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Florence in Lauderdale County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
 

The Rolling Stones in the Shoals in 1969

Sticky Fingers Ranks Among Greatest Albums

 
 
The Rolling Stones in the Shoals in 1969 (side 1) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Sandra Hughes, December 10, 2014
1. The Rolling Stones in the Shoals in 1969 (side 1)
Inscription.

The Rolling Stones in the Shoals in 1969. The Rolling Stones stayed at the Florence Holiday Inn on this site for several nights while recording at the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield.

When a hired engineer failed to arrive, studio co-owner "Swamper" Jimmy Johnson engineered the sessions on Dec. 2, 3, and 4, 1969. They recorded original songs "Wild Horses" and "Brown Sugar" and covered "You Gotta Move." The band flew to San Francisco and debuted "Brown Sugar" at the infamous Altamont Free Concert on Dec. 6.

The 1970 tour documentary Gimme Shelter showed Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and other band members recording in the studio and later listening to playback of "Brown Sugar" in a room at the Florence motel. The footage was incorporated into the 2013 documentary Muscle Shoals.

The motel was later demolished and a Hampton Inn & Suites erected.

Sticky Fingers Ranks Among Greatest Albums. The three songs recorded in Alabama appeared on the acclaimed Sticky Fingers album released April 23, 1971. The album was listed as No. 63 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

"Brown Sugar," their lead single, topped the charts in the U.S. and Canada, and was second in the U.K. Rolling Stone
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ranked it No. 495 among the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and fifth on the list of 100 Greatest Guitar Songs.

A magazine poll selected "Wild Horses" as the fifth best Stones song. In the documentary Muscle Shoals, Richards says he completed writing lyrics during a bathroom break in the small studio, known within the recording industry as "3614 Jackson Highway."
 
Erected 2014 by the Alabama Tourism Department on the 45th Anniversary of the Rolling Stones’ visit to the Shoals.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, MusicEntertainment. A significant historical date for this entry is April 23, 1656.
 
Location. 34° 47.796′ N, 87° 40.4′ W. Marker is in Florence, Alabama, in Lauderdale County. Marker is at the intersection of South Court Street (U.S. 43/72) and East Limestone Street on South Court Street. Marker located in front of the Hampton Inn. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 505 South Court Street, Florence AL 35630, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. John McKinley Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Church Spring and School (about 400 feet away); The American Legion (about 500 feet away); Church Spring Church and School (about 500
<i>Sticky Fingers</i> Ranks Among Greatest Albums Marker side image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Sandra Hughes, December 10, 2014
2. Sticky Fingers Ranks Among Greatest Albums Marker side
feet away); Lauderdale County (approx. 0.2 miles away); Dr. Hicks Boulevard (approx. 0.2 miles away); St. Mark Baptist Church (approx. 0.2 miles away); Downtown Florence Historic District (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Florence.
 
More about this marker. This historical marker is at the site of the former Holiday Inn where the Rolling Stones stayed. Muscle Shoals the city is across is across the Tennessee River, but the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio is not in Muscle Shoals, but next door in Sheffield.
 
Regarding The Rolling Stones in the Shoals in 1969. Sticky Fingers was the first Stones album to make No.1 on both sides of the Atlantic and in many other countries around the globe.
 
Also see . . .
1. Muscle Shoals Sound Studio - Brief History. Excerpt:
... The studio found its first commercial success with “Take A Letter, Maria” by R. B. Greaves. ... The same week of recording with Greaves by day, the [Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section] were hosting the Rolling Stones by night. The Stones stopped
S Court and E Limestone Streets image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Sandra Hughes, December 10, 2014
3. S Court and E Limestone Streets
in for three nights, cutting three songs from their 1971 release Sticky Fingers: “Brown Sugar,” “You Got to Move,” and “Wild Horses.”
(Submitted on December 10, 2014, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA.) 

2. Small town with a big sound. Muscle Shoals (Submitted on December 10, 2014, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA.) 

3. When the Rolling Stones went to Muscle Shoals. The Rolling Stones went to Alabama in December 1969 and recorded three songs that evoked the country, blues and R&B sound of the region. Over three days – from Dec. 2-4 – the Stones put down the basic tracks and live vocals on "Brown Sugar," "Wild Horses" and "You Gotta Move" at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Ala. (Submitted on May 2, 2019, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA.) 

4. “Brown Sugar” - The Rolling Stones. YouTube audio-only 3min 49sec.
“Brown Sugar”
The Rolling Stones
(Submitted on April 25, 2020.)
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Sandra Hughes, September 21, 2010
4. Muscle Shoals Sound Studio
3614 Jackson Highway, Sheffield, Alabama
 

5. ‘Brown Sugar’: The Story Behind The Rolling Stones’ Song. 2019 article by Richard Havers at UdiscoverMusic.com. Excerpt:
Arriving at 3614 Jackson Highway, the band was confronted by arguably the least glamorous studio facility of their entire career, possibly Regent Sound was as bad, but it was in London. Constructed in 1945 the 75 by 25 foot building was across the road from a cemetery, and prior to it opening as a studio it was used to store headstones and grave slabs. There was a small, ‘front office’, behind that a control room that got crowded with any more than 8 or 9 people in it and the recording room, which was 25 feet wide, and 35 feet deep, with a 15 foot high ceiling.
(Submitted on April 25, 2020.) 
 
Poster at 3614 Jackson Highway Studio about The Rolling Stones image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Sandra Hughes, June 27, 2014
5. Poster at 3614 Jackson Highway Studio about The Rolling Stones
Where The Rolling Stones recorded in the Shoals image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Sandra Hughes, June 27, 2014
6. Where The Rolling Stones recorded in the Shoals
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on January 31, 2021. It was originally submitted on December 10, 2014, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. This page has been viewed 2,898 times since then and 229 times this year. Last updated on January 31, 2021, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on December 10, 2014, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 19, 2024