Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The small town that made the big hits.

Thirty miles south of Tennessee, and two hours east of Memphis, it originally formed part of the historic Cherokee hunting grounds, but became an unlikely staging post for rock and R&B royalty in the 1960s and 70s.

Acts like Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Etta James and Paul Simon all made the pilgrimage to this backwater town, where the nicest hotel was a Holiday Inn and the restaurants served local specialties like fried catfish and turnip greens.

What drew them there was The Swampers – a crack team of studio musicians, whose rich, funky Southern grooves infused classics like Aretha Franklin’s Respect, The Rolling Stones’ Brown Sugar and The Staples Singers’ I’ll Take You There.

Part of the attraction was the town’s disregard for the segregation that divided the South. The local radio station, WLAY, was unusual for playing music by both white and black artists; and the colour-blind approach was duplicated in the local recording studios.

“It was a dangerous time, but the studio was a safe haven where blacks and whites could work together in musical harmony,” said Rick Hall, who owned and operated the FAME Studios from the 1950s until his death in 2018.

That gave this small, backwater town its distinctive sound: An intoxicating amalgam of gritty R&B, gospel and country, that soundtracked more than 500 singles, including 75 gold and platinum hits.

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