2022 Nov 13, Clydesdae's Parade in Cullman's Wearhouse District Cullman, AL

It was a bitterly cold morning as we rode to the Warehouse District in Cullman to see the Clydesdale Nov 13, 2022

Budweiser Advertisment 

Budweiser Clydesdales  coming to Alabama Nov 10-13, 2022 

Jingle & Mingle Birmingham Nov 10 

75th Annual Nationa Veterans Day Parade Birmingham Nov 11

Lakeview District Trot Parade Birmingham Nov 12 

Christmas Market Open House Cullman Nov 13. 

since Adams 1937 

We arrived at about 1PM and got in line for the parade, where we could watch the horses being unloaded. 

Each of the eight Clydesdale was taken out of the trailer one at a time, then harnessed with solid brass, patent leather, and stitched with pure linen thread harness, which weighed over 130 pounds. 

One of the Clydesdale being hitched up with its harness 

The Red, White, and Gold beer Wagon also has to be taken out of the 50-foot tractor-trailer, and the Clydesdale hitched up one at a time. 

Once the horses were hitched to the Wagon, the drivers, riders, and Dalmatian dog climbed aboard the wagon, and the parade began.

The parade was scheduled to begin at 1PM, but it did not start until 2:20 PM.

The Budweiser wagon, 8 Clydesdale, two drivers,  Dalmatian, and three passengers rode around the Warehouse District 3 times, stopping once for pictures before heading back to the tractor trailers to be loaded up.

8 Clydesdale drivers, riders, and Dalmatians starting the parade 

Close-up of drivers and Dalmatian 

Several children were standing next to me. A family with three redheaded children. One of the little boys was very impressed with my camera and wanted me to take his picture, which I did. 

The little boy who wanted me to take his picture.

There were thousands of people waiting to see the horses. We watched the Clydesdale go around a couple of times. 

After Clydesdale's first trip around the district, many people left. At about the same time, we heard the train's whistle blow and a very long train crossed the tracks, so these people had to wait for the tracks to be clear to cross. 

We were going to leave after the first round, but since we were going to have to wait on the train, we decided to go back and watch the Clydesdale one more time. I am glad we did because I got a better video of them coming around the corner and getting my picture made near the wagon. 

After the parade, we headed home, stopping at Cracker Barrel in Athens for supper. Hubby ordered a big breakfast, and I ordered pinto beans, fried apples with cornbread, chow chow, and onion.  

We stopped at Murphy's Walmart to fill up with Gas. It was dark by the time we arrived home. 

It was a cold day, but at least the sun was shining. I think it got up to 41.

2016 June 19, Sunday, Singing River Statue of Muscle Shoals 🎶🎶🎶🎶

Legend of the Singing River
The Yuchi and other early inhabitants living along the banks of the mighty Tennessee River held the legend of a Spirit Woman who lived in the river. She protected and sang to them. When the river was angry, she sang loudly. When 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 those many years ago. In her honor, they called it the Singing River and in her honor, we named these sculptures the Singing River Sculptures.

Singing River Statue of Muscle Shoals

Singing River Statue of Muscle Shoals 

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.

Many of the world’s greatest performers began their ascent to stardom in Muscle Shoals, and artists, such as Percy Sledge, Aretha Franklin, the Staple 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 the races enforced outside the studios, great soul classics were being created in the studios with each musician contributing 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.

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, 

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 song, 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.

Muscle Shoals and Its Contribution to this Golden Era
Muscle Shoals bestowed much more than its name on the world-famous “Muscle Shoals sound.”

The city served as the birthplace for early breakthroughs in the local music industry and later provided a home base for some of the area’s top studios. The first commercial recording to emerge from Muscle Shoals — the Bobby Denton single, A Fallen Star — was produced by James Joiner in the Second Street studios of WLAY Radio in 1957. Four years later in an old candy-and-tobacco warehouse on Wilson Dam Road, aspiring producer Rick Hall joined forces with bellhop-turned-singer Arthur Alexander to cut Muscle Shoals’ first national hit, the Southern Soul anthem, You Better Move On. In the wake of that success, Hall built FAME Recording Studios on Avalon Avenue in 1962. Artists ranging from Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and Etta James to Duane Allman, the Osmonds, and Bobby Gentry later recorded there. From 1970 to 1985, Muscle Shoals became known as “The Hit Recording Capital of the World” as FAME and Al Cartee’s Music Mill, Steve Moore’s East Avalon, and Terry Woodford and Clayton Ivey’s Wishbone Studios generated hits by Clarence Carter, Hank Williams Jr., the group Hot, George Jones, the Forester Sisters, Mac McAnally, Shenandoah, and many others. In 2011 Hall received the American Music Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2014 he was awarded the Grammy Trustees Award for his significant contribution to the recording industry.

The City of Muscle Shoals, Alabama
David Bradford, Mayor
Audwin Pierre McGee, Sculptor
Historical commentary by Terry Pace, Dick Cooper, David Anderson, and Bill Matthews.

Rick Hall and Duane Allman

FAME Studio at 601 E. Avalon Avenue (Photo furnished by FAME)

James Joiner and Bobby Denton at WLAY Radio 

Muscle Shoals City sign proclaiming it the Hit Recording Capital of the World (Photo furnished by FAME)

Wishbone Studios (Photo furnished by Terry Woodford)

East Avalon Studios (Photo furnished by Dick Cooper)

FAME Studio at old Candy and Tobacco Warehouse (Photo furnished by FAME)