Episode 11: Owen Hale

Episode 11: Owen Hale

In Episode Eleven of Through These Doors: A FAME Studios Podcast, host Rodney Hall sits down with renowned drummer Owen Hale. This new installment promises to keep listeners enthralled as Hale shares his unique perspective on the music industry. Get ready to be captivated by tales of what it takes to create an exceptional recording, experiences from touring with rock & roll legends like Lynyrd Skynyrd, and unforgettable anecdotes from Hale’s time at FAME. Tune in to this can’t miss episode and let the rhythm take you away. Let’s get it on!

Watch Episode Eleven

 

Listen to the audio-only version of Episode Eleven

Muscle Shoals to Celebrate 100th Birthday with Once-in-a-Lifetime Free Concert at City Hall

Muscle Shoals to Celebrate 100th Birthday with
Once-in-a-Lifetime Free Concert at City Hall

Kip Moore, Sara Evans, Candi Staton, The FAME Gang and More to Perform

Diverse Lineup Showcases the Past, Present and Future of Muscle Shoals’ Music Legacy

 

Muscle Shoals, Ala., March 16, 2023 — The City of Muscle Shoals, in collaboration with FAME Recording Studios, Muscle Shoals Music Foundation, Muscle Shoals Music Association, Shoals Chamber of Commerce and Visit the Shoals, has announced an exciting free all-day music event, the Muscle Shoals 100th Birthday Bash, to commemorate the city’s 100th anniversary. The event is scheduled for April 22, 2023, and will be held on the lawns of City Hall.

This once-in-a-century musical extravaganza will be headlined by Kip Moore, Sara Evans, and Candi Staton and will showcase some of the best artists, writers and musicians Muscle Shoals has to offer. An incredible lineup of performers will be on hand, with many backed by an all-star band of Muscle Shoals’ legendary studio musicians featuring members of the Swampers and FAME Gang, including The Blind Boys of Alabama, Anderson East, A Tribute to The Allman Brothers, Mike Farris, Gary Nichols, Holli Mosely, Peter Levin, Travis Wammack, Lamar Williams Jr., The LeBlanc Family Band and the Outlaw Apostles. Muscle Shoals is the Hit Recording Capital of the World, and the Muscle Shoals sound is globally recognized. The 100th Birthday Bash promises to be a fitting tribute to the city’s cultural heritage, bringing together music lovers from all over the region.

“We are thrilled to celebrate our 100th anniversary with this incredible lineup of musicians,” said Mayor Mike Lockhart. “This event is a testament to the rich and diverse musical history of our city, and we are excited to bring together the community and share this special day with everyone who loves great music.”

Candi Staton’s career has spanned over six decades. Her breakthrough came with a series of R&B hits produced by the late Rick Hall of FAME Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, including the iconic tracks “I’d Rather Be an Old Man’s Sweetheart (Than a Young Man’s Fool),” “I’m Just a Prisoner (of Your Good Lovin’),” and “Stand by Your Man.” From there, Staton continued to diversify her sound, achieving success with “Young Hearts Run Free” and as a gospel singer with “You Got the Love” and “Hallelujah Anyway.” With her soulful voice and powerful lyrics, Candi Staton has secured her place in music history and remains a beloved and celebrated artist to this day.

Sara Evans’ career has been built on her unique interpretation of great songs and her warm, evocative voice, which have produced enduring hits such as “Born to Fly,” “A Real Fine Place to Start,” “Perfect” and her Muscle Shoals published hit “Saints and Angels,” and earned her recognition as the fifth most played female artist on country radio. Her ninth studio album, Copy That, features an eclectic mix of songs that have shaped her life and career, ensuring that Evans remains a force on the road with tour dates criss-crossing the country.

Kip Moore, a Georgia native and genre-blending songsmith, has rocketed to success with his warm, honey-infused growl and deep-feeling lyrics that feature an easy Southern charm and a hint of rock ‘n’ roll mystery. His five Top 10 country radio singles, including the 3x Platinum Number One “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck,” showcase his ability to coax cosmic truth from down-home serenity.

The concert kicks off Saturday, April 22 at 2 p.m. CT and will continue into the night, featuring a variety of musical styles that will showcase the city’s cultural tapestry. From soulful gospel to classic rock and blues, there will be music to be enjoyed by everyone.

The Muscle Shoals 100th Birthday Bash is free to the public, and everyone is welcome to attend. More information about the 100th Birthday Bash can be found on the official website (muscleshoals100.com). Attendees can look forward to a family-friendly atmosphere with local food trucks offering up a variety of Muscle Shoals festival fare. Limited parking will be available so arrive early.

For sponsorship and publicity questions, please contact:
Kate Isbell
kisbell@muscleshoalsal.org
(256) 389-2126.


 

About Candi Staton:

Four-time Grammy nominated soul legend Candi Staton’s work has garnered numerous accolades, including induction into the Christian Music Hall of Fame and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. However, she is most proud of her non-profit organization, A Veil of Silence, which supports victims of domestic violence. Staton continues to perform energetic live shows that showcase her music from every era of her career.
In 2018, she released her 30th album titled Unstoppable. The album celebrates Staton’s legacy and showcases her ability to move forward boldly. Unstoppable features contemporary sounds infused with Southern soul and blues from her Alabama roots and is a danceable and upbeat album with ten tracks, including six original songs written or co-written by Staton herself. Staton had her career breakthrough with her R&B hits produced by the late Rick Hall of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, including “I’d Rather Be an Old Man’s Sweetheart (Than a Young Man’s Fool),” “I’m Just a Prisoner (of Your Good Lovin’),” and “Stand by Your Man.” She also found success as a disco diva with “Young Hearts Run Free” and as a gospel singer with “You Got the Love” and “Hallelujah Anyway.”/

For more information visit candi-staton.com

 

About Sara Evans:

Multi-platinum entertainer SARA EVANS is at the top of her game. As the fifth most-played female artist at country radio in nearly the last two decades — her five No. 1 singles include “No Place That Far,” “Suds In The Bucket, “A Real Fine Place To Start,” “Born to Fly,” and “A Little Bit Stronger,” which spent 2 weeks in the top spot and was certified platinum by the R.I.A.A. Sara’s “stunning, country voice” (Rolling Stone) has earned her the prestigious Academy of Country Music Top Female vocalist accolade as well as numerous American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Country Music Association, CMT and Grammy Awards nominations. In addition, the CMA awarded Video of the Year honors for her hit chart-topping single, “Born to Fly” from her landmark double-platinum album of the same name. Evans’ discography also includes the platinum-selling studio albums Real Fine Place and Restless as well as the gold-certified projects Stronger and No Place That Far.

Sara has continued to forge her bold, creative path with Copy That, which opened at #1 on the iTunes Country chart, released on her own Born To Fly Records on May 15, 2020. The 13-song collection, spanning six decades, showcased Evans’ distinctive creative stamp on some of the most iconic songs in country and pop music, songs that have inspired her life and career, as well as shining a spotlight on some little-known gems. Copy That follows her critically acclaimed Words, which debuted at #2 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums Chart in 2017. Last year brought album and touring collaborations with her children, Avery and Olivia Barker, for The Barker Family Band.

Sara released her memoir, Born To Fly, on September 8, 2020 through Howard Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Named after her landmark double-platinum album, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, Born To Fly finds Evans opening up and sharing stories not only about her career and what it is like living in the spotlight, but about what inspires her and how her faith keeps her strong.

For more information on Sara Evans, visit SaraEvans.com and engage with her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For press inquiries please contact:

Sara Evans Management + Media Relations
Craig Dunn – craig@onesparkent.com
Nicole Lewis – nicole@onesparkent.com

 

About Kip Moore:

Multi-PLATINUM singer/songwriter Kip Moore just released the title track off his forthcoming fifth studio album DAMN LOVE, available on April 28. Co-written and co-produced by Moore and Jaren Johnston (The Cadillac Three), the thirteen track collection is emotionally raw and thick with epiphany. Moore’s DAMN LOVE WORLD TOUR will kick off in Bloomsbury, Aus. on 3/11. Moore is slated to headline shows in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, The U.K. and Europe, many of which are already sold-out in advance. Known as “one of country’s more thoughtful artists” (Billboard), Moore has toured the world earning acclaim and a rabid fanbase as an all-in performer in each setting, consistently selling out headlining shows internationally with huge followings in The U.S, The U.K, Europe, Australia and Canada. Praised by Noisey as “an uncompromising, genre-defying artist firing on all cylinders” Moore has blazed his own trail, with “a bit more Southern rock than traditional country… to be a Kip Moore fan suddenly became a marker of your having a certain refinement in your country-music taste” (Chicago Tribune). Moore first splashed into the mainstream with the double-PLATINUM “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck” in 2012, then followed up with three more best selling No. Ones (“Hey Pretty Girl,” “Beer Money” and “More Girls Like You”), a trio of ambitious, critically-praised albums and two gritty EPs that landed Moore on multiple “Best Of” lists. Moore garnered resounding acclaim for his fourth studio album, WILD WORLD. The set, co-written and co-produced by Moore, was spotlighted by critics as “especially vital; occasionally, even rare,” (Esquire). For more information visit kipmoore.net, and follow Moore on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Lane Craner
THE GREENROOM
321.276.3864 – (c)
www.thegreenroompr.com

Episode 10: Charlie Chalmers

Episode 10: Charlie Chalmers

Son of a Preacher Man, Respect, Mustang Sally. What do they all have in common? Charlie Chalmers. On Episode Ten of Through These Doors: A FAME Studios Podcast, Rodney Hall welcomes sax legend, songwriter, and producer Charlie Chalmers. Listen in as Hall and Chalmers discuss what makes a great recording, touring with rock & roll legends, and stories from his days at FAME. Let’s get it on!

Watch Episode Ten

 

Listen to the audio-only version of Episode Ten

Episode 9: Bob Wray

Episode 9: Bob Wray

On Episode Nine of Through These Doors: A FAME Studios Podcast, Rodney Hall welcomes the legendary bassist Bob Wray. Listen in as Hall and Wray discuss his decades-long career which has included session work with Johnny Cash, Clarence Carter, The Osmonds, Roy Orbison, Bobby Womack, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Etta James, Alabama, Chuck Berry, Tony Joe White, Earl Thomas Conley, Jose Feliciano, BB King, Al Green, Joe Cocker, Emmylou Harris, The Temptations, Wilson Pickett, Carl Perkins, Ray Charles, and many, many more.

Watch Episode Nine

 

Listen to the audio-only version of Episode Nine

Jason Isbell

Praised for his masterful poetics and tasty guitar playing, four-time GRAMMY® winner Jason Isbell is considered one of the great Americana artists of our time.

Growing up in Northern Alabama, he was surrounded by music and learned to play multiple instruments through his family, playing in the school band, and singing at the church where his grandfather also preached and played guitar. Isbell believes his Alabaman heritage greatly impacted his development as a musician saying, “I definitely don’t feel like I would be the musician that I am, or the type of songwriter, had I not come from that particular place.”

He put his heart and soul into playing music and performed at the Grand Ole Opry at the tender age of 16, Just five years later, he received a publishing deal with Rodney & Mark Hall as the first new writer of their recently acquired FAME Publishing company, beginning a fifteen year relationship that includes recording and writing as a member of The Drive-By Truckers on their albums Decorations Day, Dirty South, Blessing and a Curse as well as his solo albums Sirens of the Ditch, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Here We Rest, and Southeastern. Jason has also produced at FAME on the Blind Boys of Alabama track “Christmas in Dixie,” as well as a duet with John Paul White on “Old Flame”. Both of which were included on a tribute to the country supergroup Alabama. Jason and John Paul White were featured on a track with Candi Staton for the album Muscle Shoals-Small Town Big Sound”. The track would go on to be one of legendary producer Rick Hall’s final final productions. Isbell has said that working at FAME Studios meant everything to him, that it was a gateway towards the music that he wanted to play.

The name of his GRAMMY® winning band The 400 Unit is also deeply rooted in his time in Alabama. The 400 Unit is the name of a mental treatment facility in Florence, Alabama. As Isbell tells it, “About once a week they would drive downtown and take, I guess, the six or eight healthiest people in the facility and let ’em go downtown. Give ’em all like $15 apiece to go get some lunch. You’d immediately recognize who it was and why they were there; they all had nametags on, saying kinda strange stuff to everybody. And trying to get a sandwich at the same time,” adding, “When I started thinking about a band, and how we get to a new town and everybody gets $15 and gets out of the van, goes out and tries to get a sandwich, it kinda reminded me of that.” Both bassist Jimbo Hart and drummer Chad Gamble are Shoals area natives and have done a lot of studio session work at FAME outside of the 400 Unit over the last 20 years.

In addition to his four GRAMMY®s, Isbell has won nine Americana Music Honors and Awards and was the Country Music Hall-of-Fame Artist in Residence for 2017. He has also seen success across multiple genres as his album Something More Than Free debuted at number 1 on Billboard Magazine’s rock, folk and country record charts. Something More Than Free, Southeastern, and The Nashville Sound (with The 400 Unit) have sold nearly 150,000 copies each, with Southeastern being his most recently recorded album at Fame Studios. For The Nashville Sound (with The 400 Unit), Isbell garnered four peak chart positions in the United States and eight top-40 peak chart positions in Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Isbell is married to fellow Americana superstar Amanda Shires, co-founder of the Highwomen, and the two share a daughter together. He is an avid player and collector of guitars. He believes a special guitar “…is one that fulfills its purpose in design,” and discussed some of his vintage guitars with Guitar World in 2020. He currently owns roughly 50 to 60 guitars including a ’53 Les Paul gold top, a ’59 ‘burst dubbed “Red Eye” that once belonged to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Ed King, a ’65 Tele, a ’60 Strat, a ’61 ES-335, a Gretsch White Falcon given to him by John Prine, a mid-50s Martin D-18, and more in his collection.

Outside of his musical career, Isbell has also seen success in acting with his first role being in 2016 providing the voice for pastor Kyle Nubbins in the animated television series Squidbillies. In 2021, Isbell earned his biggest role in the upcoming Martin Scorsese film Killers of the Flower Moon.

In 2019, Jason along with his manager, Traci Thomas gave the Shoals some love and launched their music festival, Shoalsfest. The festival has hosted thousands of fans to shows with artists like Sheryl Crow, Mavis Staples, Candi Staton, Drive By Truckers, Amanda Shires and Lucinda Williams and is one of the premier events in the Shoals musical calendar..

A loving husband, father, and other-worldly musician, Jason Isbell has achieved global success on a level that we at FAME knew was possible. Jason will always have a special place in our hearts as a member of the FAME Gang and we’re excited to see him continue to make genre-defining and genre-expanding music in the future.

Episode 8: Walt Aldridge

Episode 8: Walt Aldridge

On Episode Eight of Through These Doors: A FAME Studios Podcast, Rodney Hall welcomes the great musician, singer, songwriter, engineer and record producer Walt Aldridge. Listen in as Hall and Aldridge discuss what it takes to write a #1 hit (Aldridge’s #1’s include “(There’s) No Gettin’ Over Me” by Ronnie Milsap (1981), ‘Till You’re Gone by Barbara Mandrell (1982), “Holding Her and Loving You” by Earl Thomas Conley (1982), “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde” by Travis Tritt (2000), and “I Loved Her First” (2006) by Heartland), and stories from his days working at FAME as a producer, songwriter and back-up musician, and what make Muscle Shoals such an incubator for hit records.

Watch Episode Eight

 

Listen to the audio-only version of Episode Eight

8 Track Entertainment Opens Doors In Muscle Shoals

For Immediate Release

8 TRACK ENTERTAINMENT OPENS DOORS IN MUSCLE SHOALS

ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL PARTNERSHIP WITH HISTORIC FAME RECORDING STUDIOS
FOR FUTURE MUSIC PROJECTS INCLUDING THE

“60th ANNIVERSARY OF FAME AND THE MUSCLE SHOALS SOUND” ALBUM

SIGNS GRAMMY® AWARD-WINNING GROUP SHENANDOAH TO
8 TRACK RECORDS

Muscle Shoals, AL (April 12, 2022)….Newly formed global entertainment company 8 Track Entertainment has entered into an inaugural partnership with historic Fame Recording Studios for future music projects, reveals the signing of Grammy® award-winning country stars Shenandoah and plans to release the “60th Anniversary Of FAME And The Muscle Shoals Sound” album. All projects will be distributed by Warner Music Group’s ADA via 8 Track Records, a division of 8 Track Entertainment. 8 Track Entertainment founding partners Noah Gordon/President, Jeff Goodwin/Vice President, Marketing & Partnerships and Bill Harbin/Vice President, Corporate Partnerships announced that the Alabama Corporation will be based in Muscle Shoals with satellite offices in Nashville, Tennessee.

“I am absolutely delighted to sign Shenandoah to 8 Track Records as Muscle Shoals is where it all began for this group at the outset of their career. They will return to FAME to record their next project scheduled for release in the coming months,” stated Gordon. “New music will also be coming from Ira Dean, LeBlanc Family Band, BoomTown Saints, and Ivas John. In addition, 8 Track and FAME have numerous co-ventures planned for the future including music publishing, TV/Film, touring/live events and music programs for community schools. We will be intentionally working with outside studios as the bigger movement is about Muscle Shoals and Alabama…not only FAME.”

“We are very excited to partner with 8 Track Entertainment on this next chapter in Muscle Shoals music’s historic legacy. Our music is currently on fire with the Shoals represented on almost every major award show over the last few years,” commented Rodney Hall, Co-Owner and President of FAME Publishing/FAME Records/FAME Recording Studios. “We look forward to working with the entire Shoals music scene to bring opportunity to artists, producers, engineers, studios, songwriters, musicians as well as all the other music related businesses.”

The partnership’s first project, “60th Anniversary Of FAME And The Muscle Shoals Sound,” between the newly revamped storied FAME Records and legendary producer, Keith Stegall’s Dreamlined Entertainment, is currently in production and is set for release later this year. It will feature such artists as War & Treaty, Demi Lovato, Chris Stapleton, Shenandoah, Candi Staton, Willie Nelson, LeBlanc Family Band, Alison Krauss, The Fame Gang, Alan Jackson, Anderson East, Vince Gill, Billy D. Allen, Michael McDonald, and others.


About 8 Track Entertainment:

8 Track Entertainment is a multi-faceted global entertainment company based in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with satellite offices in Nashville, Tennessee. Under the 8-Track Entertainment moniker is a Sports and Entertainment Management division, a Music Production and Publishing entity, and a full-service TV/Film division. Since launching in 2021, 8-Track Publishing has celebrated its first #1 Billboard Hot Country Song (Aaron Lewis/“Am I The Only One”) and first #1 iTunes Country Album (Aaron Lewis/”Frayed At Both Ends”), and #7 iTunes Country Album (Eddie Montgomery/“Ain’t No Closing Me Down.”). The company has also partnered with the NHRA to produce an exciting live concert series launching later this year.

8 Track Entertainment founding partners are Grammy-award winning engineer/producer and ASCAP-award winning songwriter, Noah Gordon; Jeff Goodwin, Vice President Marketing & Partnerships; and Bill Harbin,Vice President Corporate Partnerships. Visit www.8TrackEnt.com for more information.

About FAME:

FAME Music was established in 1959 in Florence, Ala., and moved to Muscle Shoals, Ala., in 1961, where it became the indisputable heartbeat of the iconic Muscle Shoals Sound. FAME Music entities include FAME Publishing, FAME Recording Studios, House of Fame, FAME Records and Muscle Shoals Music Group. FAME has worked in the studio with some of the greatest artists in music history—including, but not limited to, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Alicia Keys, Jason Isbell, and Etta James—and has been involved in recording and/or publishing records that have sold more than 400 million copies worldwide. Visit FAME at www.famestudios.com.

About Shenandoah:

Shenandoah originally formed in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1985. The band has charted 26 singles on the Billboard Hot Country charts, including #1 hits “The Church on Cumberland Road,” “Sunday in the South” and “Two Dozen Roses” from 1989, “Next to You, Next to Me” from 1990, and “If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too)” from 1994. The single “Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart,” which featured guest vocals from Alison Krauss, won both artists a GRAMMY® Award for “Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.” To date, the group has sold millions of albums worldwide.
Visit www.ShenandoahBand.com for additional information.

8 Track Entertainment
PO Box 120755
Nashville, TN 37212
Claire@8TrackEnt.com

FAME Adds New Backstage Tour Experience

FAME Adds New Backstage Tour Experience

 

Introducing the FAME Recording Studios Backstage Tour Experience:

Beginning on March 1st, 2022, FAME Recording Studios will be adding a special Backstage tour at 9:00am and 3:30pm every Monday through Friday and on Saturdays at 10:00am, 12:00pm and 2:00pm. The Backstage Experience offers a behind-the-scenes look at selected areas of the studios not available on standard tours. Indulge yourself in an exclusive experience masterfully guided by a member of the FAME team with Backstage groups limited to 10 people. The Backstage tour price includes the normal studio tour.

The Backstage Experience takes you behind the velvet rope including, FAME’s Publishing Office, Rick Hall’s personal office, exhibits showcasing FAME’s multiple awards including Gold Records and Song-of-the-Year awards, and exhibits focused on instruments played in historic sessions including the legendary Aretha Franklin sessions and instruments from Rick Hall’s personal collection.

Cost: $30 (includes general admission tour attractions)
We encourage you to book your Backstage tickets through our online store to ensure your spot.

Tickets can be purchased here.

Episode 7: Clayton Ivey

Episode 7: Clayton Ivey

On Episode Seven of Through These Doors: A FAME Studios Podcast, Rodney Hall welcomes legendary producer and musician Clayton Ivey. Listen in as Hall and Ivey discuss Ivey’s over 50 years of hit records as a keyboard player at FAME and his own Wishbone Studios in Muscle Shoals to recording with some of the biggest acts in the world from Rod Stewart to Little Richard and producing acts like The Commodores, The Supremes, and The Temptations.

Watch Episode Seven

 

Listen to the audio-only version of Episode Seven

Little Richard

The Innovator. The Originator. The Architect of Rock and Roll.

These are just a few of the names bestowed upon the legendary Richard Wayne Penniman, better known to the world as Little Richard, one of the most influential recording artists in the history of popular music. Few have left a more indelible mark on our culture’s fabric than Little Richard. One only needs to listen to The Rolling Stones (who toured with Richard in the early-60s), Jimi Hendrix (who played in Richard’s band for a short period) and The Beatles (who also toured on a bill with Richard in the early-60s).

According to Richard, as quoted in his biography, The Life and Times of Little Richard by Charles White, The Beatles’s manager, Brian Epstein, told him, “These boys worship you. You’re the only famous artist they’ve ever met. They’ve never met a famous person in their life. They want their picture taken with you.”

Sometimes, however, when we extol an artist for their influence, we can diminish their greatness somewhat by viewing them only in a light shined by others. It is not only because he influenced so many other rock and roll bands that we should remember how great Little Richard’s music is — because, in fact, there are so many aspects of his performance style and playing abilities that are still untouched by others — to this day.

Little Richard was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1932, the third of 12 children. Obsessed with music in his early years, he was given his first big break at the age of 14 opening for Sister Rosetta Tharpe at the Macon City Auditorium after hearing him singing her songs prior to a performance.

By 1949, he was performing in minstrel performer Doctor Nubillo’s traveling show and was later inspired to don some of the more flamboyant outfits worn by Nubillo — like capes and turbans — that would come to define the signature, electrifying, live performances he would become known at the apex of his career.

After years of touring and performing with little traction, Little Richard scored his first smash hit, “Tutti Frutti” in 1955, continuing to deliver an unprecedented string of hits in the late-50s, including “Long Tall Sally,” “Slippin’ and Slidin,’” “Ready Teddy,” “The Girl Can’t Help It,” (the title song for the 1956 movie of the same name starring Jane Mansfield) “Rip It Up,” and “Lucille,” to name only a few.

This record run of hits would come to an abrupt end, however, as in the middle of his 1957 tour with Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran, Richard announced that he would be leaving popular music behind and following a life in the ministry.

Cutting the tour short and returning to the U.S. ten days earlier than expected, Richard learned that his original flight had crashed into the Pacific Ocean, further cementing his decision to stop performing secular music and he enrolled at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, to study theology, following a “farewell performance” at the Apollo Theater and a “final” recording session with Specialty Records.

His break from secular music would prove to be short-lived, and Richard embarked on several successful rock and roll tours throughout the sixties — although due to the arrival of the Beatles and other British bands as well as the rise of soul labels such as Motown and Stax Records, Richard’s new releases were not well promoted and found little airtime on the radio.

By 1970, three years had passed since the last new material from Little Richard. Wanting to cross over to both black rhythm and blues and white rock audiences, Richards signed with Reprise Records (having turned down offers from other labels, including The Beatles’s Apple Records).

Hoping to meld his signature sound with the hit-making power coming out of Muscle Shoals in the early 1970s, Little Richard decided to record his next album, The Rill Thing, at FAME Recording Studios under the direction of Producer Rick Hall.

“I worked with several of my early rock and roll idols who’d had a profound effect on the shape of my musical ideas. Little Richard was one.” said Hall (in his autobiography, “The Man From Muscle Shoals.”) “After Little Richard visited FAME, he made Muscle Shoals a part of his musical identity. A number of my best studio musicians, including guitarist Travis Wammack and bassist Jesse Boyce, later joined Richard’s road band and toured the world.”

Although The Rill Thing was not the commercial success Richard was hoping for, the album received near unanimous critical acclaim and delivered Richard his last Billboard Hot 100 hit, Greenwood, Mississippi, written by Travis Wammack and Albert Lowe Jr. Billboard Magazine described the album as a “stomping, swinging, soulful leap backwards in the rock ‘n’ rolling ’50’s with the Muscle Shoals gang” and Joel Selvin of Rolling Stone considered the album “a major artistic triumph for Little Richard” that “faithfully exhibits Richard’s maturity as an artist both through the selection of material and the contemporary instrumental setting”.

Little Richard continued to tour and record throughout his life and, in 1986, was a member of the first group of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, and the Everly Brothers.

On May 9, 2020, Richard died at the age of 87 at his home in Tullahoma, Tennessee after a long illness.

FAME is honored to have played a part in the extraordinary career of a truly original and singular performer. While Little Richard would have always reached the heights of Rock n’ Roll supremacy, FAME wouldn’t have been the same without his ground-breaking music and style.

A wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom