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A BRIEF HISTORY OF “God is in the details”, said Gustave Flaubert, but had he been with Cher in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in April 1969, he might have used the equally popular version of that quote: “The devil is in the details”. At Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, 3614 Jackson Highway, Pop Diva Cher was immersed in a swampy southern Soul miasma. Spurred by record company handlers and gritty rhythm and blues support, she strutted with attitude yet cried with the softness of a new mother. The resulting album was titled ‘3614 Jackson Highway’. Think ‘Dusty In Memphis’ with a Cherokee twist. The cover even showed Cher in a beaded Indian outfit with moccasins and headband. Despite its undeniable artistic merits, Cher’s ‘3614 Jackson Highway’ quickly sank into obscurity. To this day, Cher’s entire solo stint on Atco has been utterly neglected. But thanks to Rhino Handmade, the devilish DETAILS of this pivotal period can finally be examined.
In 1969-70, Sonny & Cher were running for their lives, pursued by an erupting volcano of debt that roared like a wounded behemoth, heaved like a tortured titan and then burst into flames as it threatened to bury their career achievements and future prospects. Cher’s ‘3614 Jackson Highway’ album represented just one facet of a sweeping re-invention program masterminded by Sonny Bono with the help of manager Joe DeCarlo. Driven by financial need, Sonny's ambitious, multi-directional effort was also inspired by the birth of daughter, Chastity Sun Bono on 4 March 1969.
The re-invention blitz included: · New musical director Greg Poree (March 1969-May 1970), · Sonny & Cher’s new adult-oriented live act, · Sonny & Cher’s “You’re A Friend Of Mine” / “I Would Marry You Today” (Atco single 45-6683, Cash Box review 31 May 1969), · Cher’s “I Walk On Guilded Splinters” / “Chastity’s Song (Band Of Thieves)” (Atco single 45-6684, Cash Box review 14 June 1969), · Cher’s ‘Chastity’ film (Variety review 25 June 1969), · The ‘Chastity Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’ (Atco album SD 33-302, Released 20 June 1969, Billboard review 26 July 1969), · Cher’s ‘3614 Jackson Highway’ (Atco album SD 33-298, Released 20 June 1969, Cash Box review 26 July 1969) and · Cher’s “For What It’s Worth” / “(Just Enough To Keep Me) Hangin’ On” (Atco single 45-6704, Billboard review 16 August 1969). When the blitz began, Sonny & Cher were still not legally married. So on the ‘B’ side of “You’re A Friend Of Mine”, Sonny reaffirmed his intentions by reviving “I Would Marry You Today”, the last gleaming remnant of his psychedelic ‘Inner Views’ (Atco album SD 33-229, full page ad in the first issue of Rolling Stone 9 November 1967). See Rhino Handmade’s expanded edition of Sonny’s ‘Inner Views’ (CD RHM2 7704, released 11 October 1999, Billboard 11 December 1999, MOJO review February 2000, Record Collector review March 2000).
According to his 1991 autobiography ‘And The Beat Goes On’, Sonny was excluded from all decision making aspects of Cher’s ‘3614 Jackson Highway’ album: “Not only did I lose my role as producer, my credibility went out the window too”. Sonny excluded from a Cher project? What?! He had practically CREATED Cher! By early 1969, Sonny had produced six Top Ten records and penned numerous other chart items! But Sonny & Cher hadn’t had a big hit since “The Beat Goes On” (Atco single 45-6461, Billboard review 7 January 1967, entered Billboard 14 January 1967, #8). And their most recent chart entry had been the Mark Barkan-penned “Good Combination” (Atco single 45-6541, Billboard review 9 December 1967, entered Billboard 16 December 1967, #56). The follow-ups, “Circus” (Atco single 45-6555, Cash Box review 10 February 1968) and “You Gotta Have A Thing Of Your Own” (Atco single 45-6605, Cash Box review 17 August 1968), had not charted at all. And when Cher joined Sonny & Cher on Atco in late 1968, her most recent solo hit was “You Better Sit Down, Kids” (Imperial single 66261, entered Cash Box 28 October 1967, #8). Her final Imperial single, “Take Me For A Little While” (Imperial 66307, released 7 June 1968), had not charted, leading to the kiss of death ‘Cher’s Golden Greats’ (Imperial album 12406, entered Cash Box 16 November 1968, #74, Billboard #195). Sonny did produce Cher's Atco debut, "Yours Until Tomorrow" / "The Thought Of Loving You" (Atco single 45-6658, masters assigned 7 January 1969, Billboard review 8 March 1969). Despite excellent Don Peake arrangements and a few trade magazine ads, the single vanished without a trace. So Atlantic Executive Vice President Jerry Wexler, Atlantic Vice President In Charge of Engineering Tom Dowd and Atlantic A&R director Arif Mardin produced Cher’s ‘3614 Jackson Highway’ album. Not coincidentally, the same team had recently produced Dusty Springfield’s ‘Dusty In Memphis’ (Atlantic album SD 8214, released 17 January 1969, Cash Box review 1 February 1969, entered Billboard 15 March 1969, #99). According to ‘Rhythm and the Blues: A Life in American Music’ by Jerry Wexler and David Ritz, all vocals on ‘Dusty In Memphis’ were cut in New York. Regarding Cher’s ‘3614 Jackson Highway’ sessions, Wexler wrote, “I picked up pneumonia and went to the hospital before the actual singing started, so Dowd and Mardin took over. I never made it to the control room.” Jerry Wexler did select the songs for Cher’s album, including three controversial tunes from Bob Dylan’s just-released ‘Nashville Skyline’ album (Cash Box review 19 April 1969).
The '3614 Jackson Highway' sessions day by day: Monday, 21 April 1969: Eddie Hinton’s “Save The Children” (strings, French horn, no backing vocals) and Dylan’s “I Threw It All Away” (Soul horns, gospel backing vocals). Tuesday, 22 April 1969: Dylan’s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” (Soul horns, no backing vocals). Wednesday, 23 April 1969: “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” (assertive, at times indignant lead vocal, Soul horns, no backing vocals), “For What It’s Worth” (male and female backing vocals), “(Just Enough To Keep Me) Hangin’ On” (strings, gospel backing vocals) and the unreleased now lost Laura Nyro cut “Wedding Bell Blues” (Master 17005). Thursday, 24 April 1969: “(Sitting On) The Dock Of The Bay” (Soul horns, no backing vocals or whistling at end!) and “I Walk On Guilded Splinters” (Soul horns, backing vocals, sizzling organ). Friday, 25 April 1969: the unreleased and now lost Eddie Hinton-Dan Penn-Wayne Jackson cut “Always David” (Master 17007). Marlin Greene soon produced a hit version of “Always David” by Ruby Winters (Diamond single 265, Billboard review 30 August 1969, Billboard R&B #23). In February 1969 The Sweet Inspirations had recorded "Always David" (Master 16453, 'Sweets For My Sweet,' Atlantic album SD 8225 released 20 June 1969) at FAME with Mardin, Dowd, Johnson, Hinton, Beckett, Hood and Hawkins. The Sweet Inspirations' excellent version of "Always David" (3:26) can now be heard on the Stereo 'Sweets For My Sweets' reissue CD (Spy 46004-2, released 19 November 2002). Saturday, 26 April to Tuesday, 29 April 1969: Sonny & Cher in California to visit seven-week-old daughter Chastity. Wednesday, 30 April 1969: “Cry Like A Baby” (Soul horns, restrained backing vocals) and “Please Don’t Tell Me” (strings, no horns or backing vocals). This date also included the unreleased and sadly, now lost Sonny & Cher track “Honey Lamb” (Master 16887). Sonny & Cher then flew to London to appear on ABC-TV’s ‘This Is Tom Jones’ Friday, 2 May 1969. The duo performed “Yours Until Tomorrow” and “Just A Little”, the unreleased Gold Star version of which had been recorded 26 March 1969 (Master 28664). Interviewed by New Musical Express (“Sonny & Cher Kill Old Image”, 10 May 1969), Sonny focused on the ‘Chastity’ film with no mention of Alabama. The couple next traveled to New York for a spot on ABC-TV’s ‘Joey Bishop Show’ Friday, 9 May 1969. Sonny & Cher returned to Muscle Shoals by Wednesday 14 May 1969 to cut Cher’s “Lay Baby Lay” (“A Whiter Shade Of Pale” organ, no strings, horns or backing vocals). ‘3614 Jackson Highway’ was previewed for Atlantic Records’ promotion and sales departments at the Hilton Plaza Hotel in Miami 23-25 May 1969 and officially presented at summer sales confabs in Chicago, New York and Hollywood 20 June 1969. Reflecting Atlantic’s high expectations, the vinyl album was unleashed in a Stereo commercial version, an alternate Stereo Promotional version and a CSG (Compatible Stereo Generator) Monaural Sample version. ‘3614 Jackson Highway’ also saw release on cassette, reel-to-reel and 8-Track tape.
In addition, Atco delivered a seven inch Promotional EP: “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” / “(Just Enough To Keep Me) Hangin’ On” / “For What It’s Worth” / “Please Don’t Tell Me” (Atco EP 4537, Stereo and Mono editions). The commercial fortunes of Cher’s ‘3614 Jackson Highway’ may have been adversely affected by the album’s packaging. For example, the only colour photo of Cher was hidden in the interior of the flimsy UNIPAK gatefold sleeve. And the all-important song titles were not even listed on the exterior of the album cover. And the entire album concept centered on the address of a brand new, completely unknown studio. Cher’s 21 April 1969 “Save The Children” date was the first session ever held at Muscle Shoals Sound. The studio did not generate a hit until the Ahmet Ertegun-produced “Take A Letter Maria” by R. B. Greaves (Master 17634 recorded 19 August 1969, Atco single 45-6714, Cash Box review 27 September 1969, entered Billboard’s Bubbling Under 11 October 1969, #2). Fred Bevis originally converted 3614 Jackson Highway into a four-track recording studio. Various sources claim the location was formerly a funeral home, casket warehouse or casket factory.
In early 1969 Jimmy Johnson (guitar), Barry Beckett (piano, electric piano, organ), David Hood (bass) and Roger Hawkins (drums) purchased the building for $14,000 and upgraded to eight-track. The musicians previously served as the house band at Rick Hall’s nearby FAME (Florence Alabama Music Enterprises) studio in Muscle Shoals. "A lot of the artists we worked with, especially at first, thought we were black", Hood told the Times Daily. "I was flattered by that, because most of the artists we liked were black. We loved that music, and we felt we had earned the right to play it”. Before founding Muscle Shoals Sound, varying combinations of Johnson, Beckett, Hood and Hawkins had played on major hits like “When A Man Loves A Woman” and “Take Time To Know Her” by Percy Sledge, “I’m Your Puppet” by James and Bobby Purify, “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)” by Aretha Franklin, “Sweet Soul Music” by Arthur Conley and “Slip Away” and “Making Love (At The Dark End Of The Street)” by Clarence Carter. So in terms of session credits, Johnson, Beckett, Hood and Hawkins were highly respected. But the black and white ‘3614 Jackson Highway’ cover photo buried Cher in a hazy sea of unidentified and mostly unfamiliar faces. Front row, left to right: guitarist Eddie Hinton, bassist David Hood, Sonny Bono, CHER, producer Jerry Wexler, background vocalist Jeannie Greene, background vocalist Donna Thatcher and producer Tom Dowd. Back row, left to right: lead guitarist Jimmy Johnson, producer Arif Mardin, drummer Roger Hawkins and keyboardist Barry Beckett. Missing: background vocalists Mary Holiday and Sue Pilkington. Sonny Bono and Arif Mardin wear t-shirts depicting legendary University of Alabama Crimson Tide coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant walking on water underscored by the slogan “I Believe”. Many musicians were not shown on the ‘3614 Jackson Highway’ album cover or mentioned in the credits. Cher’s horn section(s) probably involved Andrew Love, Charles Chalmers or Joe Arnold on tenor sax, Floyd Newman or James Mitchell on baritone sax, Wayne Jackson, Gene ‘Bowlegs’ Miller or Ben Cauley on trumpet and Joseph DeAngelis or Earl Chapin on French horn. Cher’s string section would have been directed by Arif Mardin and probably led by Gene Orloff on viola. On 6 December 1968, just prior to the founding of Muscle Shoals Sound, Wexler, Dowd, Johnson, Beckett, Hood, and Hawkins worked with guitarist Duane Allman at FAME on Arthur Conley’s “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” session (Masters 15812-15817, Atco single 45-6640, Cash Box review 21 December 1968, ‘More Sweet Soul’, Atco album SD 33-276, Cash Box review 15 February 1969). Since Duane Allman played on ‘Boz Scaggs’ (Atlantic album SD 8239, recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound 5-10 May 1969, Variety review 10 September 1969) and Lulu’s ‘New Routes’ (Atco album SD 33-310, recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound 10 September and 2 October 1969, released 16 January 1970, Billboard review 7 February 1970, #88), one might also suspect Allman contributions on Cher’s ‘3614 Jackson Highway’, especially “For What It’s Worth”, “(Sitting On) The Dock Of The Bay”, “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” and “Cry Like A Baby”. While ‘3614 Jackson Highway’ aimed to re-establish Cher as a contemporary recording artist, ‘Chastity’ sought to elevate her to full-blown motion picture stardom. New York Times: "The film, which was written and produced by Sonny Bono, stars only Cher, a tall, graceful girl with long black hair and a lovely, impassive oval face. Chastity wears tight brown slacks, a tight mauve jersey top and an air of arrogant indolence as she hitchhikes around the southwest, searching for life's meaning and being generally disagreeable to the unfortunate people who pick her up". Time: “Cher is on-screen for virtually the whole film and still handles herself with an easy flair. She clearly enjoys playing a side-of-the-mouth, post-teeny-bopper bitch, and even brings off the role’s dark comedy”. CUE: “What is Cher without Sonny? The singer, having made her mark as half of the successful team, is now on film as an actress. All of her. The long hair, the intriguing face, the lithe body (exposed). Cher has a marvelous quality that often makes you forget the lines you are hearing. Her manner can be described as a combination of tough, disinterested, unhappy, self-critical and deadpan, offset by sudden jaunty movements of her flexible body. She can be funny and touching in the dry way few actresses can manage”. The only major film directed by Alessio de Paola, ‘Chastity’ was distributed by American International Pictures, a company known for the sexploitation / biker films ‘Dr. Goldfoot And The Girl Bombs’, ‘Wild Angels’, ‘Hell’s Angels ‘69’, ‘3 In The Attic’ and ‘Wild In The Streets’. The ads screamed, MEET CHASTITY. SHE PICKED OUT HER NAME HERSELF-- BUT NOT FOR ANY REASON YOU’D THINK! And SHE’S NOT JUST A GIRL…SHE’S AN EXPERIENCE! PICK HER UP IF YOU DARE! And WHAT’S THE TROUBLE WITH CHASTITY? And CHASTITY-- SHE’S MUCH TOO MUCH WOMAN FOR ANY MAN’S GOOD. And THIS IS CHASTITY. SHE NEEDS MEN LIKE A GAMBLER NEEDS MONEY AND SHE THROWS THEM AWAY JUST AS FAST. ‘Chastity’ opened 24 June 1969. Chicago hosted the Midwest premiere at the McVickers Theatre, Friday, 15 August 1969. Sonny & Cher promoted the event for three days and were presented on the theatre’s stage by WCFL dj Jimmy P. Stagg. For the week ending 13 August 1969, ‘Chastity’ peaked as Variety’s #14 film showing in thirty-one theatres in three cities. For the week ending 20 August 1969 it ranked as the #49 film showing in two theatres in two cities. The ‘Chastity Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’ (Atco album SD 33-302, Billboard 4 Star review 26 July 1969) featured only one Cher vocal: “Chastity’s Song (Band Of Thieves)”: “Hushabye, / My lonesome child / Now don’t you cry. / Mama’s gonna bring you somethin’ / Gonna get you high. / Never you mind how I came here / I just knew someone was lame here. / Hushabye. / So long I’ve carried this load / Feel like I’ve never been born. / So long I’ve traveled this road / Feel like I’m weary, I’m worn. / What about the Good Times?” "Chastity’s Song", originally titled just "Band Of Thieves", first appeared on composer Elyse J. Weinberg’s 'Elyse'(Tetragrammaton album T-117, Cash Box review 17 May 1969). Elyse is not credited in the film. An unidentified male (Denis Pregnolato?) contributed the only other vocal on the 'Chastity Original Motion Picture Soundtrack': Flowers Love Of A Family / Each one like the one before / The children who clung so near to me / Aren’t clingin’ any more / And the mourners unwanted and pushed about / For their memories all have died / Water the flowers with the tears they cry / All along the countryside. / Karma, be good to us / For we’ve all been fools before. / Some dwell in prosperity / Some dwell in a hole / Some find happiness in a groove / While others stand alone.
Side One:
Side Two:
CHASTITY ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK
Chastity's Song (Band Of Thieves)
All other As the 'Chastity' film and Atco products flooded the marketplace, Sonny & Cher premiered a new nightclub act at Windsor, Ontario’s Elmwood Casino in June and Las Vegas’ Flamingo Hotel in July 1969. Variety: “Sonny is proud of Cher and wants more of her songs heard by a more adult public. The team is out to break the Sonny & Cher kook image without losing the kid followers”. Musical director Greg Poree contributed to the success of Sonny & Cher’s new live act. Poree also led the Pop / Soul band Black Magic. Due to Sonny’s sponsorship, Black Magic’s ‘Where Love Is’ (Atco album SD 33-305, Masters assigned 22 October 1969, released 16 January 1970) was credited as “A Sonny & Cher Presentation”. Billboard review 28 February 1970: “Here is an unknown group which must be watched because it knows where it’s all at. Starting out as songwriters, publishers, arrangers and rhythm section for Sonny & Cher, the group decided to produce an album of its own. The result is funky, exciting and marks the beginning of big things for Black Magic”. Black Magic members Greg and Anita Poree and Jerry Peters composed and arranged for the Friends Of Distinction including “I Really Hope You Do” (‘B’ side of “Grazing In The Grass”, RCA single 74-0107, Cash Box review 15 February 1969) and “Going In Circles” (RCA single 74-0204, Cash Box review 19 July 1969). Cher performed "The First Time" on CBS-TV's Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour Wednesday, 19 November 1969. And Cher's fourth single of 1969 was "The First Time" / "You've Made Me So Very Happy" (Atco single 45-6713, masters assigned 11 September 1969, Variety review 19 November 1969). Thanks to Greg Poree's imaginative arrangement, "The First Time" was a crowning achievement, with swelling strings, instrumental flourishes and a powerful opening and closing orchestral theme. Cher re-recorded “The First Time” on ‘Foxy Lady’ (Kapp album KRS-5514, released 10 July 1972, Billboard review 22 July 1972, entered Billboard 29 July 1972, #43). The re-done "First Time” also appeared on the ‘B’ side of Cher’s “Don’t Hide Your Love” (Kapp single K-2184, entered Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart 16 September 1972, #19). In November 1998, Cher even wrote a book titled ‘The First Time’ (Simon and Schuster). From late February through 12 March 1970, Sonny & Cher performed in San Francisco. Cash Box: “It’s a long and seldom traveled road that leads from the Whisky A-Go-Go to the very plush Venetian Room of the Fairmont Hotel (and next month, to L.A.’s Westside Room), but the Atco Records duo have made the transition smoothly. Cher’s version of ‘I Believe’, which takes a sudden twist at the end, could make a heavy single”. Sonny & Cher began a two-week stint at the Waldorf Astoria’s Empire Room on 1 June 1970. Billboard: “Cher is a persuasive song stylist and Sonny is a superior songwriter and arranger. Musicianship will always be in style and they could still be delivering some hot disk product to their Atco label”. Sonny & Cher’s final new release on Atco was the hot Harold Battiste, Jr.-arranged swamp-rocker “Get It Together” (Atco single 45-6758, Masters assigned 20 April 1970, Billboard review 13 June 1970). Greg Poree arranged the soulful ‘B’ side, “Hold You Tighter”, which featured Black Magic’s N. d'Oberoff and Annesther on backup vocals. Written in November 1969, “Hold You Tighter” referred to the expanded Bono family: “It seems kinda funny / That it ain’t just you and me / The number was two / And now we’ve changed into three / We added one more colour / And the colour made us brighter / But to keep our rainbow glowin’ / We’ve gotta be a fighter”. Sonny: “We named her Chastity Sun. Chastity because she was conceived while we shot the like-titled movie; and Sun because she brought light into our lives.” Additionally, Chastity was Sonny’s name for Cher, Sun (Son) was Cher’s name for Sonny and Chastity Sun became the embodiment of CHERSONNY. Cher’s final new release on Atco was the Stan Vincent-produced “Superstar” (Atco single 45-6793, Master assigned between 7 and 16 October 1970, Billboard review 7 November 1970). Known for the Buddah hits, “I’m Gonna Make You Mine” by Lou Christie and “Ooh Child” by the Five Stairsteps, Vincent was recruited by Jerry Greenberg, Atlantic’s Head of Pop Promotion. In September 1970 Vincent discussed “Superstar” with Sonny & Cher at the Cave Theatre-Restaurant in Vancouver, British Columbia. Recorded at Allegro Studios in New York City, “Superstar” featured fiery solos from guitarist Hugh McCracken, drums by Bobby Howe, trumpet by Jimmy Sedler and Bob McCoy, sax by George Young and trombone by Alan Raff and Morty Bullman. The only number cut during the session, “Superstar” appeared on a one-sided white label DJ single, as noted in Variety’s review. After the Carpenters’ successful 1971 version, Cher re-claimed “Superstar” on ‘Sonny & Cher In Las Vegas, Volume 2’ (MCA album 2-8004, released 15 October 1973, Billboard review 27 October 1973, entered Billboard 22 December 1973, #175). From 20 August-9 September 1970 Sonny & Cher played the Blue Room at New Orleans’ Roosevelt Hotel. On Sunday, 25 October 1970, Variety found Sonny & Cher at the Flamingo in Las Vegas: “With all the comparatively new and beautiful tunes in the pair’s book, oddly the big one is [Cher’s] powerful ‘Danny Boy’. Next to this in effectiveness is “Hey Jude”, with its orgiastic ending, featuring her deliberately monotonous, mesmerizing riff on the wordless vocal, while Sonny rips up the keyboard and their musical director, Harold Battiste, blows some fine tenor sax”. Sonny & Cher landed on Kapp Records in March 1971. The instantly popular ‘Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour’ premiered on CBS-TV 1 August 1971. Cher’s trademark “Gypsies, Tramps And Thieves” (Kapp single K-2146) was released 17 August 1971 and hit #1 in November. Accordingly, Atco reissued 1967’s ‘Best Of Sonny & Cher’ (Atco album SD 33-219, Billboard review 20 November 1971, Cash Box review 27 November 1971, #134) and resurrected Cher’s ‘3614 Jackson Highway’ cuts “(Just Enough To Keep Me) Hangin’ On” / “Lay Baby Lay” (Atco single 45-6868, Billboard review 25 December 1971, Cash Box review 1 January 1972). The Atco version of “(Just Enough To Keep Me) Hangin’ On” re-appeared on the ‘B’ side of Cher’s Phil Spector-produced Nilsson duet “A Love Like Yours (Don’t Come Knockin’ Every Day)” (Warner-Spector single SPS 0402, Record World review 8 February 1975; UK PSI single 2010 006, New Musical Express and Melody Maker reviews 12 July 1975). And in yet another ‘3614 Jackson Highway’ shake-up, Cher’s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You”, “I Walk On Guilded Splinters” and “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” surfaced on the Sonny & Cher compilation ‘The Beat Goes On’ (Atco album SD 11000, released mid-November 1975). Sonny & Cher
01. The Beat Goes On (Stereo) Billboard review 13 December 1975: "First set in the new Atlantic $4.98 line is a good collection of the biggest hits of this once monstrous duo. With Cher on TV weekly and Sonny still getting much exposure, sales should be helped even more. Best cuts: 'The Beat Goes On', 'I Got You Babe', 'Laugh At You' [sic!], 'Little Man'". Record World 27 December 1975, also failed to notice the unmarked Cher solo cuts. Cher’s Grammy- winning “Believe” became Billboard’s #1 single of 1999. But Cher’s solo Atco material has never been comprehensively reissued -- until now. Cher has finally come home. Listen to the sounds of southern Soul. With Cher and the Shoals, it’s easy to “Believe” a treasure has been re-discovered. POSTSCRIPT: Jackson Highway (Highway 43) was part of the Jackson Military Road that General (later President) Andrew Jackson traveled on the way from Nashville to Mobile, Pensacola and the Battle of New Orleans in 1814. Cher was not the only artist to taste the fruits of failure in the early days of Muscle Shoals Sound. Others included Arif Mardin (‘Glass Onion’, Atlantic album SD 8222, released 20 June 1969), Billy Vera and Judy Clay (“Reaching For The Moon”, Atlantic single 45-2654, recorded 12 May 1969), Sam & Dave (“Holdin’ On”, Atlantic single 45-2668, recorded 8 July 1969), Arthur Conley (“Star Review”, Atco single 45-6706, recorded 24 July 1969) and the previously mentioned Boz Scaggs. After glorifying the 3614 Jackson Highway studio at Cher’s expense, Atlantic switched horses in mid-stream, increasingly cutting at Atlantic South, Criteria Studios in Miami, beginning in August 1969. Declining to relocate, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, (Johnson, Beckett, Hood, Hawkins and Hinton), still participated in Criteria sessions for Aretha Franklin (‘This Girl’s In Love With You’, Atlantic album SD 8265, recorded 3 October 1969) and Wilson Pickett (‘Right On’, Atlantic album SD 8250, recorded 19 November 1969). Muscle Shoals Sound managed to cut Wilson Pickett’s “Don’t Knock My Love” (Atlantic single 45-2797, recorded 27 January 1971, Cash Box R&B #2) and Sam & Dave’s “Don’t Pull Your Love” (Atlantic single 45-2839, recorded 18 September 1971, Cash Box R&B #39). Later the studio had a multitude of hits on other labels, especially Stax (the Staple Singers’ “Respect Yourself”, Billboard #12 and “I’ll Take You There”, Billboard #1). In 1978 Muscle Shoals Sound Studio moved to 1000 Alabama Avenue, Sheffield, Alabama and was purchased by Malaco Records in 1985. 3614 Jackson Highway housed an audio shop, a rehearsal hall, a used appliance shop and a washer-dryer business. James Copeland installed a museum as well as 16-track analog / 32-track digital equipment. Current owner Noel Webster plans to operate a first-class recording studio while retaining the original ambience. And somewhere in the building, Cher still wails “I Walk On Guilded Splinters”. “For What It’s Worth”, indeed. THE ROAD TO JACKSON HIGHWAY
LOU CHRISTIE & THE TAMMYS'
LOU CHRISTIE &
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