On September 27, the movie Muscle Shoals will open in theaters. It is a documentary film that tells the story of a tiny town in North Alabama that was the breeding ground for some of America’s most creative and defiant music.
A group of unassuming, yet incredibly talented, locals came together and spawned some of the greatest music of all time: “Mustang Sally,” “I Never Loved a Man,” “Wild Horses,” and many more. During the most incendiary periods of racial hostility, white and black folks came together to create music that would last for generations and gave birth to the incomparable “Muscle Shoals sound.”
For more than a decade, beginning in the late 1960s, the area – a seemingly unlikely breeding ground -- reigned as the “Hit Recording Capital of the World.” More hits per capita were produced here than any other music center, and there were scores of gold records from dozens of artists.
The critically acclaimed movie documentary captivated audiences at the Sundance Film Festival in January. It is an inspiring story told through interviews, archival film footage, still photos and music clips featuring the creative forces and eccentric talents who recorded some of the most enduring and influential music of all time
At its heart is Rick Hall who founded FAME Studios. Overcoming crushing poverty and staggering tragedies, Hall brought black and white together in Alabama's cauldron of racial hostility to create music for the generations. He is responsible for creating the "Muscle Shoals sound" and The Swampers, the house band at FAME that eventually left to start their own successful studio, known as Muscle Shoals Sound.
As the word spread about the electrifying musical chemistry in this unexpected place, the likes of Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, the Staples Singers, the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Simon and Garfunkel magnetically followed suit. Interviewing an incredible roster of musicians, director Greg Camalier unearths a rich history of this unheralded gold mine of American music.
Greg Allman, Bono, Clarence Carter, Mick Jagger, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge and others bear witness to Muscle Shoals' magnetism, mystery and why it remains influential today.
Rolling Stone editor David Fricke described the song "I'll Take You There" by the Staple Singers as the "epitome of the Muscle Shoals Sound."
"I'll Take You There" was a number-one single by the soul/gospel family band The Staple Singers, released in February 1972. The song spent a total of fifteen weeks on the charts and reached number one on the Hot 100.
The film must be interesting. I listened to the Staple Singers tune you posted. Took me right back to the 70's. Can't believe it was so long ago. Thanks for the smile.
Great post. Learned some facts I wasn't aware of even living in the area all my life. One thing is I didn't know about the movie....a must see. Let's plan a day to go see the movie and lunch.
Should be seeing the play dates in local theaters soon. I understand it's to be limited distribution, but it better be opening here! If not, guess we'll have to wait for the DVD.
i had never heard of this movie. i'll watch for it. thx! there's a memphis connection there with sam phillips and the mississippi blues trail :)
There is indeed a Memphis connection and STAX records. Those were such talented musicians back in the day, some still going strong too!
The singer you refer to I believe is Susan Boyle, the Scottish singer who became an overnight sensation after she appeared on Britian's Got Talent. She did record Wild Horses, but my reference to it was the original Rolling Stones' version (written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards). They recorded it, as well as Brown Sugar, at the Muscle Shoals studios.
I do love Susan Boyle, but prefer the Stones' rendition of Wild Horses. It's my favorite of ALL their songs!!
There are a few foods I make each and every year for Christmas. These food traditions are embedded so deep in me that I don’t feel the holiday is complete unless I have them on hand.
(This cookie is known by other names, among them, Mexican Wedding Cookies. I have been making these crunchy little nuggets for more years than I can remember. It’s very easy.)
Mix well. Shape with fingers into crescents about 3 inches by 1 inch and ½ inch thick. (NOTE: To ensure consistency in size, I shape them into smallish balls, which is much easier than crescent shapes.) Roll in
Place on cookie sheets. Bake 35 minutes (but watch them so they don't get too brown. Cool. Roll in sugar again. Makes about 36.
Mix softened butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add flour in fourths; work into smooth dough. Chill Shape into 1-1/4 inch balls and press into small muffin pans to make shells.
Slowly beat sugar into eggs. Mix in butter, salt and vanilla. Place ½ teaspoon nuts in each shell, add filling to about ½ full. Top with more nuts. Bake 25 minutes at 350 until set. Better made 1-2 days ahead. Put waxed paper between layers to store. Keeps well.
Mix all ingredients in food processor or by hand. Roll into balls. May be frozen before baking and removing from freezer as needed. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 and bake for about 30 minutes. Just watch them to prevent overbrowning. Line cookie sheet with parchment to prevent sticking.
These are not the "prettiest" Christmas cookies to be found, but they are oh-so-melt-in-your-mouth good!
(A variation of the traditional gingerbread-type lebkuchen. This recipe, which uses no flour, is from my mother-in-law and my husband’s favorite cookie. She gave me the recipe in grams and I haven’t bothered to translate into ounces, as I have a scale that weighs in grams. I usually double or triple the recipe, as these don’t last long at our house. My mother-in-law always baked these on thin oblaten wafers but I find baking on parchment paper prevents sticking just as well.)
1 packet vanilla sugar (I don’t always have this on hand so I simply add about ½ teaspoon vanilla to 3 tablespoons sugar for a similar effect)
Bake 25-30 minutes. Best when aged in sealed tin a few days. Half an apply may be added to retain moistness.
(Nuts are best ground with a manual grinder in order to obtain a consistency similar to flour. If ground in a food processor the result is not the same. Regarding the citron, I simply chop it finely so as to not gum up the grinder with stickiness.)
If you bake these, I suggest baking a test cookie before loading up an entire cookie sheet. Why? Because oven temperatures vary and you don’t want these to cook too fast and brown over before getting fully baked. I find my cookies turn out better at 325 degrees and adding about 10 minutes to the baking time.
A colorful sweet bread for Christmas, and I made it for many years. But it dries out so fast that I have discontinued the tradition.....at least for now. Credit: The Swiss Colony
I used to bake Christmas Stollen each year, but after so many years of it drying out too quickly, I prefer just making a yeast bread Danish pastry, or purchasing a Panettone.
I have always wanted to make these cookies because of the way they look. I found one of the special cookie cutters this year, so this was my first attempt. I was not at all pleased with the difficulty involved, primarily because the dough stuck horribly inside the little design cut-out for the top cookie. I’m not bothering to post the recipe because I won’t be making these again! But they are quite good.
From the looks of my baking (and I have not featured everything here, as I also made chocolate truffles, haystacks, pumpkin cookies and peanut butter fudge) one might think we do lots of eating around here. The fact is that I give away many of these sweet treats.
Baking is a lot of trouble and takes much time. However, being in the kitchen is one of the ways I enjoy Christmas. Put on the music, light a pine or cinnamon scented candle and bake away!
A beautiful selection of Christmas goodies, Sanda, and I have never made one of them! The Pecan Tassies look particularly interesting and I would like to try making them. Yes, the Linzer cookies are very pretty and perfect for Christmas but I can see how tedious it would be to make them. Merry Christmas to you and your family, Sanda, and enjoy Little Katie's first Christmas!
Fortunately, now three days past Christmas, most of this baking is gone - most of it given away. To keep it around would be a great temptation!
Oh heavens! Do you ever bake at Christmas! Mom and I used to stay up late the night before my office party to make Christmas cookies for everyone - I can remember decorated sugar cookies, chocolate crinkles and oatmeal and apple cookies. Everyone loved them. I never make a cookie without remembering those evenings. I've left cooking baking behind for the most part and now make spice cakes to give as gifts. Over the year I put fruit in the freezer if it's not quite nice enough to enjoy raw. Then I pull it out, peel and puree and make it into moist, fragrant cakes. I have a few of those yet to make - best put down this silly computer and get on with it!
I'm sure that is a great memory for you - baking Christmas cookies with your mother. I hope you got your cakes made as planned.
You've been busy. I make Mexican Wedding Cakes every year but my recipe is a bit different and the cookie is flattened with a fork. I also make Candy Cane cookies, and some good old Toll House Choc. Chip because those are DH's favorite. All those baked early and frozen. I bake lemon bars right before I need to deliver them as a gift - they don't keep so well.
I do love a good cookie for breakfast, and think if you're going to eat sweets, it's best to do it early in the day. I love anything with lemon and imagine your bars are quite good.
The only cake I have heard of is the stollen,I do have one for Christmas from the German shop as they orignated there +have no marzipan,as many others do.
Mince pies are not so popular here. I once made one and they aren't my favorite. Some of the more traditional things we eat at Christmas are fruit cake, ham, cheese balls/logs (primarily of cheddar cheese). These preferences vary regionally here in the States. Stollen might be more popular in the Midwest, where many Germans settled, Panetone in NYC with its heavy Italian settlements. Then there's the Lane Cake,turkey and cranberry sauce and mounds of fresh oranges which everyone wants to have on hand at Christmas. And let's not forget the peppermint sticks!
This year is now a quiet one. i am going to my second son's house.the one who got married to dear Sasha in August.. so they are doing all the work this year.. i have just been asked to help with stuffing for the turkey.
Val, I hope you had a nice visit with your son and his new wife at Christmas. I am sure they had wonderful food prepared for the feast. I suppose it's now time for all of us to get back on track with ordinary eating patterns. And thank YOU for following my blog.
I have been known to call myself "a jack of all trades and master of none." Imagine what I might have accomplished in life had I been true to only one calling.
Ooh, sausage balls. They are one of my favorites and I see that we use almost the same recipe. Men really love these. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
I hope you enjoyed your Christmas, and that you had sausage balls as well! They are so good; I could eat them every day. I've seen a recipe for sausage rolls, made with puff pastry, which I want to try out soon.
The Viennese crescent rolls look fabulous and from the ingredients are not too high in calories.. (I said the dreaded word)
Hi Helen, the Viennese crescents literally melt in your mouth due to all that butter (which is the only bad ingredient I suppose) but butter is what makes food taste so good IMO. Time to get back on yogurt for me! Enjoy what remains of the holiday season.
These are the 10 beautiful churches in our Harton Benefice. Each is uniquely different and most are open to visitors during the day - although it would be advisable to contact a churchwarden before your visit just to make sure. We hope that you enjoy our photos and short history of these delightful places of worship, Do use our links to find contacts and generally to discover what is happening and where.
You will be welcome at any of the services. Children are especially welcome. Please feel free to introduce yourself to any member of the regular congregation at the entrance - and do not worry if you are unfamiliar with the order of service. Someone will always guide you through it and we are very informal!
Our Benefice is part of a larger group called a Deanery, which in turn is part of the York Archdeaconry and ultimately the Diocese of York. Follow the link below to find a chart showing how we fit in with the Church of England.
The prayer below shows how we, as part of our Archdeaconry, are committed to Mission activities in partnership with each other, that we might share the love of God through Jesus Christ in our worship and daily lives:
Build up your people in this Archdeaconry of York, we pray, and make your churches places of generosity and welcome, that we might nurture disciples of your Son.
May we seek to work as partners in mission, desiring the guidance and strength of the Holy Spirit, as we live out your Gospel in our parishes.
This prayer was used at the Deanery Communion Service in St Peter’s Church Norton on Advent Sunday 2015
The historic and delightful building of St Botolph, Bossall is nestling in wonderful North Yorkshire countryside. Though the community is tiny, its history is of great interest. The cruciform building emerges into sight set against incredible scenery. Lovingly looked after in its 800 year history St Botolph is a place of supreme spiritual presence.