Muscle Shoals Studios: “Land of 1000 Dances”
Muscle Shoals, Alabama, was the last place anyone wanted to go to make a record: not only was it inconvenient (the absence of direct flights from New York City or Los Angeles meant changing planes in Atlanta, Georgia, or Memphis, Tennessee), it was dry (no bars). But the determination of one man and the musicianship of several others drew customers from near and far and kept the three adjacent towns of Muscle Shoals, Florence, and Sheffield on the musical map for 40 years. Percy Sledge launched his career with “When a Man Loves a Woman” (recorded at Quinn Ivy’s studio ...(100 of 320 words)