In April of this year, Steven Tyler interrupted his solo tour to visit the Florence Alabama Music Enterprises (FAME) Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and record a compilation titled Muscle Shoals … Small Town, Big Sound.
The album will be released on September 28 and will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the studio and the legacy of co-founder Rick Hall, who passed away in January. Hall’s son, Rodney, was responsible for producing and curating the album featuring Jamey Johnson, Willie Nelson, Chris Stapleton, Lee Ann Womack, Brent Smith (Shinedown), and others.
To present a sample of the collaborative album, the version of “Brown Sugar” of the Rolling Stones that Steven Tyler sang alongside Nuno Bettencourt was released. The track was originally recorded by the British at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in late 1969 for the album Sticky Fingers (1971).
Check it out:
Party of money raised by selling Muscle Shoals … Small Town, Big Sound will be donated to the Grammy Foundation and other foundations that support the preservation of Muscle Shoals’ musical culture.
Muscle Shoals…Small Town, Big Sound tracklist:
- Keb’ Mo’ – “The Road Of Love,”
- Grace Potter – “I’d Rather Go Blind”
- Steven Tyler & Nuno Bettencourt – “Brown Sugar”
- Jamey Johnson, Willie Nelson, Chris Stapleton & Lee Ann Womack – “Gotta Serve Somebody”
- Eli “Paperboy” Reed – “Steal Away”
- Kid Rock – “Snatching It Back”
- Aloe Blacc – “I’ll Take You There”
- Michael McDonald – “Cry Like A Rainy Day”
- Vince Gill & Wendy Moten – “True Love”
- Alison Krauss – “Come And Go Blues”
- Mike Farris with The Blind Boys of Alabama – “Respect Yourself”
- Alan Jackson – “Wild Horses”
- Brently Stephen Smith of Shinedown – “Mustang Sally”
- Chord Overstreet – “We’ve Got Tonight”
- Tom Johnston & Delbert McClinton – “Giving It Up For Your Love”
- Candi Staton with Jason Isbell & John Paul White – “I Ain’t Easy To Love”