FLORENCE – They filled up the room at Florence/Lauderdale Tourism, these fans of Muscle Shoals music. The crowd came to hear a panel discussion from some of the guys who turned the knobs and hit the RECORD buttons on the Ampex 2″ reel-to-reel tape machines. These were some of the famous studio engineers who labored in the darkened control rooms for hours on end to capture some of the most widely recognized and most cherished songs in the world’s lexicon of rock and soul music.
It was a panel discussion, organized by Crazy Chester Records, that was presented to give some illumination to the magic that happens here. Not a typo… Music magic is still revealing itself in Muscle Shoals.
Georgia Carter Turner, of Florence/Lauderdale Tourism put it this way, “Recording engineers Steve Melton, Gregg Hamm, Jerry Masters and Mickey Buckins are scheduled to participate. Jimmy Nutt of the NuttHouse Recording Studio will moderate the discussion.
Working with many of the most recognized performers in the world at FAME and Muscle Shoals Sound, these engineers recorded and mixed some of the greatest recordings of all time including Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome”, Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock And Roll”, the Staple Singers’ “I’ll Take You There” and “Patches” by Clarence Carter. Some of the artists they recorded include Bob Dylan, Candi Staton, Dr. Hook, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rod Stewart, Willie Nelson, Percy Sledge and numerous others.
Masters has recently written a book called “Hanging From A Tree By My Knees” about his 50 years experience in the music industry. The book will be for sale at the event.”
Here are some photos:
1 comment
It’s about time that the unsung heroes and NON-Alabama Music Hall of Fame inductees, were recognized for actually creating the “Muscle Shoals Sound.” Our legacy will always be the cornerstone of Muscle Shoals Music in spite of political involvement. At least we know “who we are, and what we did.” We can live with that. Jerry Masters