Article Contributed by Shore Fire Media
Published on November 28, 2025
The story of Muscle Shoals arrives today as it has never been told before – and as it can never be told again – in the form of six-time GRAMMY-nominated music scholar Rob Bowman’s ‘Land Of A Thousand Sessions.’ Teaming with Malaco Records – America’s longest-running independent label – this definitive text offers more than 750 pages of insights, culled from interviews with nearly 100 key players in the Muscle Shoals story. Within this group are household names like Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Mavis Staples, as well as many essential contributors who have never spoken on the record before, and including many who have sadly passed on since. Coupled with Bowman’s years of meticulous research – and discovery of long-lost historical documents – the results are a wholly unique look at one of the most beloved, and unlikely, stories in American music history.
Order ‘Land Of A Thousand Sessions: The Complete Muscle Shoals Story 1951-1985’ here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FP32HPSG
Throughout ‘Land Of A Thousand Sessions,’ Bowman captures a vivid portrait of how Muscle Shoals’ nine recording studios became the epicenter of American popular music. This includes its role as a soul powerhouse (Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge, The Staple Singers), a rock and pop haven (The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, Bob Seger, Leon Russell, Joe Cocker, The Osmonds) and later a magnet for country music (Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr., Mac Davis, Jerry Reed, T.G. Sheppard, Shenandoah). And in between, home to a trove of unexpected genre explorations, from sessions with Cannonball Adderley, to prog rock and psychedelic blues. ‘Land Of A Thousand Sessions’ also grippingly demonstrates the power of unity, diversity and togetherness in the face of segregation, divisiveness and racism. As the Senegalese disc jockey Idrissa Dia described it in a letter to Atlantic Records’ Jerry Wexler at the time: “despite the headlines that George Wallace was grabbing around the world, the brothers from Muscle Shoals showed that America was a far more complex society.”
Reuniting with Malaco Records after penning their own definitive history, ‘The Last Soul Company,’ Bowman masterfully utilizes his gifts for meticulous research and evocative storytelling – which earned that 2021 collection praise from PBS Newshour, NPR’s Morning Edition and more. Most recently, he helped adapt his book on the history of Stax into a multi-part documentary series for HBO – ‘STAX: Soulsville U.S.A.’ – which was honored as a 2025 Peabody Award recipient this spring.
