DICK COOPER Muscle Shoals Music Man


by Michael Limnios Birmingham native Dick Cooper has


worked as a journalist, editor, photographer, museum curator, record producer, artist manager, road manager, music publisher, and educator. As a writer, his work has appeared in a variety of newspa- pers, magazines and music publica- tions in the U.S. and Europe. His photographs have been dis-


played by the Smithsonian, Ala- bama State Arts Council, Florence-Lauderdale Public Li- brary, Alabama Music Hall of Fame; have appeared in the biogra- phies and documentaries of Jerry Wexler, Etta James, Eddie Hinton, the Drive-By Truckers, the film “Muscle Shoals,” on the covers and in booklets of over 35 albums, and on MTV News. In the mid-80s, he revitalized the career of Eddie Hin- ton, creating music publishing and record companies, and releasing Letters From Mississippi in seven European countries. He also has management skills that have taken artists such as LeBlanc-Carr, The Rossington Band, and The Drive-By Truckers across the country and to Europe. He co-produced the Drive-By Truckers


Southern Rock Opera, which received a four star review in Rolling Stone, and worked in various production positions during the recording of albums by Bob Dylan, Mavis Sta-


ples, Joan Baez, Etta James, Dire Straits, McGuinn-Hillman, Delbert McClinton, John Prine, Panama Red, and many others. He was the first curator of the Alabama


Music Hall of Fame, and created most of the exhibits seen in the museum today. He is a member of the board of directors of the Mus- cle Shoals Music Association, the Music Com-


(Sherri Wiggins Photo)


mittee of the W.C. Handy Music Festival, and MENSA, and earned a black belt in Shaolin Chuan Fa Kung Fu.


How do you describe Dick Cooper’s process and what characterizes your musical philosophy? I came to the Shoals as a journalist, and ini- tially approached the music industry from a


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