''Muscle Shoals Nitty Gritty'' is a 1970 album by jazz flutist

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz Flute, flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet ...

. It was released on Mann's Embryo Records label, and distributed by

Cotillion Records Cotillion Records was a subsidiary of Atlantic Records (from 1971 part of WEA) and was active from 1968 through 1985. The label was formed as an outlet for soul, R&B, funk, pop, and jazz. Its first single, Otis Clay's version of "She's About ...

, a division of

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

Track listing

Side One #"Muscle Shoals Nitty Gritty" (Mann) (6:47) #"Claudia Pie" (Mann) (4:38) #"Can You Dig It" ( Ed Birdsong) (5:51) Side Two #"Blind Willy" (

Sonny Sharrock Warren Harding "Sonny" Sharrock (August 27, 1940 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. His first wife was singer Linda Sharrock, with whom he recorded and performed. One of only a few prominent guitarists who participated in the fir ...

) (4:47) #"

Come Together "Come Together" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on the band's 1969 studio album ''Abbey Road''. It was also a double A-side single in the U ...

" ( John Lennon, Paul McCartney) (10:00) #"Panama Red's Panama Hat" (Mann) (5:11)

Personnel

"Come Together"

*Herbie Mann - flute *

Roy Ayers Roy Edward Ayers Jr. (September 10, 1940 – March 4, 2025) was an American vibraphonist, record producer, and composer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several studio albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure ...

- vibes *

Eddie Hinton Eddie Hinton (15 June 1944 – 28 July 1995) was an American songwriter and session musician, best known for his work with soul music and R&B singers. He played lead guitar for Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section from 1969 to 1971 and after leaving t ...

- guitar *

Barry Beckett Barry Edward Beckett (February 4, 1943 – June 10, 2009) was an American keyboardist, session musician, record producer, and studio founder. He is best known for his work with David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, and Roger Hawkins, his bandmates in the ...

- piano *

David Hood David Hood (born September 21, 1943) is an American musician, hailing from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, He is known for playing the bass guitar and trombone, and is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Early life and education Hood was b ...

Miroslav Vitouš Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš (born 6 December 1947) is a Czech jazz bassist. He is known as a founding member of the ensemble Weather Report, and for working as a bandleader and alongside Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette and others. Biography E ...

- bass * Roger Hawkins &

Bruno Carr Edward "Bruno" Carr (February 9, 1928 – October 25, 1993) was an American jazz drummer. Carr was a frequent collaborator with Ray Charles, and he recorded with Aretha Franklin. He was Herbie Mann's drummer from 1965 through 1969. Carr died of ...

- drums

"Panama Red's Panama Hat”

*As above, with Eddie Hinton - bottleneck guitar, Jimmy Johnson (also engineer) added on guitar

Other selections

*Herbie Mann - flute *Richard Waters - drums * Andrew Love & Ed Logan - tenor saxophone *James Mitchell - baritone saxophone * Wayne Jackson - trumpet *Roy Ayers - vibes *Eddie Hinton - guitar *Barry Beckett - piano *David Hood - bass *Roger Hawkins - drums

"Can You Dig It"

*As above, with Jimmy Johnson - guitar

"Blind Willy"

*As above, with Roger Hawkins on

Jews harp The Jew's harp, also known as jaw harp, juice harp, or mouth harp, is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or Reed (mouthpiece), reed attached to a frame. Despite the colloquial name, the Jew's harp most like ...

, replaced by Bruno Carr on drums *Album photography -

Joel Brodsky Joel Lee Brodsky (October 7, 1939 – March 1, 2007) was an American photographer, best known for his photography of musicians, particularly his iconic "Young Lion" photographs of Jim Morrison. In his lifetime, he is credited with photographing o ...

*Album design - Haig Adishian

Production

*Recorded at

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio Muscle Shoals Sound Studio is an American recording studio in Sheffield, Alabama, formed in 1969 by four session musicians known as The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. They had left nearby FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals to create their own record ...

Muscle Shoals, Alabama Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located on the left bank of the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, its population was 13,146. The estimated popula ...

* Jimmy Johnson & Marlin Green - Recording engineers *

Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recordings ...

- Producer

Charting

The album peaked at #9 on the Billboard Jazz Album chart.

References

*''Muscle Shoals Nitty Gritty'', Herbie Mann. Embryo Records SD 526 (1970) (liner notes)

External links

''Muscle Shoals Nitty Gritty'' at Allmusic.com
{{Authority control Herbie Mann albums Crossover jazz albums 1970 albums Albums with cover art by Joel Brodsky Albums produced by Tom Dowd Albums recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio Embryo Records albums