The Shoals Studio Tour
Sit at the piano where Lynyrd Skynyrd created Free Bird. Feel the vibe of where Mick and the boys recorded Brown Sugar. Stand in the room where Aretha found her voice. Or, walk through the room where Dylan recorded, You Gotta Serve Somebody. Experience it all on The Shoals Studio Tour!
What to Expect!
Rick Hall was forced out of SPAR Studio, and turned an old tobacco warehouse into the first valid recording studio in the Shoals area, where he recorded Arthur Alexander's “You Better Move On.” With those royalties, he moved to FAME’s current location.
Several hits later, and after losing his first rhythm section to Nashville, his second rhythm section (Barry Beckett, Roger Hawkins, David Hood and Jimmy Johnson - later dubbed “The Swampers”) left to start their own recording studio across town – converting a small building (which at the time was storing casket vaults) into Muscle Shoals Sound.
You know the story! You’ve seen the movie! Now, come see where the soundtrack to your life was recorded! The studios of Rick Hall and the Swampers!! FAME and Muscle Shoals Sound Studios!
This tour stops at FAME Recording Studios, Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and Cypress Moon Studios (formerly Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, Alabama Avenue facility.). Each tour stop is approximately 30 minutes.
The cost for the Shoals Studio Tour is $75.00 for Adults (18 and over)
$68.00 for children/seniors (Children - Ages 10-17/Seniors- 65 and older)
Seniors - please present a driver's license, AARP card, or some form of ID with birthdate
To operate the tour, there must be at least (3) three paying guests. If there are less than 3 paying guests, you will receive a full refund from the front desk at the Visitor Center
The tour departs at 8:30 AM on Wednesdays & Fridays. Please arrive 15 minutes before departure. The tour is approximately 2h:30min in length
The tour will depart from the Florence-Lauderdale Visitor Center at 200 Jim Spain Drive, Florence, AL 35630 in McFarland Park. Guests will board at the east side of the building on the semi-circle driveway
Tours are subject to cancellation. Please contact our office to check daily schedule. Our main office number is: (256) 740-4141 or (888) 356-8687