Roe Erister "Rick" Hall was an American record producer, songwriter, and musician who became known as the owner of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
25 Facts About Rick Hall
2.
Rick Hall remained active in the music industry with FAME Studios, FAME Records, and FAME Publishing.
3.
Rick Hall's father was a gospel music fan and his uncle gave Rick a mandolin at age 6.
4.
Rick Hall moved to Rockford, Illinois, as a teenager, working as an apprentice toolmaker, and began playing in local bar bands.
5.
When Rick Hall returned to Alabama he resumed factory life, working for Reynolds Aluminum in Florence.
6.
Rick Hall later began moving around the area playing guitar, mandolin, and fiddle with a local group, Carmol Taylor and the Country Pals, and first met saxophonist Billy Sherrill.
7.
Rick Hall left the Fairlanes to concentrate on becoming a songwriter and record producer.
8.
That song became the first gold record in the history of Muscle Shoals; at the time, Rick Hall had licensed it to Dot Records.
9.
Rick Hall wrote: "Black music helped broaden my musical horizons and open my eyes and ears to the widespread appeal of the so-called 'race' music that later became known as 'rhythm and blues".
10.
Rick Hall's successes continued after the Atlanta-based agent Bill Lowery brought him acts to record, and the studio produced hits for Tommy Roe, Joe Tex, the Tams, and Jimmy Hughes.
11.
Rick Hall then assembled a new studio band, including Spooner Oldham, Jimmy Johnson, David Hood, and Roger Hawkins, and continued to produce hit records.
12.
Rick Hall produced recordings for other artists, including Etta James, whom he persuaded to record Clarence Carter's song "Tell Mama".
13.
Rick Hall then turned his attention away from soul music towards mainstream pop, producing hits for the Osmonds, Paul Anka, Tom Jones, and the Osmond family.
14.
Subsequently, Rick Hall hired the Fame Gang as the new studio band.
15.
Rick Hall signed a distribution deal with Vee-Jay from October 1963-June 1965.
16.
Rick Hall moved his label to Atlantic distribution November 1965-September 1967.
17.
The studio continued to do well through the 1970s and Rick Hall was able to convince Capitol Records to distribute FAME recordings.
18.
Rick Hall worked with the songwriter and producer Robert Byrne to help a local bar band, Shenandoah, top the national Hot Country Songs chart several times in the 1980s and 1990s.
19.
Rick Hall's publishing staff of in-house songwriters wrote some of the biggest country hits in those decades.
20.
Rick Hall's publishing catalog included "I Swear" written by Frank Myers and Gary Baker.
21.
In 2007, Rick Hall reactivated the FAME Records label through a distribution deal with EMI.
22.
In 2014, Rick Hall was awarded the Grammy Trustees Award for his significant contribution to the field of recording.
23.
Rick Hall published his memoirs in a book titled The Man from Muscle Shoals: My Journey from Shame to Fame in 2015.
24.
On December 17,2016, Rick Hall was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of North Alabama in Florence.
25.
Rick Hall died on January 2,2018, aged 85, at his home in Muscle Shoals, after a battle with prostate cancer.