Rob & Craig's Trip Across the USA - Washougal, WA to Charleston, SC

05/09/2015

Miscellaneous pics from Craig's phone:

Charleston
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio
Fame Studio
Rob & Craig Selfie

04/09/2015

Inside Craig's new apartment

04/09/2015

Walking around Charleston.

04/09/2015

Gas station: Late at night in Columbia, SC
Breakfast in Columbia, SC before hitting the road for the final leg of the tour
Very rainy on the way down to Charleston
Ashton Woods: Craig's new home
Mac & Cheese dinner at Craig's son Mike's in-laws, Jim and Nancy
Eating healthy with Mike and Brittany

04/09/2015

Road pictures. The silver pyramid is a Bass Pro Shop. Apparently, bass fishing is a big deal back there!

04/09/2015

Waffle House! There's one on every corner. These are our first Waffle House servers...they took our Waffle House virginity!

04/09/2015

One day, Craig...one day....

04/09/2015

Fame Recording Studio

Early history

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2009)
Founded by Rick Hall, Billy Sherrill and Tom Stafford in the late 1950s, the studio was first located above the City Drug Store in Florence, Alabama. The facility was moved to a former to***co warehouse on Wilson Dam Road in Muscle Shoals in the early 1960s, when Hall split from Sherrill and Stafford. Hall soon recorded the first hit record from the Muscle Shoals area, Arthur Alexander's "You Better Move On".

Hall took the proceeds from that recording to build the current facility on Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals, and in 1963, Hall recorded the first hit produced in that building, Jimmy Hughes' "Steal Away."

As the word about Muscle Shoals began to spread other acts began coming to the location to record. Nashville producer Felton Jarvis brought Tommy Roe and recorded Roe's song "Everybody". Atlanta Music Publisher Bill Lowery, who had mentored Hall through his early days, sent The Tams. Nashville Publisher/Producer Buddy Killen brought Joe Tex, while Atlantic Records' Jerry Wexler brought Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett to record. The recording session with Aretha Franklin also brought conflict: one of the horn players was fresh with the singer, and her husband had him fired from the session. Later that evening Hall went over to make up with Franklin and her husband but a fight ensued, and the recording session was canceled. Wexler swore to Hall he would never work with him again.

The session musicians who worked at the studio became known as the "Muscle Shoals Horns" and the "Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section" (or, "The Swampers"). In 1969, just after Hall had signed a deal with CBS Records, the Swampers left to found a rival studio, the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio.

As the hits kept coming, Hall expanded into the area of teen pop hits with The Osmonds, a vocal group from Utah, featuring the younger brother Donny Osmond. The collaboration resulted in the hit "One Bad Apple", among others, and helped Hall to become named "Producer of the Year" in 1971.

Rick Hall at FAME Studios in 2010 by Carol M. Highsmith
As the decade of the 70s rolled in, Hall began moving into country music, first with vocalist Bobbie Gentry who recorded the album Fancy and then with singer/songwriter Mac Davis, who topped both the Pop and Country charts with "Baby, Don't Get Hooked On Me". Davis recorded four gold albums at FAME, with the singles "Texas In My Rear View Mirror" and "Hooked On Music" becoming hits on both the country and pop charts.

Duane Allman, later of Allman Brothers Band fame, once pitched a tent and camped out in the parking lot of FAME studios in an effort to be near the recording sessions occurring there.[citation needed] He soon befriended the studio's owner, Rick Hall, and Wilson Pickett (who was recording at FAME at the time). During a lunch break, Allman taught Pickett The Beatles' song "Hey Jude". Duane and Wilson's version of the song was eventually recorded with Allman on lead guitar. On hearing the session, people at Pickett's label (Atlantic Records) asked who had played the guitar solos. Hall responded with a hand-written note that read "some hippie cat who's been living in our parking lot." Shortly afterward, Allman was offered a recording contract. Auditions for the Allman Brothers Band were later held at FAME Studios. Duane Allman loved the area, and frequently returned to The Shoals for session work throughout his life.

Later history
Hall continued producing country hits in the 1980s, including Jerry Reed's #1 records, "She Got The Goldmine" and "The Bird". He also started Gus Hardin's career with the popular "After The Last Good-bye" and had a smash album with Larry Gatlin and The Gatlin Brothers, Houston To Denver. Hall's productions on T.G. Sheppard's LPs include Livin' On The Edge, It Still Rains In Memphis and One For The Money. Top 20 singles included "Fooled Around And Fell In Love" by the Elvin Bishop Group. Top 10 singles included "In Over My Heart" and "Doncha?". Top 5 singles include "Strong Heart", "One For The Money" and a #1 single, "You're My First Lady".

Hall then returned to the way he did it in the beginning, developing new artists. A local country band that was playing in a club down the street from FAME Studios came to his attention and he and Robert Byrne co-produced an LP on the group Shenandoah. Hall made a record deal with CBS Records and the group thereafter had top 10 singles with "She Doesn't Cry Anymore" and "See If I Care", top 5 singles with "Mama Knows" and "The Moon Over Georgia", and six number 1 singles with "The Church On Cumberland Road", "Sunday In The South", "Two Dozen Roses", "Next To You, Next To Me", "Ghost In This House" and "I Got You".

In addition to FAME studios, Hall operates FAME Records, whose original roster included Clarence Carter, Candi Staton, Jimmy Hughes, Willie Hightower and The Fame Gang. The original run of the label was between 1964 and 1974 (with distribution handled by Vee-Jay [1964-1966], Atco [1966-1967], Capitol[1969-1972] and United Artists Records [1972-early 1974]).

Recent history
In 2007, Bettye LaVette's Grammy-nominated CD The Scene of the Crime was recorded at FAME Recording Studios, produced by Patterson Hood and Drive-By Truckers. The Truckers also backed Lavette on the record, with contributions from David Hood and Spooner Oldham.

04/09/2015

30/08/2015

They did it!! They have arrived at Craig's new apartment in Charleston, SC! They have a bunch of pictures to send for posting, so as soon as they have WiFi again, they'll be posted! Congrats guys....on a drive well done!!!!

30/08/2015

Day 4 and 5

30/08/2015

Day 6 "DESTINATION DAY" Song

The guys have driven 3,061.5 miles to bring Craig to his new home. It was the trip of a lifetime for 2 guys that have been friends since they were 13 years old.

Here's a look at the beautiful place our friend Craig calls home now.......

https://youtu.be/Ay2xtTHCnog

A look at the beautiful city of Charleston, S.C. with sweeping panoramas and aerial footage.

30/08/2015

Welcome to _____ signs in each state we drove through

30/08/2015

They powered through 731.9 miles and 5 states today! Spending the night in Columbia, SC. They're 114.6 miles away from their FINAL DESTINATION!! Good job guys!!! Now get some damn sleep!!!

30/08/2015

They've just crossed over into Georgia!! That makes 4 states today!! Way to go guys!!

29/08/2015

29/08/2015

They just crossed over into Alabama!!

29/08/2015

Just off the phone with the boys....

Last night they were going to go have dinner, but when they got out to the truck, the keys were on the dashboard and the doors were locked. I won';t say which one of them locked the keys inside :) They called U-Haul and the guy wanted $250.00. So, Craig went into the motel and the gal called Joe from up the road....he got it unlocked for $40.00.

They got up this morning and stopped at a Waffle House for breakfast. Right now, they're about an hour from Memphis, TN. They'll stop there then head for Nashville. From there they'll have roughly 550 miles to go to Charleston, SC! The end is in sight!!

29/08/2015

Day 5 "ROAD SONG"

https://youtu.be/dXYl5NrHPb4

No infringement of Copyright inteneded

28/08/2015

Day 4: 449.5 more miles behind them. Staying the night in Little Rock, Arkansas

28/08/2015

Getting lunch and fueling up in Perry, Oklahoma

28/08/2015

Day 4 "ROAD SONG"

https://youtu.be/8FDKYGGvxAE

Sammy Hagar - I Can't Drive 55. "I Can't Drive 55 Music Video". Exclusive Video _Sandman368 Made This Video. *Subscribe to Sandman368 for FREE _If You Are Wa...

28/08/2015

Between Nebraska and Kansas Day 3

28/08/2015

They have a room in Wichita, KS tonight. Another 391.3 miles in the rearview mirror!

27/08/2015

So, they actually drove another 124.7 miles last night. Total miles on Day 2: 836.2 !! I'm impressed...anyone else??

27/08/2015

Just off the phone with the boys....

They slept in the truck at a truck-stop in North Platte, Nebraska last night...Rob in the back of the truck and Craig in the back of his car. Rob said he's more rested than Craig! They drove around until 4am and woke up at 9am...and realized they were stuck...Once they got free, they were fueling up and heading out for Day 3. Pics will probably be few today...their phones need to be charged. Their plan is to make it to Oklahoma City, OK tonight...and stop driving earlier to get a room...for showers, sleep, and charging up the electronics!

I should add....Rob took his adaptor to plug the chargers and laptop into (for music...they have an AM ONLY radio!) but there is no working (it was disabled by U-Haul) lighter to plug into. So, yeah...no music

27/08/2015

Day 3 "ROAD SONG"

https://youtu.be/zdHg4QEmBvk

Jackson Browne performs "Running On Empty" at the 2004 Hall of Fame Inductions. Visit us! http://rockhall.com/ Subscribe to RockHall : http://www.youtube.com...

27/08/2015

Day 2: 711.5 miles! They're exhausted. Trying to find a place to stay for the night and all 5 motels are full!

27/08/2015

Winding up Day 2 in Wyoming