{"id":222092,"date":"2025-11-12T15:37:35","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T20:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/?p=222092"},"modified":"2025-11-13T09:52:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T14:52:02","slug":"celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Muscle Shoals and the \u201cUnlikeliest Story You Can Imagine\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the long-standing social order of Jim Crow and racial segregation finally began to crumble in the 1960s, the South was in a state of turmoil. But while Alabama governor George Wallace stood in a Tuscaloosa doorway to block integration in 1963, roughly a hundred miles up the road in Muscle Shoals, white musicians raised on R&B and early rock and roll were working side by side with Black artists. In what author and ethnomusicologist Rob Bowman calls \u201cthe unlikeliest story you can ever imagine,\u201d together they were cranking out monster hits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The common thread, as Bowman explains in his forthcoming 745-page book, Land of a Thousand Sessions: The Complete Muscle Shoals Story 1951\u20131985<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>out November 25, was the area\u2019s network of recording studios. Places like FAME, the region\u2019s first successful studio, produced such iconic tracks as Wilson Pickett\u2019s \u201cMustang Sally<\/a>\u201d and Etta James\u2019s \u201cTell Mama.<\/a>\u201d By the end of the 1960s, some of the studio’s key session musicians\u2014David Hood, Roger Hawkins, Jimmy Johnson, and Barry Beckett, later known as \u201cthe Swampers\u201d in part thanks to a 1974 lyrical callout by Lynyrd Skynyrd\u2014had left FAME and its owner, Rick Hall, to create Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. The facility found success early thanks to the Rolling Stones, who cut \u201cWild Horses<\/a>\u201d and \u201cBrown Sugar<\/a>\u201d there and opened the floodgates for artists like Paul Simon, Rod Stewart, and Bob Seger to come to Muscle Shoals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Irma
Photo: courtesy of fame records<\/div>
Irma Thomas at FAME.<\/div><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI find it incredible that I can listen to Don Covey or Etta James or Aretha Franklin, and then I go listen to Traffic and Bob Seger or Lynyrd Skynyrd, and it\u2019s the same guys,\u201d Bowman says. \u201cThe Muscle Shoals guys were so adaptable, and that\u2019s what made them able to work with hundreds and hundreds of different musicians along all parts of the American spectrum.\u201d Since those early days, FAME has hosted artists such as Alicia Keys, Margo Price, Allison Krauss, and Jason Isbell, who recorded at the studio during his time with Drive-By Truckers (featuring David Hood\u2019s son, Patterson) and as a solo artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mick
Photo: courtesy of David Hood<\/div>
Mick Jagger at a Rolling Stones session at Muscle Shoals Sound.<\/div><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

FAME and the surrounding prolific musical region are also the subject of a new five-thousand-square-foot exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. Opening November 14, Muscle Shoals: Low Rhythm Rising<\/a><\/em> tells the region\u2019s story through video interviews, interactive displays, and artifacts, including the baby grand piano Franklin played on \u201cI Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)<\/a>” and guitars played by Duane Allman, Pop Staples, and Mac McAnally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duane
Photo: courtesy of fame records<\/div>
Duane Allman at FAME.<\/div><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bowman interviewed nearly one hundred of the key players in the Muscle Shoals story, from Mavis Staples to Mick Jagger, to create the definitive history of this Southern music mecca. We spoke with him about what made this region of northwestern Alabama an epicenter of popular music.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lyrics to \u201cSweet Home Alabama\u201d introduced the Swampers to millions. How did developing at Muscle Shoals impact Lynyrd Skynyrd?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ronnie Van Zant [Lynyrd Skynyrd\u2019s vocalist] would hang out in sessions during the day\u2014because Skynyrd was cutting at night, off hours\u2014just to watch the way the Swampers worked and the way Jimmy Johnson would direct the other players, as well as the lead singer. He learned a ton.<\/p>

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

And Jimmy had a huge impact on how that band sounded. If it wasn\u2019t for the fact that Alan Walden, the band\u2019s manager then, got the original demo tape turned around and backwards\u2014so when he played it for the record companies, they heard this really muffled, horrific sound\u2014they probably would have been signed off the Muscle Shoals demos, and Jimmy would have been producing those first records. Unfortunately, Alan got that tape garbled, and it got rejected by everybody. That tape eventually came out [as Skynyrd\u2019s First: The Complete Muscle Shoals Album<\/em> in 1998], and we can all hear it sounds great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Photo: courtesy of Dick Cooper<\/div>
From left: Pete Carr, David Hood, Roger Hawkins, Jimmy Johnson, Jerry Masters, and Steve Melton. <\/div><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willie Nelson wrote hits for other people, but after recording at Muscle Shoals, he came into his own. What did Muscle Shoals have to do with his success?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willie shows up, gets out of his [VW] Beetle station wagon, and grabs Trigger [his guitar]. He walks into the studio, meets everybody, and goes, Okay, let\u2019s cut<\/em>. And those guys were a little nervous. They had cut great R&B, rock, and pop records, but Willie Nelson\u2019s [sound] was something they were going to have to work at. Wille\u2019s timing is very idiosyncratic, but they adapted to his playing. They nailed it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willie was happy, but he had a producer and A&R guy in Nashville who said, I think we need to try this with Nashville musicians<\/em>, so they recut the whole album in Nashville and then sent it up to [Atlantic Records executive] Jerry Wexler. Jerry was pissed beyond belief\u2014it sounded like a Nashville record, and nobody wanted that. So, Jerry fired the guy in Nashville and put out the Muscle Shoals tapes, and of course, that became the blueprint for Willie\u2019s second career as a country outlaw, recording songs in a very different way than the way Nashville cuts and records them, with very different lyrics. I mean, [Willie\u2019s 1974 album] Phases and Stages<\/em> is about a divorce. One side is the man\u2019s version, the other side is from a woman\u2019s point of view. It\u2019s brilliant. And it was a very successful record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jerry
Photo: courtesy of Dick Cooper<\/div>
Jerry Wexler and Willie Nelson listen to playback of \u201cThey All Went to Mexico.\u201d <\/div><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

What, in your opinion, is the golden era of Muscle Shoals?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m a massive Staples Singers fan. I\u2019d say my two favorite records ever cut there were \u201cI\u2019ll Take You There\u201d by the Staples and \u201cI Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)\u201d by Aretha Franklin, but I\u2019ll probably second guess myself five minutes from now. Ultimately, I\u2019ve gotta go with \u201965 to \u201968, because that\u2019s when you get the Aretha record. That\u2019s when you get Wilson Pickett. That\u2019s when you get Etta James\u2019s \u201cI’d Rather Go Blind,\u201d one of the greatest R&B ballads ever. Plus, you get all those great Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham songs\u2014they\u2019re one of the top five, maybe top three R&B songwriting duos in history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pops
Photo: courtesy of Jimmy Johnson<\/div>
Pops and Mavis Staples at Muscle Shoals Sound.<\/div><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The epilogue is devoted to the latest wave of Shoals artists, like Patterson Hood with the Drive-By Truckers and Jason Isbell.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, it\u2019s an amazing renaissance. It\u2019s in some ways not connected to the studios that originally started it, although several people, like Isbell and Patterson, cut at FAME. But Muscle Shoals isn\u2019t a studio system with one set of special players churning out all these great records by different artists every week. It\u2019s different now. There are these self-contained bands from the area like Alabama Shakes, the Civil Wars, and the Secret Sisters. All these groups are aware of the history, and most of them have had some contact with many of the legends who are still alive; they learned things from them. It\u2019s different kinds of music. It\u2019s a different world and a different period. But it\u2019s wonderful for the area, and it\u2019s great music.<\/p>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new book and Country Music Hall of Fame exhibition tell how a small Alabama community helped put Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, and other greats on the map<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":222101,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-11-12T20:37:40Z","apple_news_api_id":"1ba26cd4-ca1e-434a-bac1-ecf551bfefe8","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-11-13T14:05:45Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AG6Js1MoeQ0q6wez1Ub_v6A","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2399,1781],"tags":[295,74,29623,1476,204,30280],"authors":[29444],"issue":[],"recipe-type":[],"class_list":["post-222092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-music","tag-alabama","tag-books","tag-history","tag-muscle-shoals","tag-music","tag-whats-new","authors-jim-beaugez"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nCelebrating Muscle Shoals and the \u201cUnlikeliest Story You Can Imagine\u201d – Garden & Gun<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new book and Country Music Hall of Fame exhibition tell how a small Alabama community helped put Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, and other greats on the map\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Celebrating Muscle Shoals and the \u201cUnlikeliest Story You Can Imagine\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new book and Country Music Hall of Fame exhibition tell how a small Alabama community helped put Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, and other greats on the map\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Garden & Gun\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gardenandgun\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-12T20:37:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-13T14:52:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GABRI-COLLAGE-PAGE-28-1-1600x1067.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1067\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gabriela Gomez-Misserian\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gardenandgun\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gardenandgun\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gabriela Gomez-Misserian\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e6cca540eec31439cf98cf9427370a13\"},\"headline\":\"Celebrating Muscle Shoals and the \u201cUnlikeliest Story You Can Imagine\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-12T20:37:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-13T14:52:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/\"},\"wordCount\":1264,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GABRI-COLLAGE-PAGE-28-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Alabama\",\"Books\",\"History\",\"Muscle Shoals\",\"Music\",\"What's New\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Books\",\"Music\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/\",\"name\":\"Celebrating Muscle Shoals and the \u201cUnlikeliest Story You Can Imagine\u201d – Garden & Gun\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GABRI-COLLAGE-PAGE-28-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-12T20:37:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-13T14:52:02+00:00\",\"description\":\"A new book and Country Music Hall of Fame exhibition tell how a small Alabama community helped put Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, and other greats on the map\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GABRI-COLLAGE-PAGE-28-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GABRI-COLLAGE-PAGE-28-1.jpg\",\"width\":3000,\"height\":2000,\"caption\":\"Clockwise, from top left: Rick Hall and Clarence Carter at FAME; Paul Simon at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio; Aretha Franklin at FAME; Etta James at FAME.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Celebrating Muscle Shoals and the \u201cUnlikeliest Story You Can Imagine\u201d\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/\",\"name\":\"Garden & Gun\",\"description\":\"Garden and Gun magazine celebrates the modern South and features the best in Southern food, style, travel, music, art, literature, and sporting culture.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Garden & Gun\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/19_08_GG_Email_Popup_logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/19_08_GG_Email_Popup_logo.jpg\",\"width\":166,\"height\":26,\"caption\":\"Garden & Gun\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gardenandgun\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/gardenandgun\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gardenandgun\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/gardenandgun\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/Gardenandgun\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e6cca540eec31439cf98cf9427370a13\",\"name\":\"Gabriela Gomez-Misserian\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df72c7dd1ad3bc62869a7fe0556dd0dbca001f49491ac08383a404b3aa30ab9a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df72c7dd1ad3bc62869a7fe0556dd0dbca001f49491ac08383a404b3aa30ab9a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gabriela Gomez-Misserian\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Celebrating Muscle Shoals and the \u201cUnlikeliest Story You Can Imagine\u201d – Garden & Gun","description":"A new book and Country Music Hall of Fame exhibition tell how a small Alabama community helped put Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, and other greats on the map","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Celebrating Muscle Shoals and the \u201cUnlikeliest Story You Can Imagine\u201d","og_description":"A new book and Country Music Hall of Fame exhibition tell how a small Alabama community helped put Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, and other greats on the map","og_url":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/","og_site_name":"Garden & Gun","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gardenandgun","article_published_time":"2025-11-12T20:37:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-13T14:52:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":1067,"url":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GABRI-COLLAGE-PAGE-28-1-1600x1067.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gabriela Gomez-Misserian","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@gardenandgun","twitter_site":"@gardenandgun","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/"},"author":{"name":"Gabriela Gomez-Misserian","@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e6cca540eec31439cf98cf9427370a13"},"headline":"Celebrating Muscle Shoals and the \u201cUnlikeliest Story You Can Imagine\u201d","datePublished":"2025-11-12T20:37:35+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-13T14:52:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/"},"wordCount":1264,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GABRI-COLLAGE-PAGE-28-1.jpg","keywords":["Alabama","Books","History","Muscle Shoals","Music","What's New"],"articleSection":["Books","Music"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/","url":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/","name":"Celebrating Muscle Shoals and the \u201cUnlikeliest Story You Can Imagine\u201d – Garden & Gun","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GABRI-COLLAGE-PAGE-28-1.jpg","datePublished":"2025-11-12T20:37:35+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-13T14:52:02+00:00","description":"A new book and Country Music Hall of Fame exhibition tell how a small Alabama community helped put Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, and other greats on the map","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GABRI-COLLAGE-PAGE-28-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GABRI-COLLAGE-PAGE-28-1.jpg","width":3000,"height":2000,"caption":"Clockwise, from top left: Rick Hall and Clarence Carter at FAME; Paul Simon at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio; Aretha Franklin at FAME; Etta James at FAME."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/celebrating-muscle-shoals-and-the-unlikeliest-story-you-can-imagine\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Celebrating Muscle Shoals and the \u201cUnlikeliest Story You Can Imagine\u201d"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/","name":"Garden & Gun","description":"Garden and Gun magazine celebrates the modern South and features the best in Southern food, style, travel, music, art, literature, and sporting culture.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#organization","name":"Garden & Gun","url":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/19_08_GG_Email_Popup_logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/19_08_GG_Email_Popup_logo.jpg","width":166,"height":26,"caption":"Garden & Gun"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gardenandgun","https:\/\/x.com\/gardenandgun","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gardenandgun\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/gardenandgun\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/Gardenandgun"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e6cca540eec31439cf98cf9427370a13","name":"Gabriela Gomez-Misserian","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df72c7dd1ad3bc62869a7fe0556dd0dbca001f49491ac08383a404b3aa30ab9a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df72c7dd1ad3bc62869a7fe0556dd0dbca001f49491ac08383a404b3aa30ab9a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gabriela Gomez-Misserian"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222092"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":222170,"href":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222092\/revisions\/222170"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222092"},{"taxonomy":"authors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/authors?post=222092"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=222092"},{"taxonomy":"recipe-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/recipe-type?post=222092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}