Eddie Hinton

EDDIE HINTON

Eddie Hinton (1944-1995) was a producer, songwriter and session musician who played lead guitar with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section for several years beginning in the late 1960s.

Hinton was born in Florida and moved with his mother to Tuscaloosa when he was five years old. During the early 1960s, he formed a band called the Five Minutes with fellow Tuscaloosa residents Johnny Sandlin and Paul Hornsby. In 1965, Sandlin and Hornsby joined brothers Gregg and Duane Allman in a new band called Hour Glass, which visited Muscle Shoals to record at FAME Studios. Hinton, too, made his way to the Shoals, where he worked as a session musician and producer at FAME, Quinvy and other local studios.

Hinton was born in Florida and moved with his mother to Tuscaloosa when he was five years old. During the early 1960s, he formed a band called the Five Minutes with fellow Tuscaloosa residents Johnny Sandlin and Paul Hornsby. In 1965, Sandlin and Hornsby joined brothers Gregg and Duane Allman in a new band called Hour Glass, which visited Muscle Shoals to record at FAME Studios. Hinton, too, made his way to the Shoals, where he worked as a session musician and producer at FAME, Quinvy and other local studios.

In 1968, Sandlin, Hornsby and Duane Allman returned to the Shoals from a brief stint in Los Angeles and joined Hinton in doing session work. Hinton and Allman shared an apartment, and in 1969, they recorded a single with Sandlin under the name The Duck and the Bear, widely considered to be a seminal work in the “southern rock” genre. When Allman left after a few months to form the Allman Brothers Band, he invited Hinton to join the new group. Hinton, however, chose to remain in the Shoals and join the former FAME rhythm section at their newly opened Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, where he contributed lead guitar to hit recordings by the Staple Singers, Cher, Wilson Pickett and others.

When Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records heard Hinton playing at Muscle Shoals Sound, he thought he had found “the next big thing,” and Hinton went on to record four solo albums, beginning with Very, Extremely Dangerous in 1978.

In 1968, Sandlin, Hornsby and Duane Allman returned to the Shoals from a brief stint in Los Angeles and joined Hinton in doing session work. Hinton and Allman shared an apartment, and in 1969, they recorded a single with Sandlin under the name The Duck and the Bear, widely considered to be a seminal work in the “southern rock” genre. When Allman left after a few months to form the Allman Brothers Band, he invited Hinton to join the new group. Hinton, however, chose to remain in the Shoals and join the former FAME rhythm section at their newly opened Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, where he contributed lead guitar to hit recordings by the Staple Singers, Cher, Wilson Pickett and others.

When Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records heard Hinton playing at Muscle Shoals Sound, he thought he had found “the next big thing,” and Hinton went on to record four solo albums, beginning with Very, Extremely Dangerous in 1978.

While his worsening battles with mental illness and addiction prevented him from finding success as a solo artist, Hinton continued to make a name for himself as a composer, most notably with “Breakfast in Bed,” co-written with Donnie Fritts and performed by Dusty Springfield on her acclaimed Dusty in Memphis album.


Sources:

Peter Guralnick, Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2015).

Peter B. Olson, "Eddie Hinton," Encyclopedia of Alabama.