Industry Remembers Celebrated Songwriter

Industry remembers celebrated songwriter • By Robert Palmer Staff Writer Local musicians are reflecting on the talents of George Jackson, one of the Muscle Shoals music business’ most celebrated and successful songwriters. Jackson penned two of the biggest hits recorded in local studios — “One Bad Apple” for the Osmonds at FAME Recording Studios, and “Old Time Rock and Roll” for Bob Seger at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios. He also wrote the contemporary blues standard “Down Home Blues” for Z.Z. Hill, which also was recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound. Jackson, 68, died at his Ridgeland, Miss., home April 15. “ ‘Old Time Rock and Roll’ is probably the biggest copyright we were ever associated with,” said Jimmy Johnson, of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. Johnson and the other three rhythm section members — David Hood, Roger Hawkins and the late Barry Beckett — owned Muscle Shoals Sound Studios and its publishing company. Jackson was signed as a writer for them in the 1970s. “He was one fine human being,” Johnson said. “He was a very good friend to all of us.” Jackson was a prolific songwriter whose work was recorded by a wide of array of artists, including Wilson Pickett, Candi Staton, Johnny Taylor and Clarence Carter. Ace Records, of England, has issued several CDs of the demos and singles he recorded at FAME in the late 1960s and early 1970s. “George was my brother,” said Mickey Buckins, a Muscle Shoals songwriter, musician and recording engineer. “We signed as writers at FAME about a year apart. He was my favorite guy to co-write with out of a lot of writing combinations. We never failed to come out with something decent. We always clicked.” Buckins said Jackson did not learn to drive until later in life, and would ride a bus into town from Memphis or hitch a ride with friends. They would hole up in a local motel and or take over FAME after hours and write and record all night. Buckins was FAME owner Rick Hall’s recording engineer. “We would write songs for specific artists before they arrived, and sometimes we would have singers who sounded a lot like the artist for the demos,” he said. “We approached demos as if they were master tracks. Many of them wound up as master tracks with the artist’s vocal over the track.” One of the artists Jackson was asked to write for was the until-then unrecorded Osmonds in 1970. Rick Hall said he was convinced by MGM Records president Mike Curb to see a live performance of the Osmonds in Las Vegas, and was impressed enough to take them on as producer. “On the way home, I asked myself what I could cut on them that would be a hit,” Hall said. “I called George Jackson and said I found a group of young boys who sound like a five-headed man. I said the Jackson 5 were selling records because that audience had nothing in their age group they could relate to. I told George I wanted something like the Jackson 5 would do.” A short time later, Hall was handed Jackson’s demo of “One Bad Apple.” “I was floored, completely taken with it,” Hall said. “I didn’t know if I could cut a better record than the demo.” The record went to No. 1 on the charts and launched the Osmonds’ highly successful recording career and television variety show. That and other Osmonds hits recorded at FAME also helped Hall earn recognition as Billboard magazine’s Producer of the Year for the World Award. “ ‘One Bad Apple’ was very, very important to my career,” Hall said. Jackson was a quiet, reserved man who inspired confidence in others. Hall put Buckins and Jackson in charge of his Memphis studio. “I had about 12 black songwriters signed to me in Memphis. I told them George was the boss, the man they should answer to if they wanted a demo cut,” he said. “He never failed me. If you had an idea, he could create a song and a melody and a groove for it. He was just incredible, and he was a good singer. “He will be missed terribly by me,” Hall said.” Buckins said Jackson could work with young songwriters and find out quickly which ones would be successful. Johnson, of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, said Jackson was really excited after he had written “Old Time Rock and Roll,” and felt certain it was a hit. “We signed George as a rhythm and blues writer, but he said he had a rock and roll song that was unbelievable,” he said. “We cut it during a weekend demo session, and I didn’t know what to do with it. He was singing it, and his voice didn’t lend itself to rock and roll.” So, Johnson called in Jackson Highway band singer Dennis Gulley to put a rock vocal over the demo track. “David Hood and I were in the control room. Gulley didn’t get half way through the track when David and I looked at each other at the same time and mouthed ‘Bob Seger,’ ” he said. The demo was sent to Seger and, after a number of attempts to rerecord the backing track for a master, they gave up and put Seger’s vocal over the demo recording. “We cut that in about 15 minutes,” Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section drummer Roger Hawkins said of the demo. “We tried to rerecord it, but we could never recreate the vibe the original had.” Hawkins said “Old Time Rock and Roll” was a huge financial success for the studio’s publishing company, as well as for Jackson. The 1978 hit got new life in the 1983 Tom Cruise movie “Risky Business,” which featured the then-young actor dancing to the song in his parents’ living room wearing a shirt, underwear and socks. “George meant a lot to us personally, as well as professionally,” Hawkins said. “To know he has passed away is very sad. Anytime someone brings you joy, when they pass, it is really just an empty feeling.” .

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