This week on the BIG show, we continue our salute to Black Music Month as we talk with director, Greg “Freddy” Camilier about his musical passion documentary on the legendary FAME studios with the backup band, The Swampers, subject of the upcoming documentary, Muscle Shoals.
Located alongside the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals, Alabama is the unlikely breeding ground for some of America’s most creative and defiant music. Under the spiritual influence of the ‘Singing River’ as Native Americans called it, the music of Muscle Shoals changed the world and sold millions upon millions of copies. At its heart is Rick Hall who founded FAME Studios.
Overcoming crushing poverty and staggering tragedies, he brought black and white together in Alabama’s cauldron of racial hostility to create music for the generations while giving birth to the ‘Muscle Shoals Sound’ and ‘The Swampers’. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Gregg Allman, Clarence Carter, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Bono, and others bear witness to Muscle Shoals’ magnetism, mystery, and why it remains influential today.
Plus, we’ll have entertainment news and reviews of the latest films including World War Z on Episode 204 of Keeping It Reel with FilmGordon.
Listen to the show below: