Timeline (1955-1966)
MUSCLE SHOALS MUSIC TIMELINE
August 2, 1955: Elvis Presley performs at the Sheffield Community Center.
January 4, 1956: The city of Florence issues a business license to James Joiner for his Shoals Recording Service.
December 1956: Joiner, Kelso Herston, Walter Stovall and Marvin Wilson form Tune Records.
February 22, 1957: Bobby Denton records Joiner's song "A Fallen Star" at radio station WLAY.
April 1957: Tune Records releases Denton's version of "A Fallen Star."
August 1958: Denton's recording of "Sweet and Innocent," written by Rick Hall (left) and Billy Sherrill (right), is released on the Judd Records label.
August 1960: Judd Records releases Arthur Alexander's single "Sally Sue Brown," recorded at SPAR Music in downtown Florence.
August 1961: Rick Hall begins work on producing Arthur Alexander's "You Better Move On" at his new FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals.
November 6, 1961: Chuck Berry performs at the Florence Coliseum.
December 1961: Dot Records releases "You Better Move On" as a single.
March 1962: "You Better Move On" reaches #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
May 1964: Rick Hall's first Top 40 hit as a producer, "Steal Away" by Jimmy Hughes, is issued on the Fame Records label.
January 1965: Drummer Roger Hawkins works his first session at FAME Studios.
October 7, 1965: James Brown performs at the Florence Coliseum.
February 17, 1966: Quin Ivy produces the final version of Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman" at his Norala Sound Studio in downtown Sheffield.
May 11, 1966: Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records brings Wilson Pickett to the Shoals for this first FAME recording session, resulting in the Top 10 hit "Land of 1,000 Dances."
May 28, 1966: "When a Man Loves a Woman" reaches #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
November 4, 1966: Wilson Pickett records the Top 10 hit "Mustang Sally" at FAME.
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