Musicians long crossed the Alabama-Mississippi border to perform and record, ignoring state lines in pursuit of their art and careers. Mississippians such as Albert King, Little Milton, and Pops Staples recorded at studios in Muscle Shoals and Sheffield, including those owned by Mississippi natives Rick Hall and Quin Ivy, while Alabamians Jerry "Boogie" McCain, Frederick Knight, and Roscoe Robinson recorded for labels in Jackson, Mississippi, and Florence native W.C. Handy encountered the blues while working in the Mississippi Delta. Handy and Jimmie Rodgers heard the blues while living and working in both states, and performers including Willie King, Eddy Clearwater, Peggy Scott-Adams, Big Ike Darby, Lucille Bogan, Sir Charles Jones, Bobo Jenkins, and Big Joe Williams also lived in both Alabama and Mississippi, as did Johnny "Daddy Stovepipe" Watson and Ike Zinnerman, mentor of Robert Johnson. Johnson's Delta blues tradition was later carried on in Alabama by guitarist Johnny Shines, and King, Williams, Shines, Jerry McCain, Poonanny, and Roscoe Robinson were among those who recorded in both states. Muscle Shoals became an important showcase for regional talent after Rick Hall opened his Fame studio there in 1959, recording local musicians as well as Mississippians James Govan, George Soule, and George Jackson. Its studios also became popular destinations for national labels including Stax and Atlantic, and Mississippi-associated artists such as Albert King, the Staple Singers, Syl Johnson, Otis Rush, Otis Clay, Fenton Robinson, James Carr, and Big Joe Williams recorded albums or singles there, as did B.B. King on parts of his 1989 album King of the Blues, which included a track produced by Alabama's Frederick Knight. Mississippi strengthened its connection with Muscle Shoals in 1985 when Jackson-based Malaco Records purchased the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, founded in 1969 by former Fame session musicians. Malaco co-owner Tommy Couch, a native of Tuscumbia, had begun his music career booking bands for University of Mississippi fraternities, and the company also benefited when songwriter George Jackson and arranger Harrison Calloway of the Muscle Shoals Horns relocated from Muscle Shoals to Jackson.

Photo: Sandra Hughes

Photo: Sandra Hughes

Photo: Sandra Hughes

Photo: Sandra Hughes

Photo: Sandra Hughes

Photo: Sandra Hughes

Photo: Sandra Hughes

Photo: Sandra Hughes

Tuscumbia, Alabama · USA