Rick Hall, 'Father of Muscle Shoals Music,' dead at 85

Rick Hall, the producer and songwriter who put Muscle Shoals, Ala., on the map of American music, died at his home there Jan. 2 at 85 after a long illness. "Through FAME, his publishing company and studio, Hall made Muscle Shoals synonymous with a sound of soul, R&B and country that often featured sparkling, ultra-live percussive sounds and vocal performances that seem simultaneously removed and intimate," Andrew Flanagan reports for NPR.

Hall was born in Mississippi and raised in Franklin County, Alabama, next to Muscle Shoals. His childhood was marked by poverty and a dysfunctional family, the shame of which made him a tough businessman determined to succeed, he told roots music journal No Depression.

Hall said Sun Records' co-founder Sam Phillips, who first recorded Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Roy Orbison and more, was an early mentor and a big influence on him. "The pair, two white record producers from the south, would each have a deep impact on the history of African-American music of the twentieth century," Flanagan reports.

Hall's career began taking off after co-writing Roy Orbison's "Sweet and Innocent" with Billy Sherrill. The pair established FAME, which Hall moved to Muscle Shoals after parting ways with Sherrill, who went on to a great producing career in country music. After local hotel bellhop Arthur Alexander recorded surprise hit "You Better Move On" with FAME, the studio was able to afford to move to its current location.

"From there, Hall began producing some of the most indelible soul and R&B recordings of the century: Aretha Franklin's 'I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You),' Etta James' cover of 'Tell Mama' (the original version of which was also recorded at FAME), Otis Redding's 'You Left the Water Running' and Wilson Pickett's cover of 'Mustang Sally' among them," Flanagan reports.

Though there's no doubt Hall made an indelible impression on American music, he received little professional recognition. He was nominated for a Grammy Award as a producer in 1974, his only nomination before being named a National Trustee in 2014 -- an honor reserved for those who have made significant contributions to the field of recording other than singing. He began to get more recognition after he was the subject for the 2013 documentary Muscle Shoals.

Flanagan reports that, after hearing about Hall's death, country star Jason Isbell said Hall gave him his first job in the music business, and that "nobody in the industry ever worked harder than Rick. Nobody. American music wouldn't be the same without his contributions. His death is a huge loss to those of us who knew him and those who didn't."