Dir:: Greg “Freddy” Camalier | US Music Doc 108′
Muscle Shoals is a town in Alabama where a particularly magical alchemy is at play. In the environment, the soil and the river there’s an enigmatic ingredient that allows for some of America’s most creative and defiant music to be made and recorded in the internationally acclaimed ‘Fame’ recording studio.
Greg “Freddy” Camalier’s passionate documentary charts the success of the studios, and the artists who have recorded there, seen through the story of one man, Rick Hall. His determination and sheer dogged perseverance in the face of his own tragic family background, got the whole phenomenon off the ground.
Despite setbacks, he placed the studio squarely in the firmament of stars of popular musical history as a haven for musicians to come together and make original music, backed by The Swampers, a caucasian band with a ‘black sound’ (“There was a misnomer that they were all black, but they weren’t”). This helped to sooth racial hostilities at a time where working together was considered unthinkable leading to segregated in the community.
Rick Hall (1932-2018) started as a musician who was rejected by his band for being an “all work and no play” type of guy. So he set up FAME in the late 1950s and hit the jackpot over night with the success of breakout hit “You Better Move On”. As a music producer, he was the equivalent of Stanley Kubrick: his thoroughness, inscrutable attention to detail and meticulous editing skills were at the heart of his success but occasionally make working with him a difficult process: “I thrived on rejection”, “but I knew that if they put the phone down unimpressed, they would never take another call from me.”
Combining stunning original footage, intercut with candid commentary from the likes of Bono, Clarence Carter, Greg Allman (pic), Aretha Franklin, Mick Jagger, a particularly engaging Keith Richards, Candi Staton and Steve Winwood and legendary producer Jerry Wexler, this is a thoroughly enjoyable music documentary. Anthony Arendt’s photography conjures up a real feeling for the natural beauty of the place set placidly on the Alabama River, Tennessee. Called the “Singing River” by Native Americans and it’s easy to imagine how this soothing setting can induce a positive effect on all who visit. Arendt is also responsible for the visuals in Avatar, Larry Crowne and music vids for Lenny Kravitz and Elton John.
Camalier has never attended film school so Muscle Schoals is born from is own instinct and visual sensibility as well as an appreciation for the art form. So enthused is he with his sjubject (he spent four years on this project) the man occasionally gets over-excited and introduces inappropriate forays into Hall’s personal life which, while adding insight, feel rather maudlin and incongruous with the otherwise upbeat tone of the piece. The last half hour or is a tad repetitive as he literally runs through a litany of artists who’ve recorded there.
That all said, this debut doc brims with charm and effervescence it seems churlish to criticise Camalier’s endeavour to bring storytelling and music together in a cogent and informative piece of filmmaking that charts iconic sounds of R&B, Pop and Rock from the 1050s right up to the present day with classic hits such as “Brown Sugar”, “Mainstreet” and “When A Man Loves A Woman”. MT
MUSCLE SHOALS IS ON digital platforms and DVD