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- By Russ Corey
- Jul 2, 2006
Roger Hawkins said he never realized at the time the significance of what went on inside the building at 3614 Jackson Highway.
“I get a strong feeling that something really unique happened there,” said Hawkins, who played drums with “The Swampers,” the original Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.
From 1969 through 1978, Hawkins, bassist David Hood, guitarist Jimmy Johnson and pianist Barry Beckett owned Muscle Shoals Sound Studios.
Some of the biggest hits recorded in the Shoals were born in the nondescript stone building on Jackson Highway.
The once condemned building is now on the National Record of Historic Places.
“I look back at it now and can’t believe the body of work we did there,” Hawkins said. “To be with Jimmy Johnson, David Hood, Berry Beckett, creating music every day, seeing eye to eye. It was a very unique situation and a very unique place.”
Gene Ford, an archeological historian with the University of Alabama’s Office of Archeological Research, said the National Park Service unanimously approved the studio’s selection for the register in early June.
Ford did exhaustive research on the history of Muscle Shoals Sound Studios and presented his findings to the Alabama Historical Commission. The commission had to approve the nomination for the National Register of Historic Places.
Ford said there was a little apprehension in the selection process because a building normally must be considered as historically significant for at least 50 years. But there are exceptions, which Ford cited in his research.
Much of what he stated revolved around the amount of hit recordings that were made at the studio by artists including Wilson Pickett, Bob Seger, The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Albert King, The Staple Singers, Boz Scaggs, Rod Stewart, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Tony Joe White, Blackfoot, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Cliff and others.
“I discussed how the musicians themselves felt about the Muscle Shoals sound,” Ford said.
He quoted noted author Peter Guarlnik, who said Muscle Shoals Sound was part of the “holy trinity of soul and funk with Motown and Stax.”
Ford said the studio’s owner, Noel Webster, can place a historic marker at the studio if he wishes.
“At this point for Noel, it’s status more than anything else,” Ford said.
Webster purchased 3614 Jackson Highway in 1999 and began remodeling the facility. He said he wanted to bring the studio back to the condition it was in during its heyday.
He purchased recording equipment, pianos, soundboards, monitors and placed them in the same locations they were when the studio was operational.
Webster said he purchased the same equipment, sometimes down to the same model numbers.
“It means this is authentic in every way, it’s here and available to the whole world,” Webster said of the designation.
“This has affected so many people’s lives for so long,” he added.
Webster said he will continue improving the building so it can operate as a museum.
He’s rebuilt the front office and built two galleries inside the studio that house photos from recording sessions. There is also the bathroom door and pieces of the bathroom wall that was signed by artists such as Wilson Pickett, who simply wrote, “Pickett.”
Webster said the studio will be open Tuesday through Saturday from noon until 6 p.m.
“We’re putting stuff out on the Internet right now,” he said.
Webster said he has been frustrated to hear that many people have been told that the original Muscle Shoals Sound Studios no longer exists.
He said some artists have been told that the building had been leveled.
In 1979, the Swampers moved the studio to an old U.S. Naval Reserve building near Riverfront Park in Sheffield, where it remained open for another four years.
But Webster points out that the hit recordings Muscle Shoals Sound Studios is known for were recorded primarily at the Jackson Highway site.
Hawkins said most people in the Shoals during that time were unaware what was going on around them.
“We didn’t advertise,” he said. “All our contacts were out of town.”
Ford said he is not going to write a nomination paper seeking National Historic Landmark designation for the studio.
He said National Historic Landmarks represent the top 3 percent of sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ford said he was encouraged to seek national landmark designation by the reviewers with the National Park Service.
Written on the wall in a corner of the studio is “David Hood played bass here from 1969-1978.”
Hood, the rhythm section’s bassist, said he played music in the building much longer than that.
“I recorded there when it was Fred Bevis’ studio,” Hood said.
Hood said he is happy to see the studio get national recognition.
“The place has a lot of good memories,” Hood said.
Russ Corey can be reached at 740-5738 or russ.corey@timesdaily.com.
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