01:36:02,924 --> 01:36:04,824
everywhere else,
but couldn't get,

1847
01:36:04,826 --> 01:36:06,359
and that's why
it became the place

1848
01:36:06,361 --> 01:36:08,862
where everybody
wanted to record.

1849
01:36:08,864 --> 01:36:12,065
♪ I got a Nikon camera

1850
01:36:12,067 --> 01:36:15,335
♪ I love to take a photograph ♪

1851
01:36:15,337 --> 01:36:20,940
♪ So Mama, don't take
my Kodachrome away ♪

1852
01:36:20,942 --> 01:36:23,309
We were very fortunate
to get to work

1853
01:36:23,311 --> 01:36:25,445
with a lot of the big stars.

1854
01:36:25,447 --> 01:36:29,916
Bob Dylan, Paul Simon,
Boz Scaggs, Staple Singers.

1855
01:36:29,918 --> 01:36:32,218
Rod Stewart, Joe Cocker.

1856
01:36:32,220 --> 01:36:34,254
I mean, I just
named you a list.

1857
01:36:34,256 --> 01:36:34,954
Johnnie Taylor.

1858
01:36:34,956 --> 01:36:35,822
Glenn Frey.

1859
01:36:35,824 --> 01:36:36,790
Leon Russell.

1860
01:36:36,792 --> 01:36:37,657
Willie Nelson.

1861
01:36:37,659 --> 01:36:38,825
Levon Helm.

1862
01:36:38,827 --> 01:36:39,793
Donnie Fritts.

1863
01:36:39,795 --> 01:36:40,894
Carlos Santana.

1864
01:36:40,896 --> 01:36:41,861
John Prine.

1865
01:36:41,863 --> 01:36:42,762
Millie Jackson.

1866
01:36:42,764 --> 01:36:44,130
R.B. Greaves.

1867
01:36:44,132 --> 01:36:45,231
JJ Cale.

1868
01:36:45,233 --> 01:36:46,533
Dire Straits.

1869
01:36:46,535 --> 01:36:48,568
Simon and Garfunkel.

1870
01:36:48,570 --> 01:36:50,370
♪ Mama, don't take
my Kodachrome ♪

1871
01:36:50,372 --> 01:36:52,238
♪ Mama, don't take
my Kodachrome ♪

1872
01:36:52,240 --> 01:36:56,976
♪ Mama, don't take
my Kodachrome away ♪

1873
01:36:56,978 --> 01:36:59,279
Still amazes me today
that all that music

1874
01:36:59,281 --> 01:37:02,081
was played by us guys,

1875
01:37:02,083 --> 01:37:04,150
a lot of the music was hits.

1876
01:37:04,152 --> 01:37:06,786
You look back,
you see the discography,

1877
01:37:06,788 --> 01:37:09,722
we're as amazed as anybody.

1878
01:37:09,724 --> 01:37:10,224
♪

1879
01:37:19,835 --> 01:37:20,335
♪

1880
01:38:08,350 --> 01:38:11,985
My whole life
has been based on...

1881
01:38:11,987 --> 01:38:15,388
a lot of rejection,

1882
01:38:15,390 --> 01:38:18,992
and to be honest with you,
I think rejection

1883
01:38:18,994 --> 01:38:23,596
played a big role
in my life because

1884
01:38:23,598 --> 01:38:26,266
I thrived on it.

1885
01:38:26,268 --> 01:38:31,437
I wanted to prove the world
was wrong and I was right.

1886
01:38:31,439 --> 01:38:34,340
I was rejected by my mother.

1887
01:38:34,342 --> 01:38:37,210
I was rejected by schoolmates

1888
01:38:37,212 --> 01:38:40,246
because I was
poverty-stricken.

1889
01:38:40,248 --> 01:38:42,282
As I grew older, I was rejected

1890
01:38:42,284 --> 01:38:46,152
by Atlantic Records
with Jerry Wexler.

1891
01:38:46,154 --> 01:38:49,789
I don't think I've
ever been more angry

1892
01:38:49,791 --> 01:38:51,624
than I was at Jerry Wexler

1893
01:38:51,626 --> 01:38:56,462
and the Swampers who
left me at that time.

1894
01:38:56,464 --> 01:38:58,598
It was bitter.

1895
01:39:04,004 --> 01:39:06,906
But that all passes with time.

1896
01:39:06,908 --> 01:39:09,542
Those things change.

1897
01:39:09,544 --> 01:39:10,044
♪

1898
01:39:23,158 --> 01:39:27,026
My respect for Rick Hall
is never-ending.

1899
01:39:27,028 --> 01:39:29,362
He was our mentor.

1900
01:39:29,364 --> 01:39:32,598
He gave all of us
an opportunity

1901
01:39:32,600 --> 01:39:38,671
that we would have
never gotten without him.

1902
01:39:38,673 --> 01:39:42,041
We all got our start
working with Rick Hall.

1903
01:39:42,043 --> 01:39:43,643
Rick is really the founder

1904
01:39:43,645 --> 01:39:47,547
of the music business
in Muscle Shoals.

1905
01:39:47,549 --> 01:39:49,482
These are guys that I love
with all my heart,

1906
01:39:49,484 --> 01:39:51,751
and we'd worked
together for years,

1907
01:39:51,753 --> 01:39:53,419
who wanted, like I did,

1908
01:39:53,421 --> 01:39:56,622
to become special
in the music business.

1909
01:39:56,624 --> 01:39:57,124
♪

1910
01:40:05,633 --> 01:40:10,203
Because they played on so many
of these wonderful hit records,

1911
01:40:10,205 --> 01:40:11,904
they will take their place

1912
01:40:11,906 --> 01:40:14,340
in the history
of American music.

1913
01:40:14,342 --> 01:40:16,142
That's the great thing
about recording.

1914
01:40:16,144 --> 01:40:17,543
From there on, you're immortal

1915
01:40:17,545 --> 01:40:20,079
because it's in
the grooves, right?

1916
01:40:20,081 --> 01:40:22,515
Everything that
everybody's done here,

1917
01:40:22,517 --> 01:40:24,550
it came from their heart,

1918
01:40:24,552 --> 01:40:27,720
and that's what makes
Muscle Shoals so powerful.

1919
01:40:27,722 --> 01:40:30,390
What music built there
is not something

1920
01:40:30,392 --> 01:40:33,326
that you can see with your eye.

1921
01:40:33,328 --> 01:40:35,528
In fact, if you look
at the recording studios,

1922
01:40:35,530 --> 01:40:37,463
they were humble shells,

1923
01:40:37,465 --> 01:40:41,401
but what they contained
was an empire

1924
01:40:41,403 --> 01:40:45,371
that crossed race
and creed, ethnicity.

1925
01:40:45,373 --> 01:40:47,640
It was revolutionary.

1926
01:40:47,642 --> 01:40:51,044
I'm honored to step
in the place of people

1927
01:40:51,046 --> 01:40:53,679
who I wish I could have met.

1928
01:40:53,681 --> 01:40:55,381
You know, there's still
a piece of Etta here,

1929
01:40:55,383 --> 01:40:57,016
there's still a piece
of Aretha here,

1930
01:40:57,018 --> 01:40:58,284
there's a piece of everybody

1931
01:40:58,286 --> 01:41:00,019
who walked through these doors.

1932
01:41:00,021 --> 01:41:02,321
There's a perfect storm here.

1933
01:41:02,323 --> 01:41:05,324
Everybody needs to know
all the different nuances

1934
01:41:05,326 --> 01:41:07,460
that went into making
this thing happen

1935
01:41:07,462 --> 01:41:09,395
and all the stars aligning

1936
01:41:09,397 --> 01:41:12,732
and exploding the way it did.

1937
01:41:12,734 --> 01:41:16,369
I'm just so proud
to be from this area

1938
01:41:16,371 --> 01:41:20,039
and to see everything
that is to come

1939
01:41:20,041 --> 01:41:22,942
out of this incredible
singing river.

1940
01:41:22,944 --> 01:41:24,811
I am honored.

1941
01:41:26,380 --> 01:41:26,880
♪

1942
01:41:38,593 --> 01:41:42,328
♪ Well, I'm pressing on

1943
01:41:45,532 --> 01:41:50,269
♪ Yeah, I'm pressing on

1944
01:41:52,840 --> 01:41:56,109
♪ And I'm pressing on

1945
01:41:56,111 --> 01:42:02,448
♪ To the higher calling
of my Lord ♪

1946
01:42:05,552 --> 01:42:09,522
♪ Can't you see
that I'm pressing on ♪

1947
01:42:12,392 --> 01:42:16,796
♪ I'm pressing on

1948
01:42:20,834 --> 01:42:23,169
♪ I'm pressing on

1949
01:42:23,171 --> 01:42:29,542
♪ To the higher calling
of my Lord ♪

1950
01:42:34,214 --> 01:42:37,316
♪ Shake the dust
off your feet ♪

1951
01:42:37,318 --> 01:42:41,187
♪ Don't look back

1952
01:42:41,189 --> 01:42:43,422
♪ Nothing gonna hold you down ♪

1953
01:42:43,424 --> 01:42:47,894
♪ There's nothing you lack ♪

1954
01:42:47,896 --> 01:42:50,696
♪ Temptation's
not an easy thing ♪

1955
01:42:50,698 --> 01:42:54,133
♪ Adam gave the devil reigns ♪

1956
01:42:54,135 --> 01:42:57,737
♪ And because he sinned,
I got no choice ♪

1957
01:42:57,739 --> 01:42:59,739
♪ It runs in my veins

1958
01:42:59,741 --> 01:43:04,110
♪ But I gotta
keep pressing on ♪

1959
01:43:04,112 --> 01:43:06,312
♪ On and on and on and on ♪

1960
01:43:06,314 --> 01:43:10,850
♪ I gotta keep pressing on ♪

1961
01:43:12,920 --> 01:43:17,023
♪ I'm gonna keep
pressing, pressing on ♪

1962
01:43:17,025 --> 01:43:23,229
♪ To the higher,
higher calling of my Lord ♪

1963
01:43:25,899 --> 01:43:28,301
♪ Yeah

1964
01:43:28,303 --> 01:43:31,103
♪ I gotta go higher

1965
01:43:31,105 --> 01:43:33,439
♪ On and on and on and on ♪

1966
01:43:33,441 --> 01:43:37,743
♪ I gotta go higher

1967
01:43:40,480 --> 01:43:43,816
♪ I'm gonna go higher

1968
01:43:43,818 --> 01:43:45,585
♪ To the higher

1969
01:43:45,587 --> 01:43:50,856
♪ To the higher calling
of my Lord ♪

1970
01:43:52,559 --> 01:43:57,463
♪ I know somebody,
somebody feels what I'm saying ♪

1971
01:43:57,465 --> 01:43:59,932
♪ Somebody knows what
I'm going through ♪

1972
01:43:59,934 --> 01:44:04,670
♪ Who knows I want
to go higher ♪

1973
01:44:07,040 --> 01:44:11,410
♪ I know you want to keep
pressing on, yeah ♪

1974
01:44:11,412 --> 01:44:17,149
♪ To the highest calling
of the Lord ♪

1975
01:44:17,151 --> 01:44:17,651
♪

1976
01:44:25,159 --> 01:44:26,859
Turn it up.

1977
01:44:31,565 --> 01:44:34,267
Ronnie had always talked about
the guys in Muscle Shoals,

1978
01:44:34,269 --> 01:44:36,435
then when we wrote
"Sweet Home Alabama,"

1979
01:44:36,437 --> 01:44:38,204
the last verse says,

1980
01:44:38,206 --> 01:44:40,439
"Muscle Shoals has
got the Swampers."

1981
01:44:40,441 --> 01:44:42,808
I went, "Ronnie,
what is that, Swampers?"

1982
01:44:42,810 --> 01:44:44,710
He goes, "Oh, that's...
that's Jimmy and Roger"

1983
01:44:44,712 --> 01:44:46,612
and the guys
at Muscle Shoals."

1984
01:44:46,614 --> 01:44:51,651
♪ Now Muscle Shoals
has got the Swampers ♪

1985
01:44:51,653 --> 01:44:55,888
♪ And they've been known
to pick a song or two ♪

1986
01:44:55,890 --> 01:44:58,824
We were given that name
by Denny Cordell

1987
01:44:58,826 --> 01:45:01,460
who was the producer
with Leon Russell.

1988
01:45:01,462 --> 01:45:03,763
I think he just thought
it sounded good,

1989
01:45:03,765 --> 01:45:06,666
'cause Muscle Shoals
has a lot of water here.

1990
01:45:06,668 --> 01:45:08,367
You gotta have a name.

1991
01:45:08,369 --> 01:45:11,337
Swampers is a good nickname.

1992
01:45:11,339 --> 01:45:16,042
♪ Sweet home Alabama

1993
01:45:16,044 --> 01:45:19,312
♪ Lord, I'm coming
home to you ♪

1994
01:45:19,314 --> 01:45:20,913
There's two guitar solos
in that song,

1995
01:45:20,915 --> 01:45:22,882
one short one
and one very long one,

1996
01:45:22,884 --> 01:45:24,617
and they both came
to me in a dream,

1997
01:45:24,619 --> 01:45:27,586
absolutely note for note,
all the transition points,

1998
01:45:27,588 --> 01:45:29,855
the fingering,
the chord voicings.

1999
01:45:29,857 --> 01:45:32,325
I woke up out of the dream,
picked up the guitar,

2000
01:45:32,327 --> 01:45:33,492
and it was done.

2001
01:45:33,494 --> 01:45:34,460
♪ Here I come

2002
01:45:34,462 --> 01:45:36,796
♪ Alabama

2003
01:45:36,798 --> 01:45:37,298
♪

2004
01:45:46,908 --> 01:45:47,408
♪

2005
01:45:54,949 --> 01:45:58,918
♪ Home

2006
01:45:58,920 --> 01:46:03,823
♪ Alabama home

2007
01:46:03,825 --> 01:46:08,794
♪ Alabama home

2008
01:46:08,796 --> 01:46:13,466
♪ Alabama home

2009
01:46:13,468 --> 01:46:15,901
♪ Alabama

2010
01:46:15,903 --> 01:46:16,403
♪

2011
01:46:24,812 --> 01:46:29,715
♪ Big wheels keep on turning ♪

2012
01:46:29,717 --> 01:46:34,553
♪ Carry me home to see my kin ♪

2013
01:46:34,555 --> 01:46:39,425
♪ Singing songs
about the Southland ♪

2014
01:46:39,427 --> 01:46:41,660
♪ I miss Alabamy once again ♪

2015
01:46:41,662 --> 01:46:45,331
♪ And I think it's a sin, yes ♪

2016
01:46:45,333 --> 01:46:45,833
♪

2017
01:46:53,941 --> 01:46:58,844
♪ Well, I heard Mr. Young
sing about her ♪

2018
01:46:58,846 --> 01:47:03,749
♪ Well, I heard ole Neil
put her down ♪

2019
01:47:03,751 --> 01:47:08,754
♪ Well, I hope Neil Young
will remember ♪

2020
01:47:08,756 --> 01:47:14,026
♪ A Southern man don't
need him around anyhow ♪

2021
01:47:14,028 --> 01:47:18,764
♪ Sweet home Alabama

2022
01:47:18,766 --> 01:47:23,636
♪ Where the skies are so blue ♪

2023
01:47:23,638 --> 01:47:28,641
♪ Sweet home Alabama

2024
01:47:28,643 --> 01:47:32,244
♪ Lord, I'm coming
home to you ♪

2025
01:47:32,246 --> 01:47:32,746
♪

2026
01:47:43,090 --> 01:47:46,525
♪ In Birmingham,
they love the governor ♪

2027
01:47:46,527 --> 01:47:48,093
♪ Boo, boo, boo

2028
01:47:48,095 --> 01:47:52,932
♪ Now we all did
what we could do ♪

2029
01:47:52,934 --> 01:47:58,103
♪ Now Watergate
does not bother me ♪

2030
01:47:58,105 --> 01:48:00,673
♪ Does your conscience
bother you ♪

2031
01:48:00,675 --> 01:48:03,242
♪ Tell the truth

2032
01:48:03,244 --> 01:48:08,013
♪ Sweet home Alabama

2033
01:48:08,015 --> 01:48:13,219
♪ Where the skies are so blue ♪

2034
01:48:13,221 --> 01:48:17,957
♪ Sweet home Alabama

2035
01:48:17,959 --> 01:48:20,359
♪ Lord, I'm coming
home to you ♪

2036
01:48:20,361 --> 01:48:21,360
♪ Here I come

2037
01:48:21,362 --> 01:48:23,729
♪ Alabama

2038
01:48:23,731 --> 01:48:24,231
♪

2039
01:48:33,841 --> 01:48:34,341
♪

2040
01:48:41,983 --> 01:48:45,684
♪ Home

2041
01:48:45,686 --> 01:48:50,589
♪ Alabama home

2042
01:48:50,591 --> 01:48:55,528
♪ Alabama home

2043
01:48:55,530 --> 01:49:00,432
♪ Alabama home

2044
01:49:00,434 --> 01:49:02,434
♪ Alabama

2045
01:49:02,436 --> 01:49:02,936
♪

2046
01:49:11,345 --> 01:49:16,649
♪ Now, Muscle Shoals
has got the Swampers ♪

2047
01:49:16,651 --> 01:49:21,520
♪ And they've been known
to pick a song or two ♪

2048
01:49:21,522 --> 01:49:26,058
♪ Lord, they get
me off so much ♪

2049
01:49:26,060 --> 01:49:28,627
♪ They pick me up
when I'm feeling blue ♪

2050
01:49:28,629 --> 01:49:31,463
♪ Now how about you

2051
01:49:31,465 --> 01:49:36,201
♪ Sweet home Alabama

2052
01:49:36,203 --> 01:49:41,340
♪ Where the skies are so blue ♪

2053
01:49:41,342 --> 01:49:46,045
♪ Sweet home Alabama

2054
01:49:46,047 --> 01:49:51,216
♪ Lord, I'm coming
home to you ♪

2055
01:49:51,218 --> 01:49:53,586
♪ Sweet home Alabama

2056
01:49:53,588 --> 01:49:55,955
♪ Oh, sweet home

2057
01:49:55,957 --> 01:49:58,123
♪ Where the skies are so blue ♪

2058
01:49:58,125 --> 01:50:00,893
♪ And the governor's true

2059
01:50:00,895 --> 01:50:05,798
♪ Sweet home Alabama

2060
01:50:05,800 --> 01:50:10,769
♪ Lord, I'm coming
home to you ♪

2061
01:50:10,771 --> 01:50:13,305
♪ Sweet home Alabama

2062
01:50:13,307 --> 01:50:15,708
♪ Oh, sweet home

2063
01:50:15,710 --> 01:50:17,910
♪ Where the skies are so blue ♪

2064
01:50:17,912 --> 01:50:19,511
♪ And the governor's true

2065
01:50:19,513 --> 01:50:22,548
When you hear musicians,

2066
01:50:22,550 --> 01:50:24,950
five or six of 'em in a room,

2067
01:50:24,952 --> 01:50:26,852
and you hear the imperfections,

2068
01:50:26,854 --> 01:50:29,388
that's the human element.

2069
01:50:29,390 --> 01:50:31,457
If a guy falls off of the stool

2070
01:50:31,459 --> 01:50:34,627
who's playing the drums,
I really don't give a shit,

2071
01:50:34,629 --> 01:50:36,862
as long as he don't
miss a beat.

2072
01:50:36,864 --> 01:50:38,230
He can get back up
and climb back up,

2073
01:50:38,232 --> 01:50:40,933
and most people,
including myself,

2074
01:50:40,935 --> 01:50:42,901
think that's great.

2075
01:50:42,903 --> 01:50:45,437
That's the human element,
there's faults.

2076
01:50:45,439 --> 01:50:48,307
So, the imperfections
gives it the human element,

2077
01:50:48,309 --> 01:50:51,810
which I believe is what
we need today more of,

2078
01:50:51,812 --> 01:50:55,180
and that's how you make
magic and great records.

2079
01:50:55,182 --> 01:50:57,650
Amen.

2080
01:50:57,652 --> 01:51:00,886
That's my sermon
for the day, by the way.

2081
01:51:00,888 --> 01:51:01,388
♪