Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section

The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, also known as the Swampers, is a group of American studio musicians playing soul, R&B, rock and roll and country, based in the city of Muscle Shoals, Alabama.. They have appeared on more than 500 recordings, including 75 gold and platinum hits.^[1] Originally the house band at Rick Hall's FAME Studios, the group went on to found their own competing business, the famed Muscle Shoals Sound Studios. The group was inducted into the Nashville-based Musicians Hall of Fame in 2008 and into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1995, "as four of the finest studio musicians in the world", also receiving the Lifework Award in 2008.^[2]

History

The core of the group was keyboardist Barry Beckett, drummer Roger Hawkins, bassist David Hood and guitarist Jimmy Johnson. Affectionately called The Swampers,^[3] but usually known as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, this group was one of the best-known session musicians. Along with Rick Hall, the founder of FAME Studios, they are recognized as having crafted the 'Muscle Shoals sound'.

The nickname "The Swampers" was given to the group by the music producer Denny Cordell during recording sessions for Leon Russell because of their "funky, soulful Southern "swamp" sound".^[4][5] They are referred to as "The Swampers" in the lyrics of "Sweet Home Alabama" (1974) by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and appear on the cover of Cher's 1969 album 3614 Jackson Highway.^[6] According to "Muscle Shoals The Movie":

At its heart is Rick Hall who founded FAME Studios. Overcoming crushing poverty and staggering tragedies, he brought black and white musicians together to create music that would last for generations while also giving birth to the unique 'Muscle Shoals sound' and the rhythm section 'The Swampers'.^[7]

Beckett, Hawkins, Hood, and Johnson originally worked as the "house band" at Rick Hall's FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals. They left FAME in 1969.

The four founding members of the Swampers were inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1995^[8] with a "Lifework Award for Non-Performing Achievement." In 2008, the founders were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, along with Swampers musicians Pete Carr (guitar), Spooner Oldham (organ and piano), Albert S. Lowe Jr., Clayton Ivey, Randy McCormick, and Will McFarlane.^[9]

In partnership with Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records, The Swampers founded Muscle Shoals Sound Studio at 3614 Jackson Highway in Sheffield.^[10] The studio turned out hits with Paul Simon, Bob Seger, Traffic, Rod Stewart, Cat Stevens, the Staple Singers, Levon Helm, Joe Cocker and many more.

Wexler brought artists like Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin to record with the all-white group of Southern musicians after their success with Arthur Alexander, Jimmy Hughes ^[11] and notably with Percy Sledge on "When a Man Loves a Woman" (1966). In the 1970s, Stax Records, based in Memphis, also began bringing artists to the studio. Johnnie Taylor had a long run of R&B hits with the group, and the Staple Singers had their greatest crossover successes with songs like "I'll Take You There" and "Respect Yourself". Later, the Swampers were the sound behind Bob Seger's hits, such as "Old Time Rock and Roll".

Other artists who recorded with The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section include Joe Tex, Candi Staton, Bobby Blue Bland, Eddie Floyd, Clarence Carter, Little Milton, Dr. Hook, Sawyer Brown, Tony Joe White, Rod Stewart, Duane Allman, Boz Scaggs, Elkie Brooks, Paul Simon, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joe Cocker, Glenn Frey, Jim Capaldi, Julian Lennon,^[12] Delbert McClinton, J. J. Cale, John Prine, the Oak Ridge Boys, Eddy Mitchell, the Rolling Stones,^[13] and many more. Hawkins, Hood, and Beckett toured with the band Traffic for a while.

Beckett, Hawkins, Hood, and Johnson closed the original Muscle Shoals Sound Studios at 3614 Jackson Highway in April 1979 and moved the operation to a new studio at 1000 Alabama Avenue in Sheffield. They continued to operate at that new location until 1985 when they closed the business and sold it to their longtime friend Tommy Couch, owner of Malaco Records, based in Jackson, Mississippi. At that time, three of the rhythm section joined other session players, such as the keyboardist Carson Whitsett, backing Bobby "Blue" Bland and other notable artists recorded for the Malaco label, and occasionally working at other studios. Becket, however, left Alabama at that time, moving to Nashville to work as a producer.^[14]

During the 1990s and later, the group continued working as a studio band, often with Clayton Ivey on keyboards, for artists including Gregg Allman (All Night All Stars), T. Graham Brown, Jimmy Buffett, Melissa Etheridge, John Hiatt, the Oak Ridge Boys, Johnny Paycheck, Etta James, and Joe Louis Walker.^[15]

Lynyrd Skynyrd referred to the musicians as The Swampers in the 1974 song "Sweet Home Alabama":

"Now, Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers
"And they've been known to pick a song or two
"Lord, they get me off so much
"They pick me up when I'm feeling blue
"Now, how 'bout you?"

The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section is featured in the 2013 documentary film^[16] Muscle Shoals.

Selected recordings

See also

• Muscle Shoals Horns
• The Funk Brothers
• Booker T. and the M.G.'s
• The J.B.'s
• The Memphis Boys
• The Meters
• Tower of Power Horn Section
• MFSB
• Love Unlimited Orchestra
• Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra by Frank Zappa
• The Wrecking Crew

References

External links

• The Alabama Music Hall of Fame Entry for the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section