Say the words "Muscle Shoals" to musicians or obsessive music fans with a head full of history and watch their eyes light up. They know what musical riches that small Alabama town on the banks of the Tennessee River has given the world. Greg "Freddy" Camalier's documentary, Muscle Shoals, explores the origins of FAME Studios and the rise of the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, how legendary music producer Rick Hall was able to undermine the racial segregation of the times at FAME and how the in-house session group known as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, aka the Swampers, dazzled musicians the world over with their home-style sweet Southern R&B and soul sounds. The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, the Allman Brothers, Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett, Bob Dylan, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Paul Simon and many others all sought out the secret of that Muscle Shoals sound and the soulful chemistry that emanated from the recording studios. That so many found it and were able to translate what they discovered to the world beyond only adds to the mythical history of the place. 

The core of the documentary is the music made there, of course, but also the story of the driven music maven Hall and the members of the Swampers (bassist David Hood, father of Patterson Hood from The Drive-By Truckers; guitarist Jimmy Johnson; keyboardist Barry Beckett; drummer Roger Hawkins) as they determinedly carved out their legacies. Many of the integral participants from the era of the Muscle Shoals heyday of the 1960s and 1970s—Mick Jagger and Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones, Steve Winwood and Jimmy Cliff, among others—give convincing testimony to the unique vibe flourishing in that backwater town, though U2's Bono and Alicia Keys also awkwardly give their sketchy two cents' worth as well. 

Muscle Shoals at times gets lost in the wilds of its own mythic importance, but there is no questioning the vitality of the music created there or the humble brilliance of the Swampers. The story of Hall and the Swampers is not always harmonious, which becomes apparent when the session band members decide to start their own rival studio in the town. This acrimonious split dominates most of the second half of the movie, but it never overshadows the overall cultural significance of what Hall and the members of the Swampers helped create. Essential viewing for music fans.