Jimmy Hall Records Eddie Hinton Tribute

Posted: Mar 26, 2007 The South has given birth to some of America's greatest unsung heroes- hardworking , soul baring singers, writers and musicians. Rarely have two such talented heroes been brought together - blues rock singer Jimmy Hall, and the legendary Muscle Shoals musician and songwriter Eddie Hinton (1944 – 95). This tribute to Hinton, slated for release April 10th on Zoho Records, is the brainchild of producer Tallan Ware who stumbled across these long lost Hinton songs, and immediately fell in love with them. A conversation with Muscle Shoals legend Clayton Ivey resulted in the marriage of Hall's magnificent voice to Hinton's stellar body of work.An expert of the r&b era, Tallan wanted Jimmy Hall for the project, and enlisted Ivey in bringing him on board.

Tallan assembled the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Collective, an amazing list of Muscle Shoals A team players, including Clayton Ivey on keys, and David Hood on bass, Larry Byrom, previously guitarist with Steppenwolf, was enlisted as rhythm guitarist, and Jonathan Dees, son of Nashville studio session guitarist Bruce Dees, on drums. The magic was born at Sound Kitchen Studios in Franklin, Tennessee. Hall's duet with Delbert McClinton on "Still Want to Be Your Man" and Kira Small on "Salty" were the icing on the cake, resulting in an immensely powerful 11 tracks of classic, soulful blues in the lean, terse Muscle Shoals style of the late 1960s.

Jimmy and Tallan then asked guitarist Greg Martin of the Kentucky Headhunters to overdub lead guitar, and to create alternate versions of several key songs. Greg remixed several tracks into a more contemporary, groove-driven style with appeal to a younger rock audience. He added lead guitar solos and fills, including electric sitar riffs on “Salty”. When Jimmy and Tallan heard the new mixes, they decided to assemble the final CD out of both the “Jimmy and Tallan” and “Greg” mixes, adding two “Greg” mixes as bonus tracks following the original selection of 11 songs. -

Jerry Wexler once described Eddie Hinton as "the anointed one, the white Otis Redding". High praise from one of the industry's most revered producers, and veteran of the classic Muscle Shoals sound. Raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Hinton would grow up to be the house lead guitarist at Muscle Shoals Sound from 1968 until 1971, where he played on sessions with Wilson Pickett, Arthur Conley, Aretha Franklin, Joe Tex, Solomon Burke, Percy Sledge, The Staple Singers, The Dells, Elvis Presley, The Box Tops, Boz Scaggs, Otis Redding, and others.

Few could match his expert playing or craftsmanship in writing songs – which were recorded by Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, Bobby Womack, Cher, Tony Joe White, Gregg Allman, Bonnie Bramlett, Dusty Springfield, Lulu, The Box Tops, UB40, and the Nighthawks. It was truly a glorious time to be a musician. However all eras eventually come to an end, and the Muscle Shoals sound slowly faded away, as newer reggae, punk and disco sounds took over the airwaves.

As any devoted music lover knows, a singer is nothing without a great song, and a song is nothing without a great singer. Jimmy Hall and Eddie Hinton were destined to cross paths. Neither could possibly have known it would be in the 21st century. However, this singer and these songs were made to last forever.