20140514: Documentary Review--Muscle Shoals

Muscle Shoals

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American live action feature length film, 2013, NR, 111 minutes, music, documentary.
2. IMDB: 7.5/10.0 from 865 audience ratings.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 96% on the meter; 88% liked it from 2,937 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 4.43/5.0 from 23,960 audience ratings.
5. Directed by:  Greg 'Freddie' Camalier.
6. Starring:  Rick Hall, Jimmy Johnson, Bono, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge (When a Man Loves a Woman), Allman Brothers, Lynard Skynard, Jerry Wexler.


2. Setup and Plot
1. The recording house Fame Recording Studios began in the small town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, seemingly out of nowhere.  The film fills in a lot of back story, commentary from well-known music figures, and a great deal of local colour.  The early perspective was with Rick Hall, who led a group of local musicians who became his session crew for recordings with big names such as Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett, and Aretha Franklin.


2. The story of how Wilson Pickett and Duane Allman conspired to make a cover of the Beatles' Hey Jude was touching, magical, and hilarious, as was the short story given of the beginning of the Allman Brothers Band.


3. At one point, Rick Hall got a contract with Capital Records.  When he announces that, his early crew has an announcement of their own.  They broke off and went with Jerry Wexler (Atlantic Records) to form Muscle Shoals Recording Studios in the same town.  At first the new studio did not do well, but then the Stones recorded You've Got to Move, Wild Horses, and Brown Sugar, three of their best blues tunes, at MSRS.


4. Rick Hall was in a feud with Jerry Wexler, and recruited a new session crew using the leverage of Capital Records.  He formed a new rhythm section called the Fame Gang.  This worked well for him.  He cut records with Lou Rawls, Bobbie Gentry, Candi Staton, King Curtis, Little Richard, Mac Davis, Joe Tex, and plenty more.  In 1971, Rick became Producer of the Year, which he did not achieve with his original session group.


5. Jimmy Johnson's MSRS was also doing interesting things.  They signed Lynard Skynard, and recorded a number of great cuts with them.  However, the band ended up leaving Johnson when he could not sell a nine minute single to any record company.  After a plane crash took the lives of three band members, two of the survivors came back to Johnson and asked that 11 of the 17 cuts they did at MSRS become the next album.


6. The stories about Jimmy Cliff (early reggae) and Steve Winwood (Traffic) recording with MSRS and going on the road with them were just delicious. Bob Seger, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Glenn Fry, and a host of others recorded at MSRS.


3. Conclusions
1. This one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.
2. If you like modern music (last 50 years or so), catch this film: for the musical history, for the cultural references, for the magic and the misfires.
3. From Sweet Home Alabama: '...now Muscle Shoals has the Swampers...'; this film gives a complete explanation.
4. This film really does deserve the 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
5. One line summary: Beautiful portrait of two of the greatest recording studios.
6. Five stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 9/10 Beautifully shot; only some of the archival footage was not great looking, but no surprise there.


2. Sound: 10/10 Oh, so good.


3. Acting: z/10 Not relevant here.


4. Screenplay: 10/10 Nicely organised; one gets a feel for the practical magic of the two studios in Muscle Shoals.