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I was wondering why or how this would happen in Alabama.
by code_duck 5y ago
I was wondering why or how this would happen in Alabama.
- bsder 5y agoWell, if you look at a map, Muscle Shoals is fairly close to equidistant to Memphis, Nashville, and Birmingham. (Although, as I recall, it might as well have been Antarctica because nobody in the Rolling Stones could drive a car ... LOL). However, it's probably mostly happenstance relating to a laissez-faire (for the time) attitude toward race from the area. WLAY would play both "hillbilly" and "race" music. Sam Philips (founder of SUN Records and ex-DJ from WLAY) and Rick Hall (founder of FAME Studios) were quite happy to record (some people would say exploit) artists regardless of race and that was a really big deal at that point. Quote from here about the issues in the Jim Crow South: https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/entertainment/music/2021/02/08/chitlin-circuit-inside-roaring-nights-shaped-american-music-hallowed-sound/4406777001/ https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/entertainment/music/2021/0... "You'd go into a town and you'd find somebody nice enough to fix a dinner for you and let you sleep in a bed," Rush said. "You'd put some mattresses on the floor ... or you'd sleep in your car. That's what we had, man, and we didn't think nothin' about it." And, do remember, The Blues in the US was almost dead by 1965--rock had pushed everything aside. It was all those silly Brits with electric guitars picking it back up and putting it into rock that effectively resurrected it.
- code_duck 5y agoThat is very insightful, and thank you!