- By Russ Corey
- Nov 13, 2005
SHEFFIELD _ Gene Ford spent many days in the Shoals gathering information needed to get local buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.
Time after time, he has passed 3614 Jackson Highway, an address that stuck in his mind for some reason.
Could it have been the Rolling Stones movie “Gimme Shelter,” which briefly featured the Stones kicking back in a tiny recording studio listening to tracks from “Sticky Fingers”?
Could it have been the cover of Cher’s 1969 album “3614 Jackson Highway?”
It was all that and more, so it was only fitting that Ford be given the task of gathering information necessary to nominate 3614 Jackson Highway, the site of the original Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ford said that from 1969-78, Muscle Shoals Sound Studios was responsible for countless hit records by artists such as Bob Seger, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Rod Stewart.
Muscle Shoals Sound was the home of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, also known as the Swampers.
Eventually, the studio moved to a new location on Alabama Avenue in Sheffield, and 3614 Jackson Highway remained vacant until 1999, when it was purchased by Noel Webster.
Since then, Webster has restored the studio, and two years ago, he asked the Alabama Historical Commission about getting it added to the National Register of Historic Places.
“We tried to save everything we could,” Webster said, adding that musicians can still get the same sound there as they did in the ’70s. “It’s still a working studio.”
If it receives its designation as a National Historic Landmark, Ford said, Webster would be eligible for tax credits on renovations and added protection from civil condemnation.
“We’re trying to tie this into a music corridor between Nashville and Muscle Shoals,” Ford said.
Webster added Memphis, Tenn., into the mix. Memphis is the home of Sun Recording Studios, where Florence native Sam Phillips made Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison household names.
Webster said Sun Studios is the only recording studio on the National Register of Historic Places.
It’s also one spot tourists familiar with the South’s musical heritage visit in Memphis. Webster said tourists travel to Sheffield to the old Muscle Shoals Sound location and on to Nashville, Tenn.
Webster said he frequently has visitors, either those who search for the studio on their own or those brought by Swampers who still remain in the Shoals.
Ford said he has sent a nomination form for the studio to the Alabama Historical Commission, where it will be reviewed and possibly returned for changes.
Once it’s approved by the Alabama Historical Society, the nomination will be sent to the Alabama National Register of Historic Places Review Board.
Upon its approval, Ford said, the nomination will be sent to the National Park Service for consideration.
“Hopefully, this will all take place in a year or so,” Ford said.
Ford and Webster are confident the studio will receive the historic designation.
Webster has plans to display memorabilia from the studio’s heyday and offer tours during the day. He said recording sessions can take place in the evening. “I just want people to come enjoy it,” he said.
Russ Corey can be reached at 740-5738 or russ.corey@timesdaily.com.