Muscle Shoals Sound

Two famous studios and a crack quartet of session players made the modest Alabama city of Muscle Shoals a hotbed of cross-generational cool from the ‘60s on, producing such jaw-dropping soul classics as Aretha Franklin's “Respect” and Percy Sledge's “When a Man Loves a Woman.” That rich, earthy sound went on to attract reverent pilgrims like Paul Simon and Cat Stevens—and many more to this day.