'By the mid-'60s it had become a hotbed for pop musicians of various stripes, including the Rolling Stones, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Clarence Carter, Solomon Burke and Percy Sledge,' according to the Los Angeles Times. Hall then assembled a new studio band, including Spooner Oldham, Jimmy Johnson, David Hood, and Roger Hawkins, and continued to produce hit records. However, in 1964, Hall's regular session group - David Briggs, Norbert Putnam, Jerry Carrigan, Earl 'Peanut' Montgomery, and Donnie Fritts - became frustrated at being paid minimum union-scale wages by Hall, and left Muscle Shoals to set up a studio of their own in Nashville, Tennessee. Hall's successes continued after the Atlanta-based agent Bill Lowery brought him acts to record, and the studio produced hits for Tommy Roe, Joe Tex, the Tams, and Jimmy Hughes. Hall wrote: 'Black music helped broaden my musical horizons and open my eyes and ears to the widespread appeal of the so-called 'race' music that later became known as 'rhythm and blues'. Though Hall grew up in a culture dominated by country music, he had a love of R&B music and, in the highly segregated state of Alabama, regularly flouted local policies and recorded many black musicians. In that era, his musicians included Norbert Putnam, David Briggs, Peanut Montgomery and Jerry Carrigan. The song was recorded by others too, including the Rolling Stones in 1964. That song became the first gold record in the history of Muscle Shoals at the time, Hall had licensed it to Dot Records. The commercial success of the record gave Hall the financial resources to establish a new, larger FAME recording studio on Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals. Hall's first success as a producer in a small studio was with one of his first recordings, Arthur Alexander's ' You Better Move On' in 1961. However, in 1960, Sherrill and Stafford dissolved the partnership, leaving Hall with rights to the studio name. In 1959, Hall and Sherrill accepted an offer from Tom Stafford, the owner of a recording studio, to help set up a new music publishing company in the town of Florence, to be known as Florence Alabama Music Enterprises, or FAME. 'We would sit up and talk until 2 o'clock in the morning and Sam would tell me, 'Rick, don't go to Nashville, because they'll eat your soul alive.' I wanted to be like Sam - I wanted to be somebody special.' Success with FAME Studios During a 2015 interview with The New York Times, Hall recalled those early days. Producer Sam Phillips, originally from Florence, Alabama, was an early mentor. They named their company FAME (Florence Alabama Music Enterprises) and opened their first primitive studio above a drugstore. In 1960, he started a company based in Florence, Alabama, together with fellow ex-Fairlanes member Billy Sherrill, the future producer of Tammy Wynette's records. He had his first songwriting successes in the late 1950s, when George Jones recorded his song ' Achin', Breakin' Heart', Brenda Lee recorded ' She'll Never Know', and Roy Orbison recorded ' Sweet and Innocent'. Hall left the Fairlanes to concentrate on becoming a songwriter and record producer. He also began writing songs at that time. Subsequently, Hall formed a new R&B group, the Fairlanes, with Billy Sherrill, fronted by the singer Dan Penn, with Hall playing bass. The group appeared on a weekly regional radio show at WERH in Hamilton. He later began moving around the area playing guitar, mandolin, and fiddle with a local group, Carmol Taylor and the Country Pals, and first met saxophonist Billy Sherrill. When both his new bride Faye and his father died within a two-week period in 1957, he suffered depression and began drinking regularly. When Hall returned to Alabama he resumed factory life, working for Reynolds Aluminum in Florence. When he was drafted for the Korean War, he declared himself a conscientious objector, joined the honor guard of the Fourth United States Army, and played in a band that also included Faron Young and the fiddler Gordon Terry. Hall moved to Rockford, Illinois, as a teenager, working as an apprentice toolmaker, and began playing in local bar bands. His father was a gospel music fan and his uncle gave Rick a mandolin at age 6. According to The Guardian, Dollie worked in a bordello after leaving the family. Hall was born into a family of sharecroppers in Forest Grove, Tishomingo County, Mississippi to Herman Hall, a sawmill worker and sharecropper and his wife, Dollie Dimple Daily Hall he had one sister.Īfter his mother left home when young Hall was aged 4, he, along with his sister was raised in rural poverty by his father and grandparents in Franklin County, Alabama. 2 Early career as musician and songwriter.

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