ROOTNOTEMUSIC BLOG

Category: Hammond B-3

“Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers…”
I just finished watching the music documentary Muscle Shoals. It is an amazing movie which tells the story of a small rural town in Alabama with a magical connection to the best music ever recorded and the story of FAME studios and Rick Hall, the hard-working producer and owner. This man is the American dream. Coming from abandonment, crushing poverty, and tragedy, he built the studio and the reputation of Muscle Shoals to a world-class studio churning out hits for Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Etta James, Jimmy Cliff, Lynryd Skynyrd, Traffic, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Candi Stanton, Allman Brothers, and many more. Some of America’s best-loved songs came out of this tiny river town in Alabama like “When A Man Loves A Woman,” “Mustang Sally,” “Brown Sugar,” and too many others to list.

I didn’t know that one of my favorite Aretha Franklin songs, “I Never Loved A Man The Way I Loved You,” was recorded there and this song and album was what catapulted her to global stardom. The intro lines were played by long time FAME Recording Studio keyboardist Spooner Oldham. Aretha launched into the song, they had the cut in about 10 minutes and from that point on she was the Queen of Soul.

If you love American soul music, classic rock music, or music history, put this documentary on your list and get on it. I actually started taking notes during my viewing. The Swampers were the nickname given by Leon Russell to the set of studio musicians who started out with Rick and recorded some of the most beloved songs of our time.
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03/28/2014
Groovin’ with the sons of Booker T: MMW, Big Organ Trio, & The City Champs
In an earlier post, “I live for the funk…” I featured one of my favorite James Brown songs, an instrumental track “Why Am I Treated So Bad.” To continue on that funk-jazz trip, I’m taking the road to Memphis, Tennessee! Another funk soul pioneer was Booker T and MGs, a band who mainly backed up soul artists on the Stax Record label in the 1960s, but had their own success especially with the highly recognizable “Green Onions.” Stax was responsible for some of the greatest music in the history of soul, including Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes.

In the following video clip, John Lennon’s jukebox was found with all kinds of American soul records, including some 45s of Booker T & The MGs. The guitarist of the band, Steve Cropper, talks about the Stax sound – a solid rhythm, holding a groove and getting people to move:

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04/13/2010
I Live for the Funk: James Brown, The Meters, & Curtis Mayfield
James Brown, born in 1933 in South Carolina, came from an extremely difficult and tragic childhood. From those circumstances, with his gift of music, starting out as part of a gospel group, he rose to become one of the most influential musicians in the world.

With his band the JBs, some of the most highly skilled musicians around, James Brown, The Meters, and other pioneers of funk are the ancestors of modern-day hip hop, 70s Soul and Disco, 80s & 90s bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Primus, to jam bands of today such as Medeski Martin & Wood, Soulive, and Galactic.

James Brown put out a series of instrumental funk albums in the 60s where he showcases his skills on the keyboards. This track is from a rare 1969 album The Popcorn (not to be confused with Mother Popcorn) released on Polydor. “Why (Am I Treated So Bad)”:

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03/21/2010