ties that happen from time to time around the Shoals. The one that comes to mind is Pete Carr joining the Decoys, (Scott Boyer, guitar; David Hood, bass; Kelvin Holly, guitar; N.C Thurman, keys, and Mike Dillon, vocals and drums) and Dennis Allred, percussion, in a version of Bob Seger’s "Mainstreet." Pete's wife Char Price (Charlotte Price) has a phone video of the song on YouTube. There have been many memorable gigs.
The Drive-By Truckers opening for Bob Dylan at the Meriwether-Post Pavilion; Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Sportatorium in Miami a few days before the plane crash; 2002 Farm Aid; John Prine in Toronto in 1980; The Donnie Fritts benefit in 2000, which was Waylon Jennings final performance, and also in- cluded performances by Kris Kristofferson, Delbert McClinton, Lee Roy Parnell, Tony Joe White, Billy Swan, Buzz Cason, Donnie Fritts, Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham.
With all the people you have met, which have been the most important for you? What is the best advice ever given you? Meeting Jerry Wexler is by far the top of the list. Jerry was one of the most significant peo- ple in American music, and he became my friend. He gave me the best advice when as a journalist I asked him how to cut a hit record, and he responded, "Put a Hit Act in the stu- dio." It took several years to figure out how to tell a "Hit Act" when I saw one, but it kept me from wasting a lot of time.
Do you remember anything funny with Jerry Wexler and Rick Hall? In 1995, when Wexler inducted the Muscle Shoals Sound Rhythm Section into The Ala- bama Music Hall of Fame, Jerry came to town a few days early. He had been talking to Rick Hall for some time, but they had not faced each other since the Aretha Franklin session, which had blown up at the end of a very pro- ductive first day. During the session the basic
tracks for "I Never Loved A Man (The Way That I Loved You)" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" were recorded. I was working with Jerry, and he asked that I drive him over to FAME Studio. Jerry Wexler and Rick Hall are two men with similar personalities. They have both profited and been injured by their association. Yet when they met they did so as old friends. They skirted some issues, and never got near the Aretha issue, but it was clear they were both delighted to renew their friendship. It is a good example that in Mus- cle Shoals there aren't any forever enemies.
Are there any memories from Eddie Hinton and The Swampers which you’d like to share with us? Eddie was very difficult to manage. I tried for a year and a half, and found it very frustrat- ing. But we did manage to get the Letters From Mississippi album released. Much of the credit for that release goes to Kalle Oldby of Swedish National Radio. Kalle not only wrote the liner notes for the album, but also gave me a list of small record labels that might be interested. His advice led to the ini- tial release in Sweden. The Swampers, on the other hand were
wonderful to work with. David Hood and Roger Hawkins bought motorcycles and joined in on the dirt bike excursions in and around the TVA power lines near Pickwick Dam in the mid-70s. They weren't quite as crazy as Jerry Masters, Johnny Wyker, Steve Melton, and I, but they joined in on some of the less dangerous rides. Jimmy Johnson has proven to be a great friend over the years. We toured together in 1988 when I was road manager for the Rossington Band, and he was mixing front of house. We were the opening act for Skynyrd's Tribute Tour. And of course being around Barry Beckett, was the greatest experience of my life.
From the musical point of view what are the differences between Muscles
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