The Birth Place of R&B (Documentary)
Vložit
- čas přidán 28. 07. 2024
- We travelled to Muscle Shoals, AL, the birth place of R&B and home to some of the most celebrated recording studios in the history of American music.
American artists like Otis Redding & Bob Dylan found their groove in Muscle Shoals, while international groups like the Rolling Stones were drawn by the allure of the place and the music it created. We had a chance to sit down and talk to these legends about the history of FAME Studios, the factors that shaped the Muscle Shoals Sound, and the future of their recording industry in the digital age.
Watch more VICE Documentaries: bit.ly/VICE-Documentaries
Originally aired in 2010 on VICE.com
Subscribe for videos that are actually good: bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE
Check out our full video catalog: / vice
Videos, daily editorial and more: vice.com
Like VICE on Facebook: vice
Follow VICE on Twitter: / vice
Read our tumblr: / vicemag - Zábava
is this a troll documentary or something like that.
Read my mind and the thumbnail 🤦🏽♂️
It was not the birthplace of R&B but it was a famous studio were a lot of great RnB records were recorded. The session players were white but I don't think any of these guys were racist. They were working in the deep south at a time when hanging with black people could get you hurt. Some of the people making comments need to do a little research before going off on a tangent.
Certainly, but not painting the whole picture is what's dangerous. I remember what Carlos Santana said about revisionist history in America. He said, "in 50 years they will say Martin Luther King was white."
Not not can white people rb&b black music yes black music
Agreed. Hulu has a whole two hour documentary called "Muscle Shoals" you can watch that gives the full context
victoria, that may be the most intelligent post in history........... BWAHAHAHAHA
@@mcclendonreport he was a scammer
The title is MisInforming...They were established well after R&B had already existed...I would love to see a doc actually based on the Marquee
Just like most vice vids
Muscle Shoals shaped modern music more than any town, long before L.A., there was this little town in Alabama shaping the music industry into what it would become that is still being felt in the music industry today
As soon as I saw 'Alabama' I knew the 'Haints would be featured! Saw them a couple of times in the UK this year, they're rad!
Can you all please stop with the negative comments. Im a black person and this is coming straight from my mouth. Its not about black or white or whatever damm color, because at the end of the day its all about MUSIC and the enjoyment and the essence of great music smdh. Its all about the music period. AND IM BLACK MYSELF
Thank you Uncle Ruckus. 🙏
Vice was in my home town?? Awesome...I knew I liked them for some reason haha
Muscle Shoals local here. Yes, the title of the video is exaggerated clickbait. R&B was not invented here. WC Handy, the first man to document the blues, was born here in Florence, but he died in 1958 and thus could not be interviewed for obvious reasons. In the 1960s the area became a Mecca for recording soul music. Talent came here from all over to record with the local session band, who were mostly (but not entirely) white guys. There were black session musicians here, but the older white guys they are talking to in the video here were in fact the core of the band, so they are talking to the right people. I do wish they had caught up to sax man Harvey Thompson though!!!
As for the younger artists, they are an accurate reflection of the local scene at the time this doc was made. If you’d like to know about post-1960s black musicians from the Shoals, I highly recommend looking into the hip-hop group Slave Kamp.
a documentary on R&B with no people of color highlighted.... this is bs
you are bs inward
I think they titled it wrong or the creator didn't know the difference. This was the birthplace of Rock and Roll or Southern Rock.
that's a convenient excuse for racism...
I wonder if white people say the same thing when a Rap artist is inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Hypocrites....
John Smith
why would they say the same thing? your comparison doesn't make sense. Yours is a 'red herring' argument. Do you know what that is? You are unable to psychologically sympathize with a very valid point - which deep down inside you realize - but you are going into a kind of defense mechanism response where all you can do is detract from the point at hand. Please seek some psychological help and try to enter the realm of the human race.
Cool mini doc but calling Muscle Shoals the birthplace of R&B is pretty silly. R&B had been around nearly 30 years before Rick Hall even opened a studio there. R&B influenced soul music is what MS is known for. An extremely hard thing to pinpoint but I'd definitely start with New Orleans, Memphis, Chicago or several other places before Muscle Shoals. Again, cool doc, Ian is great, good info here but, the title is really, really stretching it. Not one person in this doc, including the host claims R&B came from there. Pretty ridiculous title Vice.
I'm from Alabama and live pretty close to Muscle Shoals. Was completely unaware of this. Thanks vice!
For decades it was pretty much kept a secret by the people at Muscle Shoals Sound, FAME, Wishbone, Broadway Sound Studio, Widget Recording, Quinvy Studios and East Avalon Recorders. Other than the musicians, producers, engineers, songwriters and studios, the main thing Bob Seger, Bob Dylan, Dire Straits, Wilson Pickett, Rod Stewart, Cher, the Staple Singers, Glenn Frey, Paul Simon, the Commodores and on and on; liked most was the peace and quiet to concentrate on what they were doing without all the commotion of a large city.
you're right. hardly the birthplace of R&B. but a legitimate contender for the birthplace of soul music.
anyone know of any other youtube channels that upload short documentaries like VICE? I cant get enough daym haha
Seriously learned more about music from my neck of the woods in 13 minutes, than living here for 22 years. I always knew Florence was big into recording music, UNA has a pretty nice program for it. But never knew the history behind it. Going to check that record store out pretty soon.
For decades it was pretty much kept a secret by the people at Muscle Shoals Sound, FAME, Wishbone, Broadway Sound Studio, Widget Recording, Quinvy Studios and East Avalon Recorders. Other than the musicians, producers, engineers, songwriters and studios, the main thing Bob Seger, Bob Dylan, Dire Straits, Wilson Pickett, Rod Stewart, Cher, the Staple Singers, Glenn Frey, Paul Simon, the Commodores and on and on; liked most was the peace and quiet to concentrate on what they were doing without all the commotion of a large city.
Great documentry..
Been to Shoals. Very nice place. People are very nice Bama too.
there's definitely a voice comin' from the river, you could hear her if you quiet your mind long enough.
All the negative comments about Alabama are so ridiculous. I was born and raised in Alabama and have traveled all over the world and there is no where else I would rather be. By stereotyping southerners (Alabamians in particular) you are being discriminatory just like you claim Alabamians are against other groups. If you took the time to visit this beautiful state you would realize the overwhelming majority of us are good, hard working, accepting people who love our state and our culture. RTR :)
They can't help themselves. They are assholes. We must remember that when dealing with them.
since you guys are so quick to get pissed, I think you should all go watch the documentary 'Muscle shoals' on netflix if you're able. Learn a little bit more about the studio, vice may not have talked with any black artists in this particular video but I can assure you that Muscle Shoals played a very big role in the creation of R&B. The document on netflix is actually really good and there are plenty of famous black artist featured in it. Also learn a little more about R&B because it's developed a lot since the start and the new music you hear today isn't the same as it was when it first started.
juliana green music has no color but I am pretty sure the sound of R&B existed in the black communities before muscle Shoals. These guys played a great deal to bring what had probably already existed in black communities. It's not like black people had the resources or opportunities to get the music to larger audiences.
@Anne Jackson - racist to the bone.
@@jakeross9805 and it wouldn't have made a dollar without people like Wexler and the Swampers refining it with their incredible sense of music. Take Somebody Loan Me A Dime. Good song but didn't sell much. Boz Scaggs added some to it and Duane Allman and the Swampers made it a classic.
I agree
@@jakeross9805 may have existed but wasn't very good. Why do you think all those black musicians swarmed to "racist" Alabama? Hmmmm? In your world, how do you reconcile that?
Right you are. The whole Delta region was a rich incubator of authentic American music. Black and white cultures came together, mixed and infused each other again and again in so many enriching ways to create the Blues and all of its descendants: R&B, Soul, Country, and Rock N Roll, and of course Jazz at the western side of the region, born in New Orleans. Out of this rich mixed culture emerged many white pickers with the chops to convincingly play Soul, backing singers like Picket and Franklin.
I went to Muscle Shoals to visit family. Went to the old piano store where the lady writes about haunted locations in Alabama. She does a ghost walk yearly where she takes people to these spots... then at the end she lets her dead father who owned the piano posses her and sign books for everyone... so fucking funny, but fun still!
EPIC WIG, BRO
You know that bit in Ghost World where the chick goes
"If you like authentic blues you really gotta check out Blues Hammer. They're so great."
Yeah.
Awesome!
Cool Vid!
I lived in Mobile AL for a few years when I was a teenager, i went to UMS Wright. parents dropped their kids off in ferraris and bentleys, P.E class was swimming in an olympic sized pool and doing the macarena lol
Yeah. Really backwards. hahaha
from the comments, I can see many are missing the point. The great backing band for Aretha on her first "soul" albums. These guys. Wilson Pickett, same. It's not about black and white. It's about music from and for the soul.
Hallelujah to that Bill - Music was meant to unite us.
Muscle Shoals is FAR from "backwoods" and they were creating serious ground breaking soul music at the same time that Stax and Motown were crafting theirs! Sorry if facts offend you!
Why are you so JEALOUS, jeeves?
Percy Sledge's son is still alive AND performing... VICE couldn't interview him???
that 'mullet' can play the keys like you wouldn't believe...
I used to live in the area while going to college at North Alabama and yeah it is hard to find a good show. You pretty much went to Birmingham, Memphis, or Nashville.
Most interesting.
This video is weird. I wanted to hear about the history of R&B and this isn’t even specifically about R&B. They should change the title and just give a passing mention about R&B in the video since it’s not ONLY about that. Also to people who don’t think it’s weird to not have black people picture this.
There’s a video about New York City pizza and it’s history that features no Italians and only talks a little bit about pizza. and if the demographics have changed and here’s no more Italians in the neighborhood then maybe the way the video is framed should be changed.
Or better yet picture a history of hip hop with no black people or New Yorkers. It just doesn’t make sense.
You wanted them to bring dead people on he show? Living blacks quit on R&B and went to disco and c-rap because it takes no talent. The great Don Cornelius was so disappointed to see blacks get out of music.
I'm flattered you took the time to write to me, I know you must have a busy cousin-fucking schedule, thanks! :)
Oh, he's from up north????
Im from Alabama and i live about 45 minutes from Florence and no one told me about this
For decades it was pretty much kept a secret by the people at Muscle Shoals Sound, FAME, Wishbone, Broadway Sound Studio, Widget Recording, Quinvy Studios and East Avalon Recorders. Other than the musicians, producers, engineers, songwriters and studios, the main thing Bob Seger, Bob Dylan, Dire Straits, Wilson Pickett, Rod Stewart, Cher, the Staple Singers, Glenn Frey, Paul Simon, the Commodores and on and on; liked most was the peace and quiet to concentrate on what they were doing without all the commotion of a large city.
This was before the internet and mass media so most people had no idea who these people were. The Stones went to a little place called the Riverside Restaurant next door to the Holiday Inn in Florence. They were dressed like white street pimps with wild colors, sashes, long hair and funny hats. They went into the restaurant where everyone had "burrhead" cuts. Yes, whites AND blacks had burrhead cuts in the South which means very short, almost a shave. One of the waitresses asked Mick if they were some music group. Mick said they were Martha and the Vandellas. For all she knew, the waitress probably thought they were! For the blacks out there who don't know anything before mc hammered, Martha and the Vandellas was one of the top female vocal groups around and popular with both races.
9:55 ?
Awesome
Sweet home man !
Iam german but sweet home is sweet home ;)
Where did you live?
Who is the blonde lady with black eyebrows on the thumbnail of this video what is her name?
Sounds like you're talking about Etta James
c Lane No it's definitely Michelle Obama's mother, I'm her personal chef.
He did just fine. Don't be a hater.
Well, R&B is Rhythm and Blues. I guess you can still salvage the bits of the blues from this documentary. But yeah, I feel what you're trying to get at.
And yet Florence commissioners are so slow to move forward (yet backward) unless it's a large festival to bring in $$...I love my hometown, but looking in from way out here in Texas, it's easy to see how the current stagnation came to be: fear of change, and not growing a culture of non-classical musicians (not knocking UNA's music school one bit). Proud to be the distant relative of a Swamper, and looking forward to getting back in a few years permanently to help make that change.
R&b black culture soul neo history Good brother Cool vibe
Thanks, VICE. Been thru there many times.
How in the hell do you do a documentary about Muscle Shoals and from the jump no mention of Duane Allman? He and So!son Pickett INVENTED Muscle Shoals Sound with their version of Hey Jude!!! DAMN, DAMN DAMN, WHO THE HELL ALLOWED THIS SLIGHT?????
Hell yea dude...Muscle Shoals Sound, Fame, Pegasus, Downtown Flo-town, Doc Dailey, Satan's Youth Ministers...damn, this makes me miss it.
Did any of you actually watch this? They aren't saying white people invented R&B. Florence, AL, claims to be the birthplace of the blues because W.C. Handy is from there. Muscle Shoals happened to produce some to the most classic cuts in R&B in the 60s and early 70s - You know, Otis Redding, Wilson Picket, and Aretha Franklin.
At 3:47, Rick Hall even clearly states that "It all started out with black music." Some of you are so keyed up to find injustice that you aren't listening any more.
I love you.
they interviewed people who still live in town. percy sledge is dead, aretha is prolly close. alot of the talent that recorded there was brought in. all the guys in the doc were born and raised there. if you play music you know color doesnt matter.
Well hats off to this cat right here... He figured it out. "We all started out w/black artists... White people only recording black acts", etc. Hell, truth be known, if it wasn't for the history and "then times", of the south, Muscle Shoals probably wouldn't be what it is today. A bunch of white dudes in the south recording black folk and cats from across the pond. I assure you it wasn't a racial motive in the making of this film. Cee Tee is absolutely right... I'm from here and know a fair chunk of the people in it. They're locals speaking on the place as a whole. They've only gave all the credit to Wilson, Otis, Percy, etc about 10times. And yes... A)They are speaking to people from here B)Several of the above mentioned are no longer w/us. C)And above all... Following the movie "Muscle Shoals", hell... The people behind this film, I'm sure didn't have the coin to fly in some of the mentioned stars. Why is everything automatically a race thing? Really? This was a great time in American music. A great time for putting race aside. Building relationships and bridging gaps. Way to keep it positive.
Wrong. You need a history lesson. Just because they showed some local pick up band that happens to still play there doesn't mean that's all there is. One question, have you ever heard of the Alabama Shakes or Drive By Truckers?
I'm not one to get involved in these things, so this will more than likely be my only response. I really shouldn't have made the previous comment. These things tend to lead to bizarre debates. A)I'm not grasping your argument? Or maybe my point wasn't clearly explained. My comment was to all the folk who think this was such a racial driven film. A)I know the folks behind the film. B)I'm a huge fan of Vice as a whole. Knowing who produces their actual Television show, trust me... It wasn't meant to be racist. People above commented as to why there were no black artists interviewed. My reply was... A)They were simply speaking w/area locals. Folks who play around here. Area artists. Etc. B)A few of the early Star artists have since passed away. C)The Vice Web series is shot by area people(not the HBO vice crew). Therefore there's next to no budget to fly people in from all over the country. That was my only point. I don't see where that's a historical issues. That's a common sense business issue. And again, I know a few people involved w/the film. I promise, there was zero racial intent. That's all I was getting at. Now, strangely enough... And you'll be hard put to produce an Alabama band who's worth their salt, that I don't know. It's my job to know. I can do you one better... I've shared the stage w/Patterson H. & Jason I. several times(side and primary bands), as well as DBT as a whole. As for the Shakes, we've met a few times. I'm big fan. Never performed w/them. Never the less... My point is strictly at all the above folk who think this film was racially biased or that it was made by a bunch neo nazi, cross burning, bigots. Simply not true. As for your comment, I just think you misunderstood my point. Or maybe I missed yours. Either way, I apologize if that was the case on my part.
right, that's why there was never an organization called The American Indian Movement.
Does Al Sharpton know about this video?
makes me think of the alabama song by the dorrs
In that song, Jim never mentioned Alabama did he ?
This viewing was below expectation.
some schools still have segregated proms... moved from california to the south 6 years ago at 14, and my god it is a wretched place.
I said exactly the same thing about California!
Yes calipornia is wretched. Wise move to leave that shithole. I remember when it used to be the Golden State. Now it's more well known as the "fecal" state! Hahaha, welcome to the GREAT STATE OF ALABAMA, boy.
I'm so glad where I live ( South Florida) isn't like that. You hear the occasional shit from some people, but overall it isn't that bad. I don't know though, I live in a city where you don't hear as much of it. Crazy people down here...
Rick hall is a legend. The swampers are a legend. You guys are clowns in the comment section.
So? ???
Church night? Glad in live in NY.
Me too. Please stay. Unfortunately, just like tens of millions of other new yuckers, you'll probably end up down here in your bermuda shorts, black knee-socks and sandals, trying to turn the South into the very cesspool you will be fleeing. STAY HOME.
Rhythm & Blues - There's your answer.
@wefallseparately, not lying man. To muscle shoals from Tennessee. To a nursing home. It looked pretty damn rough to me bro. It could be nice, that was just my observation.
This has the wrong title and thumbnail
roll tide
maybe, but i got through and through nicely. If you're a true american, you'll blend right in. nice folk there btw, don't cause trouble unless you want to.
Alabama made my ears pop.. otherwise i liked it looks like good property there too beautiful traveling through i know that much
We do have the occasional tornado but instead of a bunch every year, every 40 years we have an outbreak to beat the band! In 1932 almost 300 people were killed in an outbreak in west Alabama. In 1974 80 people were killed in the Super Outbreak in west and northwest Alabama. In 2011 250 were killed in the Super Outbreak of 2011. Other than that, we are a peaceful state. But if you're still breathing in 2051, you might want to stay out of Alabama. HaHaHa
Oh The Rolling Stones... That American band...
...who came here to record and their only regret was they did't get to come back and record their next three albums here because they couldn't help breaking the law.
cool
What is This?
k I just did?
where are the black people??
+Isis Williams you need black folks to make soul music... come on myan!
Why are you sure?
Neither Aretha nor Etta were very soulful until they developed their sound in Muscle Shoals! Whether you want to believe it or not, that is the truth.
Black People such as Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Clarence Carter, Thelma Houston, Staple Singers, Jimmy Cliff, Arthur Alexander, Percy Sledge, Jimmy Hughes, ... etc. ?They ALL came to Muscle Shoals to develop their sound, develop their style and to record their ground breaking music!Sorry, if you choose not to believe history! You'll get over it...
Arthur Alexander-deceased, Jimmy Hughes-deceased, Wilson Pickett-deceased, Percy Sledge, deceased, Otis Redding- deceased, Arthur Conley- deceased, James Brown-deceased, James & Bobby Purify- deceased, Solomon Burke-deceased, Etta James-deceased, Clarence Carter was in the Muscle Shoals movie, Candi Staton was in the Muscle Shoals movie, Aretha Franklin was in the Muscle Shoals movie, Jimmy Cliff was in the Muscle Shoals movie, Alicia Keys was in the Muscle Shoals movie. Little Richard and the Staple Singers were still alive but maybe not available. A bunch of Muscle Shoals white guys made up little Richard's band.
As the great black R&B and Soul artists died off, there was no one there to replace them. Damn white people. Black performers switched to disco and then to c-rap and hip hop because it didn't require talent and great black music was effectively dead. Damn white people.
Lawd be praised that Vice has now rolled over and died
ain't nuthin wrong with mississippi, son
Did they get a fucking Time Machine to do this one?
No most people from Alabama are the same way. I know that I'm not racist or homophobic. It's just the only time people from outside the state see us they see the small part of us that are like that.
Not really since there's no such thing as homophobic. I'm not aware of anyone who is afraid of homosexuals as the definition goes. Racism? 90% of the dopes posting here OBVIOUSLY don't even know the definition of racism, much less how to identify it.
he doesn't like the "High school Hardcore or Metal Bands" but then next sentence is "I was inspired by DisChord Records" wow
no one in that video said white people invited. Actually that guy clearly said it all started with black music....
Racists and fascist liberals only hear it the way they want to hear it so they can cry and have a reason to form mobs and loot and burn. Since most of the South now has concealed carry, it's not going to be long until the thugs in the South forget that and start trying to attack law-abiding Southerners. After several of them perish from lead poisoning, they will settle down again.
Singing Group THE ORIOLES And Their Former Manager/ Songwriter DEBORAH CHESSLER many consider to be the FOUNDERS of Rhythm And Blues Music
Bans proud!!!!!!
truu dat
Vice was in Alabama and I didn't fucking know?
way to go vice another video appropiating black couture
Wrong. I haven't seen a single instance of violence, illegitimacy, car-jacking, gang rape, crack smoking, welfare fraud, looting, burning buildings, kneeling, etc.
like these? you mean like you :)
2:35...i spy a mullet!
clapton not captain oops
Man I agree with you all the way. Except for the last part. WAR EAGLE!!! (in good fun)
VeeJay Records in Chicago 'birthed' more R and B artists than Muscle Shoals.
and 50 times more of them were SHOT than in Muscle Shoals. LOL
We're all a part of that "Thing" no matter what the religious freaks choose to call it, and We Are down tHere already brother- walking each other home through the valley, let the river take you. Love, peace, and Sooooouuul! hahaha
Transport a patient to or from Muscle Shoals?..which hospital it's only one and they would probably take them to either Florence or Huntsville..Really, I think you are lying it's actually a nice small town right beside Florence, AL where I live which is a essentially a nice city.It has literally like the least amount of drug problems in Alabama.
Florence, Alabama. Frequently voted one of the best, nicest, coolest, musical, beautiful small cities in the South.
dat hair.
lol..good stuff!
As well as Alabama State's Fucking bomb college football team!
roll tide?
Tracing the "roots" of R&B to qoute "White guys playing soul music" is a disservice to the genre and it's afro roots
i didn't feel any soul in this video lmao
I've been raised in Birmingham and there is some truth in that but overall I fulheartedly disagree. I'm not really going to defend Birmingham because as with most cities its a festering shithole still on decline after having all the steel mills closed down, but Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida are all states I've lived in and I loved them. Mississippi on the other hand seems to live up to every stereotype. Depends where you go in any state in my opinion. People are people.
yeah this seems a bit off
I beg to differ.I say the birthplace of R&B is Memphis.
Thanks, but how are you going to do 13 minutes on Muscle Shoals music and not mention the Allman Brothers? It kind of ruined this whole thing for me because I was waiting to see their pictures, hear Duane's guitar or at least hear them mentioned.
I think this was supposed to be a much longer show but they probably ran out of money and couldn't afford the Allmans, the Staples, etc.
RTR!
Yes that's what I'm saying. But I mean everyone has their own opinion.
What the fuck? Have you even ever been to Alabama?
I expected better from Vice
Better than what? Truth? Reality?