Muscle Shoals, LA (September 3, 2025)—The stories surrounding the little town of Muscle Shoals and how it spawned hit singles, legendary studios and a nearly unrivaled musical legacy are legion. Everyone from Aretha Franklin to the Rolling Stones to Cher made the pilgrimage to the tiny northwest Alabama hamlet, and the stories behind the scenes were often as explosive as the music that was recorded. Now six-time Grammy-nominated music scholar Rob Bowman has captured all of the tales, plus plenty of new insights, for the 750-plus page book, Land of a Thousand Sessions: The Complete Muscle Shoals Story 1951-1985, due out on November 11.
In the 1960s, Fame, Quinvy and Muscle Shoals Sound studios became soul music powerhouses recordings dozens of hits such as Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman,” Wilson Pickett’s “Land of a Thousand Dances,” Etta James’ “Tell Mama,” Aretha Franklin’s “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You),” Clarence Carter’s “Patches,” the Staple Singers’ “I’ll Take You There,” Luther Ingram’s “If Loving You Is Wrong,” Bobby Womack’s “Across 110th Street” and Millie Jackson’s “Caught Up.”
Eye To The Past, Ear To The Future: How FAME Recording Studios Reinvented Studio B
In the 1970s, Muscle Shoals grew to include nine studios and expanded into rock and pop, producing hits like the Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar,” Bobbie Gentry’s “Fancy,” the Osmonds’ “One Bad Apple,” Joe Cocker’s “High Time We Went,” Leon Russell’s “Tightrope,” Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome,” Rod Stewart’s “Tonight’s the Night,” Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll” and reggae star Jimmy Cliff’s “Sitting in Limbo.”
As the early 1980s came into view, Muscle Shoals pivoted yet again, becoming a magnet for country artists, the result being such classic recordings as Willie Nelson’s Phases and Stages, Hank Williams Jr.’ “Family Tradition”, Mac Davis’ “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me,” Jerry Reed’s “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft),” T. G. Sheppard’s “Strong Heart” and Shenandoah’s “Two Dozen Roses.”
Discover more great stories—get a free Mix SmartBrief subscription!
Bowman interviewed nearly 100 key players in the Muscle Shoals story, many who have never spoken on the record before, and many who have sadly passed on since. Through those first-hand accounts—and his use of long-lost historical documents—he traces how Muscle Shoals’ nine recording studios became a focal point of American popular music. The book is produced in conjunction with Malaco Records, America’s longest running independent label.
