FAME – Live Forever
Guitar Player|October 2021
With a history that includes the Allman Brothers, Aretha Franklin and Jason Isbell, FAME Studios makes plans for a bright and very long future.
By Martin Mcquade
FAME – Live Forever

Muscle Shoals’ Waters are potent. For generations, they have poured out hit records, a multitude of which have flowed from Alabama’s FAME Studios. The name stands for Florence Alabama Music Enterprises. In 1959, record producer/songwriter/ guitarist Rick Hall founded the music hub as a place where race played no role. What mattered was serving the region’s native musical stew, which featured the participation of artists ranging from Duane Allman and Otis Redding to Aretha Franklin and Etta James. Hall’s son Rodney discloses the recipe in Shoals vernacular. “It’s a swampy kind of music,” he says. “Funky. A lot of bass, and a lot of kick drum. More than that, it’s an amalgamation of country, rock and soul, put together in a gumbo that’s been cooking in the Shoals for over 100 years.”

This story is from the October 2021 edition of Guitar Player.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the October 2021 edition of Guitar Player.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM GUITAR PLAYERView All
How I Wrote..."Year of the Cat"
Guitar Player

How I Wrote..."Year of the Cat"

AI Stewart reflects on his beguiling hit, some 10 years in the making.

time-read
3 mins  |
December 2024
UAFX
Guitar Player

UAFX

Teletronix LA-2A Studio Compressor

time-read
2 mins  |
December 2024
LINE 6
Guitar Player

LINE 6

POD Express

time-read
2 mins  |
December 2024
MAN OF STEEL
Guitar Player

MAN OF STEEL

He brought the Dobro to centerstage with his dazzling talent. As he drops his first album in seven years, Jerry Douglas reflects on his gear, career and induction in the Bluegrass Hall of Fame.

time-read
8 mins  |
December 2024
HIGH TIME
Guitar Player

HIGH TIME

The new MC5 album took more than 50 years to arrive. The band members have all passed on, but the celebration is just beginning.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 2024
58 YEARS OF GUITAR PLAYER
Guitar Player

58 YEARS OF GUITAR PLAYER

As Guitar Player moves full-time to its online home, we look back at some of its greatest stories in print.

time-read
5 mins  |
December 2024
DRAGON TALES
Guitar Player

DRAGON TALES

In a Guitar Player exclusive, Jimmy Page sheds light on the amplifiers behind his Led Zeppelin tone and how they live again in his line of Sundragon signature amps.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 2024
CLOSER TO HOME
Guitar Player

CLOSER TO HOME

Rehearsal space, studio, vessel and abode Diego Garcia's boat is the home base for his new album, as well as his musical life as the seafaring Spanish guitarist Twanguero.

time-read
6 mins  |
December 2024
Funk Noir
Guitar Player

Funk Noir

With The Black Album, Prince made his greatest-and most infamousmusical statement.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 2024
Medium Cool
Guitar Player

Medium Cool

Striking the middle ground between its Thinline brethren, Gibson's ES-345TD remains a versatile, if underrated, gem.

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2024