Russell Gulley brings sound, history to Ziggy’s

Russell Gulley was not one of the famed Swampers that provided the Muscle Shoals sound for legendary recordings by everyone from the Staple Singers to Wilson Pickett to the Rolling Stones, but he was there to see and be a part of much of the magic.

Fo r purists , the Swampers were Barry Beckett, Roger Hawkins, David Hood and Jimmy Johnson. Pete Carr, Spooner Oldham, Albert S. Lowe Jr., Clayton Ivey, Randy McCormick and Will McFarlane were also part of the sessions players, but the original four are the ones who started as the house band at Rick Hall’s FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala.

Producer Denny Cordell gave them the nickname during a recording session for Leon Russell. The four eventually left FAME and started the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios at 3614 Jackson Highway.

Gulley started there as a songwriter/musician in 1973 and stayed until 1982. It was there that he found- ed the Jackson Highway Band, a group that got a boost from some airplay in the Chattanooga area in the late ’70s.

Gulley, who will perform Sunday night, Feb. 26, at the Music Box at Ziggy’s, is originally from Fort Payne, Ala. After the Jackson Highway Band recorded its debut record, the musicians wanted to test-market it, and Gulley chose Chattanooga.

“Amazing Rhythm Aces had done that in Memphis with ‘Third Rate Romance’ and I said, ‘Let’s try Chattanooga,’ so I loaded the car and visited every radio station I could.”

A station near Dayton picked up “Piece of Good Earth.” It made it into heavy rotation, which drew the attention of some of the local record stores and other stations.

“It had a line about Highway 27, and it led to us getting some attention from labels,” Gulley says.

“It took a year or two, but we signed with Capitol Records, so Chattanooga played a role in that and has always been very kind for me.”

Gulley, 70, has been active in the Alabama music scene, particularly in preserving the places and sounds that the state has produced. He is a board member of the Alabama Folk Life Association and loves talking to people about Alabama’s rich music history. The documentary “Muscle Shoals” has drawn much deserved attention to the studio and the state.

“I’m more interested in the roots of our American music, and I talk about that when I perform,” he says. “People want to hear the stories. They want to hear about Muscle Shoals, and some people think everybody who worked there was a Swamper. But to me, the Swampers were those four guys. I’m proud to say I worked with them, but I don’t consider myself a Swamper.”

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Russell Gulley