Adventures
in the Tennessee Valley January 3, 2008
And a little beyond
by: Tina Leach
Note: Tina has been vacationing in the
sunny Caribbean for the last week and has
had no local adventures, so she decided to
write up an adventure that pre-dates the
column by about a month. Enjoy!
It is quite bizarre to have a friend tell
-you and another person to come in the
bathroom with him.
Before you ask, no, you don’t have to
cover the children’s eyes. It’s perfectly
Horses” there. Yeah, the Rolling Stones.
Seriously. “Wild Horses” was written in
North Alabama…in a bathroom…and I’ve
been there.
We got to tour the place. So many people
have recorded there it’s ridiculous. The
walls are full of signatures and. graffiti
made by said artists.
The building itself lay forgotten for a while,
but then was bought by Noel Webster and
he’s brought it back to working order,
complete with some vintage equipment.
They’re always recording in there, and
innocent. Keep , are now starting
reading. Their own label with
: 3614 JACKSON HIGHWAY
Pop quiz time! aptly named Muscle
Multiple choice. Shoals . Sound
Eyes on your own Records. There paper.
What is 3614
Jackson Highway?
a. an album by
Cher
b. the location of §
a recording studio
famous. for _ its”
“Muscle Shoals
sound”
c. the address of a museum
d. all of the above
Pencils down. What was your answer? If
you guessed “all of the above,” then you
. move to the head of the class. [note: This
was not an actual test. You are not being
graded. _ Please do not mail this in with
- your answer circled.. It will just confuse
the editor.]
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio (located
at 3614 Jackson Highway of course) is
a recording studio/museum. Many big
names have flocked to this little place in
the Shoals just to capture what is known as the “Muscle Shoals sound*,”
Cher who actually named her album 3614
Jackson Highway and took a picture for
the album cover right outside.
*Part of the sound was due to the structure
of the building itself, especially the floors.
A fluke, but it made all the difference.
Little pieces of history right here. a
. wait, there’s more.
Back to the bathroom story. As soon as
we arrived at the studio, one of my friends
(this time I had two traveling companions)
stepped in the bathroom and motioned
for us to come in with him. Now, I don’t –
know about you, but I find that a little
confusing, presumptuous, and just plain
weird…but I went anyway.
I got a history lesson. Turns out the
bathroom has special significance: Mick
Jagger and Keith Richards wrote “Wild
are all kinds of
stuff going on, with
live broadcasts on
Wednesdays (tune
in to WLAY to hear
it).
You can tour the
place for 10 bucks,
—’ but you have to call
ahead (it’s a_local Huntsville
number 783-2641). It is a working studio
after all, and you’ ll want to make sure that
you don’t just walk in and end up with
your voice accidentally on record, creating
some sort of urban legend some ees
down the line.
It was fascinating touring the place,
seeing where Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel,
Cher, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett,
Dr. Hook, the Staple Singers, the Rolling
Stones, Bob Seger, Willie Nelson, Lynyrd
Skynyrd, Rod Stewart and a bunch of
others recorded.
There are even rumors that an old
. performer haunts the place from time to
time.
It was really nifty walking around in that –
place hearing tale after tale about recording
sessions. Webster knows a ton of them and
is always willing to share little tidbits.
So-give it a go. Book a recording session
if oz want. Capture that “Muscle Shoals
sound
Or you could just do what a bunch of folks
do and get your picture taken out front in a
Cher pose. Not that I would or anything…