I’ve been talking all week on social media about this incredible guitar player named Will McFarlane. I live in a place where I could throw a rock and hit an incredible guitar player, not that I would do that, but you know I’m saying. A publicist recently said, “The Muscle Shoals story has been done. That story has already been told.” To that I say this. My Muscle Shoals story has not been done, and is worth telling.
I’m a slightly “out of it” musician in that I don’t keep up with other musicians and artists. I try to explain this to people. I say, “Don’t be surprised if you ask me about someone like Taylor Swift, and I tell you I’ve never heard of her.” I know who Taylor Swift is of course, but sometimes it can be almost that shocking when I don’t know some well known musician or artist. There is a term used in Nashville which no one seems to know the origin of. We don’t even know how to spell it, only how to pronounce it. So, I spell it gurm, so as not to make it look like germ. The g is hard. So, gum with an r - gurm.
A gurm is a starstruck person who dotes on a celebrity, or even a non celebrity musician or artist. A well known phrase would be, “That guy is a total gurm.” These types are basically people worshipers that make it very uncomfortable for the person they’re gurming, and everyone else around witnessing it. All that to explain that I have never had the gurm factor in me. I don’t really know why. I barely notice well known or celebrity musicians and artists, almost to the point of coming off with a lack of respect at times. I never want to do that. I always want to honor their work and dedication. For example, Tanya Tucker was in my office building the other day. She was trying to take a selfie with her dog under the Chet Atkins wall. She was struggling with the dog. I simply offered to take the picture for her. She knew I knew who she was, but I’m convinced she appreciates being treated like an everyday person.
With all that disclaimer out of the way, I’m now going to shamelessly gurm the crap out of a well known guitar player named, Will McFarlane. As I’ve explained in this blog series, I didn’t set out to cut a record in Muscle Shoals as odd as they may sound. I didn’t feel I had time for that level of focus and work. I was in the big middle of the stage production for Common Ground. I actually just needed a break from that. So, I took ten days off to rest and record several guitar/vocals at the iconic Muscle Shoals Sound Studio really just for the fun of it. Three days in I asked Chase, the engineer turned co-producer if he knew of any players in town that were the caliber of The Swampers. David Hood and Spooner of The Swampers are still with us and still record some, but rarely available. Chase simply said, “Sure. There’s Will McFarlane and those guys.”
I didn’t know who that was, but Chase informed me that Will was Bonnie Raitt’s guitar player in the 70’s. I mean, wait a minute. Just think of that statement. He was Bonnie Raitt’s guitar player? Wow! That’s a high calling right there! “Will McFarlane and Those Guys” piled into the studio one night, set up, and started tracking my songs. I have been recording since I was 17 - first session at Perdue Recording Amarillo, Texas. I’m now 59, and I personally have never experienced anything quite like what happened that night. I thought we would maybe get 3 or 4 songs out of them at the most, and that would be the end of that fun. They played the first song effortlessly, and flawlessly. Jamie McFarlane, Will’s son, was nearest to me through the control room glass windows. I stood mesmerized by his choices, choice after choice, and dynamic after dynamic. Justin Holder, who is like a son to Will, was on drums. My goodness this kid’s approach is brawny but beautifully meticulous and sensitive. They would finish a song, then all come into the control room, and we would listen back. “Well, what would we change about that?” Will would ask. I would immediately respond, “Not one thing!” Will would laugh and say, “Let’s do another one!” and off they would go. Other than Will’s inability to play two guitar parts at one time, there is not one overdub on the tracks of this record.
They would go do another song, and the same flawless thing would happen. It was an incredible flow one after the other. In Nashville, we often get the factory effect. Session players in Nashville can crank out 4 or 5 songs in a morning session, and with astonishing excellence, but that’s not what was happening here. It felt entirely different - entirely. I don’t fully know how to explain it but it all has to do with feel. It’s not just that the song is played with technical excellence, like in Nashville. It is like a song happens. It happens in the room right in front of you, and for me, it was an amazing thing to experience. One after the other, in this same amazing way, before we knew it, we had recorded seven songs that night, and it wasn’t even much past my bedtime. It was more like a band had come together in a backyard shed and had the greatest night of rehearsal ever, and we happened to catch it on tape. Will is one of the greatest guitar players I’ve ever heard. That is not hype. It is true. I had no idea. I looked at Chase at the end of the night and said, “I think we just accidently cut a record!”
The guys were available to come back the next night and finish four more. I’m saving one of those for the next record, because I plan to do this again with them next year. Chase called his friend Will Allison, a fantastic keys player, to come in and do all the keys - piano, B3, and Wurlitzer. Will Allison sat on the control room floor bearing no shoes and unmatching socks. This is always a good sign that you are talking to a true creative. So, it made me happy. With a heart wide open, he listened to my story behind the song before he played. I believe this kind of understanding carries over into the recording. He soulfully reiterates every story he plays. I want to tell my Muscle Shoals story because I want you to know what an incredible gift from God this whole experience was. I’ve been struggling musically for years, even suffering I would say. I believe that this suffering stems from the same deep rooted stuff that this record is all about. If you’re confused about love, surely you’re confused about music. This recording experience came at a time when I was taking a deep look into the ongoing relational issues in my life, and specifically my part of those issues. This record is me grappling with the concept of love.
I’m not trying to deify a guitar player here, but it is most certainly my honor to give him the honor due to a life committed to his God-given gift. “Will McFarlane and Those Guys” gave wings to a voice in me that needed to fly. This record is an important record to me, and always will be. At CGS Records I use an Ani DiFranco quote that I love. “It’s a record, as in a record of the event of people playing music in a room.” If there were ever a record that fit that description, it is this record. Honestly, I still marvel at the fact that we even have the technical ability to do that.
Love to all,
Jill
📺 Watch the Muscle Shoals documentary on Amazon Prime or YouTube