Alabama Music Hall of Fame

When you think music, what city comes to mind? Maybe the country music lyrics of Nashville? Maybe Detroit and the Motown sound? How about the sophisticated performances of New York City, or the blues in Memphis? I bet you didn’t think about Muscle Shoals, Alabama, did you?

We were surprised to learn just how influential this small northwestern Alabama community has been on the American music scene. But many of the biggest names in the music industry have recorded at the Muscle Shoals studios over the years. Indeed, we never realized how many famous musicians have come out of Alabama .

The Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Tuscumbia tells the story of the Alabama music industry, from rhythm and blues, to country, gospel, and rock and roll. Whatever you like to tap your toes to, it’s pretty certain an Alabama musicians performs it and the Hall of Fame honors it.

Opening in 1990, the Hall of Fame includes exhibits and displays on Alabama musicians and research facilities, along with the hallowed gallery where top names in the music industry are honored for their accomplishments. Every other year an induction banquet is held to select new performers into the Hall of Fame.

For decades musicians have found their way to nearby Muscle Shoals, where they have recorded hits that went on to top the charts. Sam Phillips, a versatile innovator who changed the face of popular music in the 1940s and 1950s when he brought together the diverse elements that combined to create rock and roll, got his start in neighboring Florence, Alabama and owned a radio station in Muscle Shoals. Phillips formed Memphis Recording Service, working with such artists as B.B. King, Ike Turner, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and James Cotton. After producing ten songs for a newcomer named Elvis Presley, Phillips sold his contract to RCA Records for $35,000 and used that money to expand his Sun Records label.

In 1969 four musicians opened the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in an old building that had once housed a casket company, and soon gained fame as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. The list of performers who have recorded at the Muscle Shoals studios is long and lofty, including Joan Baez, Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett, Larry Gatlin, Aretha Franklin, Little Richard, the Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, Rod Stewart, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cat Stevens, the Commodores, Hank Williams Jr., the Temptations, Bob Dylan, Cher, Earl Thomas Conley, Jimmy Buffett, T. Graham Brown, John Conlee, Boz Scaggs, Joe Cocker, Linda Ronstadt, Eddie Rabbitt, Mac Davis, Jerry Jeff Walker, Billie “Crash” Craddock, Sawyer Brown, Dr. Hook, Delbert McClinton, Jerry Reed, Leon Russell, Paul Simon, Bob Seger, the Osmonds, Art Garfunkel, Paul Anka, T.G. Sheppard, and the Supremes. Today the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios is a state-of-the-art complex located on the Tennessee River in Sheffield, Alabama. The Hall of Fame has an impressive exhibit telling the story of the Muscle Shoals influence on music.

The list of top named performers who come from Alabama is amazing. Soul singer Percy Sledge came out of the fields where he worked around his hometown of Leighton to become an international star with such ballads as When A Man Loves A Woman. The son of a Baptist minister from Montgomery, Nat King Cole sold over 50 million records on the Capitol Records label.

Another Alabama singer who rose to stardom was Tuskegee ’s Lionel Richie, who has won almost every award given to performers in the popular music field. Richie and five classmates at the famed Tuskegee Institute formed the Commodores and signed with Motown Records in 1971, racking up an impressive 22 gold records, six platinum, two double platinum, and three triple platinum albums. Richie left the group in 1982, and both he and his former singing partners continue to please fans around the world.

Born in a log cabin near the banks of the Tennessee River in Florence, Alabama, in 1873, W.C. Handy became known as the undisputed “Father of the Blues” for soulful tunes like Memphis Blues and Beal Street Blues.

Alabama has also produced many country singers. Tammy Wynette came from a tar paper shack near Red Bay to claim the title of “First Lady of Country Music” as she set new standards for female vocalists. Signing with Epic Records in 1966, she ended the decade with three consecutive CMA Female Vocalist of the Year awards. Her classic Stand By Your Man stood for fifteen years as the largest selling single in country music. During her career, Wynette sold more than 30 million records and had 35 number one hits. Ironically, she was rejected by five Nashville recording studios before she hit the big time.

Sonny James, the Southern Gentleman, grew up in Hackleburg, Alabama and went on to record popular hits like Young Love and other titles that went to Number One nationally. For years every record he released topped the charts, and his record for the most consecutive Number One hits in the recording industry stood until 1988.

Hank William’s Jr. was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, but grew up in and around Banks, Alabama. The son of country music legend Hank Williams, he has delighted and thrilled audiences for more than 25 years. He holds the record for having had nine albums on the Billboard charts at one time.

Dothan Alabama’s Bobby Goldsboro rose to the top of the country and pop charts in 1968 with his tearjerker Honey, selling six million copies worldwide. Not only a singer, but also an award winning songwriter, Goldsboro’s compositions have been recorded by John Denver, Dolly Parton, Bette Midler, Aretha Franklin, and Roger Miller. He has received 26 BMI songwriter awards, and his song With Pen In Hand has been recorded by over seventy artists.

Jimmy Buffett grew up in Mobile and has grown into a cultural phenomenon with his beach ballads and rousing good times tunes. His biggest hit, Margaritaville, has become the anthem for an entire population of “parrotheads” who follow Buffett on the concert circuit. Many of them are second generation fans who grew up listening to songs like The Captain and The Kid, Pencil Thin Mustache, and Havana Daydreaming.

At the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, displays tell the story of the state’s music and musicians. Galleries of exhibits include many of the most popular stars, with stage costumes, instruments, original compositions, even an elaborately decorated convertible that was used at shopping center grand openings and other promotions and was featured on a Webb Pierce album cover, as well as a tour bus used by the country music group Alabama .

As you walk through the galleries, recorded music of the genre of the exhibits plays in the backgrounds, and museum employees told us it is not unusual to come across visitors dancing in the aisles.

Every music fan will find something to admire at the museum, no matter what they enjoy listening to. Here you may find your favorite star’s handwritten lyrics on an old envelope, photos of recording sessions never released to the public, or rare albums that have become collectors’ items. Plan on arriving early and spending several hours if you want to see everything the Hall of Fame has to offer. Bronze stars in the Walk of Fame celebrate many of the stars who lived within the state.

Besides an impressive collection of exhibits, the Alabama Music Hall of Fame hosts special events through the year. Thousands of fans come for concerts in the outdoor amphitheater. At least one concert is held every month from May through August. The summer concert series wraps up every year on the third Saturday in September with a concert held in conjunction with the Trail of Tears Commemorative Motorcycle Ride. Past entertainers at the concerts have included Shenandoah, Allison Krauss, the Oak Ridge Boys, Hank Williams Jr., Wilson Pickett, Clarence Carter, Percy Sledge, the Charlie Daniels Band, Martha Reeves, Steppenwolf, the Marshall Tucker Band, Billy Joel, Leon Russell, Confederate Railroad and John Anderson.

Education is an important part of the Hall of Fame’s contribution to music, and many schools bring students here for field trips. Six times a year school children come for special programs featuring famous performers who talk to the students about their careers and do live performances before the children tour the museum. Every February an African American Spirit Celebration includes programs about Alabama ’s rich black musical heritage. Students from across the state contact the Hall of Fame requesting information for music, history, and social studies projects they are doing.

The Hall of Fame Exhibit Hall is only the first of three planned phases for the complex. The second phase will be a 2500 seat audio/video recording auditorium that will offer the community a setting for concerts, seminars, workshops, and plays with state of the art sound, lights, and audio\ video recording capabilities.

Phase Three will be a research library on southern music, with an emphasis on the state of Alabama, featuring outreach programs with literature designed for classroom use for educational enrichment of Alabama ’s school students. This expansion is in danger at the present time because of state cutbacks on spending, and diversion of money to other projects.

The Alabama Music Hall of fame is located on US Highway 72 in Tuscumbia, and is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The parking lot can accommodate any size RV with ease. For more information, call 800-239-2643 or visit their web site at www.alamhof.org