Muscle Shoals Sound Studio Audiobook By Carla Jean Whitley cover art

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio

How the Swampers Changed American Music

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Muscle Shoals Sound Studio

By: Carla Jean Whitley
Narrated by: Amanda Ronconi
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An estimated four hundred gold records have been recorded in the Muscle Shoals area. Many of those are thanks to Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, dubbed "the Swampers."

Some of the greatest names in rock, R&B and blues laid tracks in the original, iconic concrete-block building—the likes of Cher, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Rolling Stones, and the Black Keys. The National Register of Historic Places now recognizes that building, where Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded the original version of "Free Bird" and the Rolling Stones wrote "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses." By combing through decades of articles and music reviews related to Muscle Shoals Sound, music writer Carla Jean Whitley reconstructs the fascinating history of how the Alabama studio created a sound that reverberates across generations.

©2014 Carla Jean Whitley (P)2022 Tantor History & Criticism Music State & Local United States Americas

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The narrator is articulate but really, really annoying. Full stop. If you can get through that, it is a light run-through of the history of the Muscle Shoals sound, the founders of the studio(s), and the music recorded at the two locations of Muscle Shoals studio. Plus an aftermath of what happened to the buildings. It does not go very deeply into the four founders. It does not seem like the author is passionate (or curious) about the songs. There is a wiff of Wikipedia about some of the info. The narrative arc is like the life of a pop star - the studio was really popular for a long time, then it was forgottten, then an attempted revival, then it was a museum. It's a pretty fun book until the long fade-out. That's where the author has new research and is excited to tell it. But that part is not much fun to hear.

Horrible narrator. Decent narrative and research

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