Robert Moyes

Special to Black Press

Doug Cox, artistic director and executive producer of Island MusicFest, is booking a couple of remarkable bands that will offer a unique master-class in pop music history.

Everyone knows names like Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, and Jackson Brown B次元官网网址� some of the many A-list artists who defined music in the 1960s through the B次元官网网址�80s. WhatB次元官网网址檚 gone unheralded are the incredibly talented session musicians who played behind them in the studio B次元官网网址� and often were critically important in shaping all those hit songs that topped the charts.

B次元官网网址淭hese arenB次元官网网址檛 the famous musicians, they are the guys who made those other people famous,B次元官网网址� Cox quips. B次元官网网址淎nd itB次元官网网址檚 time they got the credit they deserved.B次元官网网址�

HeB次元官网网址檚 referring to members of the house band for AlabamaB次元官网网址檚 legendary Muscle Shoals Studios, and also to a looser coalition of session musicians and backup singers based in and around Los Angeles who created the so-called West Coast sound.

LetB次元官网网址檚 start with the swampy, funky music that came out of two small studios in an out-of-the-way Alabama town. The Muscle Shoals Allstars are living music history, and include some of the in-house players whose matchless groove, warmth, and musicality helped launch artists like Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett, and Otis Redding into the pantheon of B次元官网网址�60s soul and R&B immortals. The appeal of these classic recordings eventually became a magnet for a long stream of white artists B次元官网网址� the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Bob Seger, Rod Stewart, and the Allman Brothers included B次元官网网址� who booked studio time here, hoping that the Shoals magic would rub off on their latest projects.

Aside from bassist David Hood, the crack members of the Allstars includes Clayton Ivey on keyboards, percussionist Mickey Buckins, lead guitarist Will McFarlane, and a trio of heavenly backup singers. Adding lots of brassy sizzle are the Muscle Shoals Horns, whose powerhouse punch has been heard on records by, amongst many others, Bob Dylan, Lyle Lovett, and Elvis Presley. Fronting the band are vocalists Jimmy Hall (of Wet Willie fame) and the larger-than-life Carla Russell, whoB次元官网网址檚 been influenced by everybody from Big Mama Thornton to Robert Plant.

Over on the West Coast, similar musical magic was being made by an equally extraordinary collection of session players. One of the most respected was guitarist-producer Danny Kortchmar, a key member of L.A.B次元官网网址檚 The Section, whose stellar work in the 1970s and B次元官网网址�80s helped such artists as James Taylor, Don Henley, Linda Ronstadt, and Jackson Browne become million-selling superstars.

Kortchmar will be fronting the stage with the equally accomplished Waddy Wachtel, another gifted session guitarist (and producer and composer) whose ubiquitous presence on the L.A. music scene included working with the Everly Brothers, Warren Zevon, Randy Newman, and, more recently, as lead guitarist for Stevie Nicks.

This band of virtuosos includes Leland Sklar, who has played bass on more than 2,000 albums, adding his tight rhythms and signature warmth to hits by Dolly Parton, Phil Collins, and Rod Stewart. The drumming chores will be in superb hands with Jimmy Paxson, whose eclectic CV includes anchoring the Dixie Chicks, Ben Harper, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Rivers, Charlie Musselwhite B次元官网网址� and a hundred more. Rounding out this amazing crew is the versatile Steve Postell, who is a singer/songwriter/guitarist/composer/producer. And if you want a reference for him, just ask David Crosby, John Oates, or Jennifer Warnes.

B次元官网网址淔rom bass lines to hooks, these guys literally wrote the book of rock B次元官网网址� theyB次元官网网址檙e the ones who really made all those thousands of records,B次元官网网址� says Cox. And it is worth noting that these two remarkable bands arenB次元官网网址檛 on tour but are exclusive to MusicFest. B次元官网网址淭hese two groups were curated for me by people I know who are close to these artists,B次元官网网址� says Cox proudly. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e a big part of why I think this will be the best Festival weB次元官网网址檝e ever presented.B次元官网网址�

For a full festival line-up, and to buy tickets, visit

B次元官网网址揜obert Moyes is a Victoria-based arts journalist with a particular interest in music