The Singing River Sculpture, In Sheffield, Alabama

The Singing River Sculpture

The Singing River Sculpture

This sculpture is dedicated to the many individuals whose efforts made Sheffield and the Muscle Shoals area the “Hit Recording Capitol of the World,” and to those who continue that legacy in 2012

Legend of the Singing River 

The Yuchi and other early inhabitants who lived along the banks of the mighty Tennessee River held the legend of the Spirit Woman who lived in the river, protected them, and sang to them. If the river was angry, She sang to them loudly; if the river was peaceful, She sang softly and sweetly, sometimes humming a comforting lullaby. 

Some say that all they heard was the high waters' mighty rush and roar over the mussel shoals, or at other times, the calm low waters babbling through the river rocks. Others say She is real and can still be seen in the early morning mist, hovering over the waters, just as She did many years ago. In her honor, they called it the Singing River, and in her honor, we named these sculptures the Singing River Sculptures. 

The World-changing Muscle Shoals Music

From throughout the 20th Century to the present, Muscle Shoals area artists, musicians, songwriters, and music industry professionals have helped shape the world’s expansive music heritage. Few styles of music were untouched by Muscle Shoals, and local contributions have been made in all other areas of the complex industry: producers, recording engineers, songwriters, music publishers, and other positions in the music business.

Picture of 

Broadway Sound Studios with owner and producer David Johnson second from right

Picture of 

Legendary producer Jerry Waxler at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios’riverfront location

Many of the world’s greatest performers began their ascent to stardom in Muscle Shoals. Artists, such as Percy Sledge, Aretha Franklin, the Staples Singers, and Bob Seger, along with many others, quickly created a legacy that earned the area the title, “Hit Recording Capitol of the World.”

The area grew as a music center by drawing together people of all races and religions. In the 1960s, despite the segregation of race enforced outside the studios, a great soul classic was being created in the studios with each musician's contributions to his innate musical talent. The collaborations created some of the most widely loved music of the 20th century, including Steal Away, Mustang Sally, Tell Mama, Patches, Respect Yourself, and many others. 

The warning issued in Arthur Alexander’s You Better Move On got the attention of the Rolling Stones. The Beatles heard Alexander’s song, Anna and each band acknowledged their respect for Alexander and his writing by recording their version of his songs on their first albums.

NorAla Studio where Quin Ivy and Marlin Greene recorded Percy Sledge's When a Man Loves a Woman.

The songwriting tradition continues as one of the strongest facets of Muscle Shoals music, with area songwriters penning songs such as I Loved Her First, I Swear, Blown Away, Before He Cheats, and hundreds of other hits over the decades.

Picture of the original Swampers, Barry Beckett, Roger Hawkins, David Hood, and Jimmy Johnson at their 3614 Jackson Highway studio.

The heart and soul of Muscle Shoals' music have always been the players and singers. Four members of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section were immortalized in the Lynyrd Skynyrd songs Sweet Home Alabama. The lyric, “Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers” and “they’ve been known to pick a song or two,” honors Jimmy Johnson, Barry Beckett, David Hood, and Roger Hawkins, studio musicians who produced and played on hundreds of hits recorded at area studios from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s.

Dexter Johnson at his garage studio, the first in the Muscle Shoals area

Sheffield and Its Contributions to this Golden Era

Sheffield made major contributions to the area’s music heritage and to the creation of the Muscle Shoals sound. The first audio recording studio in the Muscle Shoals area was constructed in a Sheffield garage in 1950 by Dexter Johnson. His nephew, Jimmy Johnson, would go on to become one of the Swampers, immortalized in the Lynyrd Skynyrd song, Sweet Home Alabama, Johnson, along with Swampers, David Hood, Roger Hawkins, and Barry Beckett, established Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Sheffield in 1969 and operated until 1985, recording hundreds of songs on hitmakers of that ear. 

The area’s first Number One record and first Gold Record, Percy Sledge’s When A Man Loves A Woman, was recorded by Quin Ivy and Marlin Greene at NorAla studio on 2nd Street. Proceeds from that hit allowed Ivy to construct Quincy and South Camp labels. In 1973 Ivy sold the facility to his studio manager and recording engineer David Johnson, who renamed it Broadway Sound Studios and recorded artists into the 1980s. 

Recording has continued to be a prolific industry in Sheffield over the last six decades. 

The City of Sheffield, Alabama

Ian Sanford, Mayor

Audwin Pierre McGee Sculptor

Historical commentary by Dick Cooper, David Anderson, and Bill Matthews

Fiscal Agent: Tennessee Valley Art Association 

WISE

Wise Alloys, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wise Metals Group, began operations in April 1999 when the parent company purchased the local assets and facilities of Reynolds Alloys Company, a subsidiary of Reynolds Metal Company. Today, Wise Alloys is a worldwide leading supplier of aluminum can sheets and processors of recycled aluminum. The company continues to expand its operations and maintains its presence as one of the leading employers in the Shoals. Wise is extremely proud to be a part of the Shoals community and pleased to have contributed all the recycled aluminum as the artistic medium for the Singing River Sculpture and the Singing River Sculpture Garden. 

The Shoals began its long heritage as an aluminum manufacturing community with the construction of the Reynolds facility in April 1941. It was proposed for the Defense Plant Corporation, a federal agency. Incredibly, just three months later, the first ingot was rolled on the Hotline. At that time, our country was just beginning to recover from the Great Depression. The construction and opening of the plant created much-needed jobs in our community. The selection of the site in the Shoals area was primarily due to the abundant electrical power created by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the dam system along the Tennessee River. 

Initially, the facility produced aluminum to support the World War II effort. 

March 4, 2013

The people of Sheffield and the Shoals express their heartfelt gratitude to those generous individuals, families, businesses, and organizations whose love for our legendary Muscle Shoals music has made this Singing River Sculpture possible.