MUSCLE SHOALS RHYTHM SECTION

Jimmy Johnson, Roger Hawkins, David Hood and Barry Beckett, etched
their place in musical history by recording a variety of memorable hits
across the full spectrum of contemporary music. Unlike a popular band,
the rhythm section found itself playing sometimes totally different styles
of music from day to day. This odd juxtaposition gave the section a broad
artistic pallet from which to draw and helped it earn hits by Bob Seger,
Paul Simon, Traffic, Art Garfunkel, Leon Russell, The Oak Ridge
Boys, Millie Jackson, Bobby Womack, The Staple Singers, Rod Stewart,
Don Covay, Percy Sledge, Luther Ingram, Paul Davis, Mary MacGregor,
Glenn Frey, Julian Lennon, John Conlee, Ronnie Milsap, The Forester
Sisters, Clarence Carter, T. Graham Brown, Dr. Hook, Wilson Pickett
and Aretha Franklin.

European, Canadian and Asian artists, Frankie Miller, Kazuhiko Kato,
Jim Capaldi, Bjorn Jason Lindh, Boule Noire, Toulouse, Ola Magnell,
Pugh Rogefeldt, and Eddy Mitchell traveled to the Northwest corner of
Alabama for a bit of the magic created by the Muscle Shoals Rhythm
Section. Their greatest talent was their ability to create the perfect
foundation for an artist's hit. After gaining recognition as the sound behind
the hits coming from the Muscle Shoals recording studios of Rick Hall
and Quin Ivy, the members of the rhythm section opened the first Muscle
Shoals Sound Studio. The small funky building at 3614 Jackson Highway
in Sheffield, AL, opened in May 1969. It was the birthplace of many of the
greatest records of the 1970s, despite the many inconveniences caused
by its small size.

An excerpt from an article written by Dick Cooper

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