4 Days at FAME Studios: A Recap
What an incredible experience it was to spend four days at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. This was truly an unforgettable trip filled with lifelong memories made with lifelong friends. We came, we saw, and we kicked some serious ass in that studio where legends have walked. I can’t thank the Fitzkees and Melody Trucks enough for giving me the opportunity to join them on this session. As always, I owe it all to the music for putting me in a position to receive these opportunities.
Here’s a little recap of the trip. There are a couple of cool stories sprinkled in about legends told by legends—whether it was Spooner Oldham (The Swampers), Peter Levin (Gregg Allman Band, Blind Boys of Alabama), or Dave Murphy (Producer Extraordinaire), there was no shortage of great stories being told.
The Journey Down
The ride down from the Nashville airport was a beautiful transition from rush hour in the metro area to a certain openness I’m not used to, living on Long Island. The South has always stuck out to me in that way since my first time in Mississippi—how flat and forever-going the landscapes seem to be. Being on the highway crossing over the meandering Tennessee River while the sun began its descent to the west was the perfect way to kick off this trip, catching spectacular views in the breaks of the trees on the side of the road.
One bridge crossing into Muscle Shoals gave a view of the evening sun shining on an exposed rock face along the river, giving the rocks a golden shine that reflected back off the water. It was absolute eye candy. This river definitely had a muddy look—not quite as muddy as the mighty Mississippi, but the silt of millions of years still runs through it. The current of these rivers flows through the souls of those who have ventured through these shoals throughout history. It's a beautiful land that endured some of the most tumultuous times in history—a time divided, times that gave way and contributed to the world-renowned Muscle Shoals Sound.
A quick detour as I got closer to the BNB was a Southern delight that my wallet and I both enjoy… COOK OUT! Best nine bucks I spend when I’m in the South, hands down. With the setting sun shining bright one last time before calling it a day, I pulled into the parking lot right next to FAME to catch a glimpse of where we’ll be moving in for the week to join the ranks of Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, and Jerry Reed—too many to name right now. After snapping a quick selfie and hopping back in the rental car, a couple of guys from California pulled up to do the exact same thing. It was beginning to set in just how hallowed this ground really was. Just as the sun set behind the horizon, I pulled up to the BNB, which was set right on a little creek running out of the river. Here, I linked up with my musical compadres: Drew & Alex Fitzkee, Melody Trucks, Peter Levin, and producer Dave Murphy. We got settled in and caught some zzz’s in preparation for Day One.
Day One: Stepping into History
One of my favorite things to do on the road is get some outside time and kinda get a feel for what’s going on around me. Being a nature guy, I got a round of disc golf in at a local park, then made my way to the studio where the rest of the gang was getting settled. Pulling up to the studio the day before to snap a quick pic was cool, but pulling up and walking in with my guitar on my back was friggin' cool!
I was greeted right away by Tina and a sweet older lady who introduced herself as Mrs. Hall (my dumbass didn’t put it together right away that this was the wife of the late Rick Hall). They directed me toward a door through a hallway with a sign on top of the frame that read: THROUGH THESE DOORS WALK THE FINEST MUSICIANS, SONGWRITERS, ARTISTS, AND PRODUCERS IN THE WORLD.
As I walked through those doors, I entered a break room and kitchen area that felt frozen in time. The wood-paneled walls were lined top to bottom with pictures of all the artists who have recorded at FAME, most of them taken right during their sessions. There was Jerry Reed taking a massive bite of a sandwich (presumably in the exact same room I was standing in), a young, enthused Duane Allman, a fresh-on-the-scene Aretha Franklin about to break out, and the Swampers. Once again, too many to name.
I approached the Studio A door, which goes right into the live room. Below the Studio A sign was another plaque that re-dedicated the room as Gregg Allman’s “The Swamp,” after he recorded his final album, Southern Blood, there. As I entered the live room, there was Peter Levin—who actually played on that Gregg Allman session—getting settled into a room he’s been in many times. Drew was setting up a little bass central station, and Alex was dialing in some drum sounds. I was then greeted by our engineers, Spencer and Chase, some real awesome guys who know what they’re doing and have fun doing it.
They brought me over to a spot right next to the door that goes to the echo chamber—the very same spot where Duane Allman and almost every other guitarist who’s recorded in this iconic room set up shop. Sure enough, that’s where I was going to be. We had my usual Fender Blues Jr. mic’d up in a slightly disassembled Leslie cabinet about two rooms over, which allowed me to crank that sumbitch. Let me tell you, a dimed Fender amp sounds prettttttyyyyy damn good.
The plan for the day was to get comfortable and try to knock out at least two of the seven tunes. We were live-tracking, meaning that as opposed to the piece-by-piece method of recording, we were all going to play together to capture the essence of a live element. I stepped into my "office" with my Strat, Tele, and newly acquired Orville Les Paul resting in a stand next to me. We all dialed in our headphones to make sure we could hear each other and ourselves in the mix, as well as hear “upper management” (the producers and engineers) in the control room. From where I was sitting, I had Alex on drums to my left with the control room behind him. Directly across from me on the other side of the room was Peter Levin with a whole cubicle of keys, including a stunningly great-sounding grand piano, a Hammond organ, and the iconic Wurlitzer with an OG Hohner Clavinet on top. To my right was Drew with a crescent-moon-shaped circle of basses, and beyond him in one of the iso booths was Melody with her congas and a vocal mic to help guide us through the tunes.
When the time came to hit record, it didn’t take long for Drew, Alex, and me to fall right back into the groove we’ve been building over the past year or so. Then you add a seasoned veteran like Peter Levin, who was the sauce—the gravy, as my fellow paisans would say. To watch him in his element from across the room was inspiring. The session-musician vibe he brought was a real treat to observe; the way he would punch in later in the session and his attention to detail was a masterclass for me and the fellas.
After knocking out two of the tunes at a relatively fast pace, we were treated to a lunch break and got some time to roam the grounds. This led to a conference with my new engineer pals about procuring some herb down here in Alabama. As luck would have it, Spencer hipped me to the session guys in Studio B who were taking a little smoke break. He escorted me past the daily tour in Studio A, through the little break room area, and into the Studio B live room. There was a picture on the wall of Duane Allman, Jaimoe, and Berry Oakley hanging out, and Spencer let me know that it was not only from one of the first times the Allman Brothers Band rehearsed, but it was in that very room. Yet another totally surreal moment.
After toking up and hearing some war stories from the resident FAME session guys, our union break was over and we got back at it. The second half of the first day picked up right where we left off. The live-tracking was really paying dividends, and the support from Upper Management—specifically Dave Murphy—was another real treat. Dave was the go to Producer for Butch Trucks when he opened his Pegasus Recording Studios in the 80's and has continued to work with the ABB family and beyond. Observing, learning from, and working with Dave and Spencer (the head engineer) was incredible. They worked seamlessly with each other, and that translated through the control room glass into our headphones, and we dished it right back to that iconic Neve console. We’d start a new song, go for about three to five takes, and usually get the call to come listen in the historic control room. Dave hipped us to the fact that if you get your head right between the monitors on top of the console, you get a real sense of where everything is laying in the mix, which I found super insightful. By the end of day one, we had gotten through four songs, setting us up perfectly for some vocal action and overdubs the next day.
Day Two
On day two, I got up and at 'em early and made my way to another county park that had trails right along the river. Me and my guitar posted up with views of blue skies and the river to get the juices flowing. After the park, I made my way to the studio a little early to hang with Spencer and Chase. We listened to the previous day's work after Spencer got his hands on it overnight. You wonder when some of these engineers ever sleep, because in the twelve hours we were gone, my guy got these tracks sounding real crispy.
The rest of the gang arrived, and the session kicked off with vocals on the first four tracks. It wasn’t hard for me to kill time in that studio. I just pictured a young Wilson Pickett counting the band in at a fever pitch—“1, 2, 3,” and the HORNS BLAST. I stood outside imagining Duane Allman camping out in his car, waiting for his opportunity to prove himself as the new hot-shot guitar player bringing electric slide guitar to the masses.
Lunch came and went, as did the daily tour of about twenty people. While vocal takes continued, it proved to be an opportune time for Peter, Drew, and myself to review the three remaining tunes in terms of song structure and chords. We cooked them up, Peter made some genius changes to some of the tracks, and we took them and ran. I think one of the reasons this session went so well was the openness to ideas like that, leaving room for some magic to creep in—especially when you’re recording in such a historic space.
Once the vocal takes were a wrap and we hit the overdub process, Peter Levin hopped on the mutha f’ing CLAVINET. Let me tell you, I am of the opinion that the Hohner D6 Clavinet is one of, if not THE, funkiest instruments known to man when played right—and Mr. Levin played that thing RIGHT. I ended up just sitting in my chair across from him with my headphones on, listening to him lay it all the way down! Day two ended with me throwing a few tasty guitarmonies on some of the tunes, doubling up my tracks, which was a blast. It's fun to play along with yourself when you already know exactly what the guitar is about to do. The plan was to hit it early on day three and run through as much of the remaining three tracks as possible, as we were expecting some special guests for the final two days.
Day Three: Storytime with a Legend
Got right after it on day three and after about an hour of working out the remaining tunes, our guests arrived. First was Vaylor Trucks—son of Butch, brother of Melody, and one of the finest guitarists and people I’ve ever had the pleasure of crossing paths with. The other was an older gentleman who goes by the name Spooner Oldham. If you don’t know the name, now would be a good time to look up all the hit records this man was a part of. He’s an OG member of the Swampers, the band that put the “Muscle Shoals Sound” on the map. No one in that building looked more comfortable than Spooner. Countless times he’s walked through those doors, sat down behind the keys, and laid down some of the most iconic lines of all time. For us, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience; for Spooner, it was just another day at the office.
As we all got settled in for another day of tracking, I made my way across the room to talk with Spooner. It didn’t take much to get him talking, and he brought up a monumental moment in music history. He spoke about a session in January 1967 for a brand-new gospel singer trying to break out a solo career—a young Aretha Franklin who, at the behest of Jerry Wexler, was setting out to try her hand at the Muscle Shoals Sound. He spoke about the tensions in the room on the first day when little to no ideas were hitting the mark. Hours were ticking by, and in the studio, that is not what you want.
Spooner said he hit a riff that finally caught Aretha’s ear, and soon after, she sat down at the piano to join him and the rest of the band. Together, they laid down “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You).” He then talked about how, after leaving the studio, everyone was feeling great about it. But he showed up the next day to an empty room. When he asked the maintenance man where everyone was, he told Spooner that there had been a big fight and that Aretha and her husband/manager, Ted White, were returning to New York. Turns out the trumpet player and Ted White got into a heated exchange, FAME owner Rick Hall got involved, and the session blew up. Jerry Wexler would later bring the Swampers up to New York City to finish the record at Atlantic, which went on to be the album that broke Aretha Franklin. To hear this story from a primary source, in the exact building where it happened, was jaw-dropping to say the least.
This storytime with Spooner set the scene perfectly for day three. With Vaylor and Spooner now in the mix, we got cracking on the last three tunes. The first one featured Vaylor on acoustic guitar in an iso booth, Spooner on the grand piano, and Peter on the organ. Drew, Alex, and I were still in our usual positions when we hit record. Hearing the ideas Spooner was throwing into the mix, you could feel us all laying down a solid foundation so he could add his special touch right on top. He did exactly that. It was a crazy moment to be sitting across from this legend as he did what he does best: coming up with iconic lines that take hold of you and shake you like a bully getting lunch money out of your pockets. All of this was happening in the room he helped shape hit records for Etta James, the Staple Singers, Wilson Pickett, and Candi Staton, his discography can't be understated.
Once Vaylor moved on to the electric guitar, he set up right next to me and we got into a beautiful ballad featuring a quick but extremely "Vaylor" guitar solo that made all of us turn our heads in the moment. This tune ended with a little back-and-forth between Spooner and Peter that will live in my head forever. It was one of the most beautiful moments of the session for me. The haunting texture Spooner established was right in line with the somber, powerful story Melody tells about her heroes who came before her.
After another lunch and tour break hanging outside on an overcast Muscle Shoals afternoon, we set out to record the seventh and final tune. It was a roaring instrumental in the Allman Brothers vein that has it all: a guitar solo, a bass solo, a drum solo, and an organ solo. Everything but the kitchen sink. This one was incredibly fun to record, as it felt like the culmination of all the gelling we’d been doing up to this point. With the new changes Peter had made, we really made this instrumental POP. I really can't wait for y'all to hear these tunes. Day three proved to be another massive success, as we laid down the bones for all seven tracks, leaving us with a relatively easy time for our last day in the studio.
Day Four: Last Day
Day four kicked off with a little listening back to the previous day's work, and once again, Spencer had worked his magic overnight. The rough mixes were sounding crispy! Melody, Drew, and Alex took the first part of the day to lay down some more vocal tracks, which once again left me to my own devices to peek around the space. It was the perfect time to use my artist discount at the gift shop and load up on some FAME merch. Tina, the front desk lady, was helping me out and then led me through a closet-like door to a room that was home to nearly all the master tapes from every session ever done at FAME.
I had stumbled into the vault. It was all there: Jerry Reed, Candi Staton, Clarence Carter, Otis Redding... and one reel in particular caught my eye on the top shelf. It was an old reel case with masking tape that read: “Duane Allman Rejects 2/20/68.” Needless to say, one could only imagine what didn’t make the cut from Duane’s time at FAME. I was told that all of these reels have been digitized now, so the next step is hoping that within our lifetimes, studios like FAME will release these unreleased tracks for music lovers across the globe to hear.
After picking my jaw up off the floor, I made my way back to the control room to observe the vocal process. This is where I caught producer Dave Murphy in his natural element. There’s a lot that goes into being a good producer, and Dave checks all the boxes, but one thing I’ve noticed in my experience is how deep they go into the weeds when it comes to vocals. A guy like Dave knows exactly what any track needs, and he understands the importance of emphasizing a certain line or part. His attention to detail in the vocal recording process was impressive, to say the least—we're talking syllable by syllable, line by line. He’s also got a very calming, professional way of getting the best take out of an artist. It was highly insightful for me to just be a fly on the wall, watching him work with Spencer to get the absolute best vocal takes possible.
To my surprise, when I went out to use the bathroom, I saw that Spooner Oldham and his wife, Karen, had returned to FAME just to hang out. We got to have another storytime. He and his wife spoke about when they first moved out West, and how on any given day, he would have upwards of three to four sessions, bouncing around town from studio to studio. He spoke about being the first “Sideman” inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, his time with Bob Dylan, and how he still performs live with Neil Young. Karen told me a hilarious story about how Spooner and some buddies dropped LSD one time and tried to swim across the Tennessee River, along with some other stories I’m not at liberty to talk about.
With the vocal takes finished and just about all the overdubs we could think of complete, we all made our way into the control room for one last listen to what we had created over the past four days. The mixes were already starting to come together, and as we listened back, a massive sense of accomplishment washed across the room. A lot of things had to come together just right for this session to go as well as it did. Everyone was on the same page, locked and loaded. There were tense times that gave way to big laughs, but we never hit the proverbial wall while recording. That’s something that happens often, but our smooth sailing was a testament to the building and the people in it who maintain a very even-keeled, mi casa, su casa vibe. With places like this, it wouldn’t be out of the question for them to be a little uptight given the history, but they really opened their doors and made us feel at home the entire time.
So that’s it, folks—four days at FAME, seven brand-new tracks, and a lifetime worth of memories. Thank you for taking some time to read about this incredible journey, and best believe that as soon as they're ready, I will show you all the tunes we recorded. You’ll be the first to hear 'em!
