Page 9 - HTE_Spring2021

It was an indescribable feeling when we walked into FAME and Muscle Shoals Sound. The history was tangible. It was almost like you could reach out and touch it.
Both studios, while separate entities, were the musical stomping grounds of some of the music industry’s most legendary artists. So, naturally, they’ve done their best to preserve everything they can. Part of the tour of FAME takes you into an office filled with gold records and a chair. It doesn’t look like much when you walk in. As a matter of fact, we would have overlooked it entirely if our guide wouldn’t have pointed out its significance. That chair held up artists like Aretha Franklin. It’s more than a chair. This is the throne for the Queen of Soul.
Going into the actual studios feels electric. These microphones and instruments recorded the soundracks to
generations. Cher.
Aretha Franklin.
Steven Tyler and
Aerosmith. The
Rolling Stones.
Alicia Keys. That
doesn’t even
scratch the surface
of the icons that
recorded in these
studios. Naturally,
when we heard
all of these people
recorded in little
Muscle Shoals, Alabama, we had to know what was in
the water.
Why Muscle Shoals? Our tour guide at Muscle Shoals Sound gave us three reasons. First, it was cheaper to record in Alabama than LA or Nashville. Second, these stars could walk up and down the street without being recognized. And third, this place grows tal- ent like Florida grows oranges. We’re talking about grocery
store owners, barbers, teachers, ordinary people who could walk in the studio and lay out a track in one take. Muscle Shoals Sound and FAME racked up countless gold
and platinum records, and they’re still in working condition today.
When you visit Florence, everyone will tell you the same thing: This place is magic.
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