![]() And this episode marks a crucial turning point in the story, as we see the establishment of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, as a centre of white people making music in previously Black genres. ![]() And for most of the fifties, rock and roll was a predominantly Black genre, before the influx of the rockabillies made it seem, briefly, like it could lead to a truly post-racial style of music.īut over the 1960s, we’re going to see white people slowly colonise those musics, and push Black musicians to the margins. Up to this point, when we’ve looked at R&B, blues, or soul recordings, all the musicians involved have been Black people, almost without exception. These white musicians who loved Black music slowly, over a decade or so, took over the older Black styles of music, and made them into white music. This is not to say that those white musicians were, individually, racist - many were very vocally opposed to racism - but they were still beneficiaries of a racist system. The Black musicians tend to be regarded as people who allowed the white musicians to cast off their racism and become better people, rather than as colleagues who in many cases somewhat resented the white musicians - there were jobs that weren’t open to Black musicians in the segregated South, and now here were a bunch of white people taking some of the smaller number of jobs that *were* available to them. That integration produced some of the greatest music of the era, but it’s also the case that with few exceptions, narratives about that have tended to centre the white people involved at the expense of the Black people. ![]() Hughes calls the country-soul triangle: Nashville, Memphis, and Muscle Shoals. One of the things we’re going to see a lot of in the next few weeks and months is the growing integration of the studios that produced much of the hit music to come out of the Southern USA in the sixties - studios in what the writer Charles L. This is one of the sadder episodes we’re going to be doing, and it deals with substance abuse, schizophrenia, and miscarriage. ![]() Why not join them?īefore we start, a warning for those who need it. This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. It’s unfortunately not in print in the UK, and goes for silly money, though I believe it can be bought cheaply in the US.Īnd a lot of the background on Muscle Shoals comes from Country Soul by Charles L. Much of the information in this episode comes from Richard Younger’s biography of Alexander. This compilation collects the best of Alexander’s Dot work. This week it’s been split into two parts because of the number of songs by Arthur Alexander. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at and Īs always, I’ve created Mixcloud playlists with full versions of all the songs in the episode. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus episode available, on “Mother-In-Law” by Ernie K-Doe. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Trombone – Curtis Fuller (tracks: 5-1 to 5-8), J.J.Download file | Play in new window | Recorded on August 27, 2020Įpisode ninety-five of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “You Better Move On”, and the sad story of Arthur Alexander.Drums – Al Harewood (tracks: 4-8), Albert Heath (tracks: 3-6 to 3-9), Tony Williams* (tracks: 1-1 to 1-4), Elvin Jones (tracks: 2-10 to 3-5, 4-1 to 4-5, 4-10), Joe Chambers (tracks: 5-1 to 5-8), Pete La Roca (tracks: 1-5 to 2-9), Roger Humphries (tracks: 4-9), Roy Brooks (tracks: 4-7), Walter Perkins (tracks: 4-6). ![]()
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