NASHVILLE, Tennessee- You may remember the legendary T. Graham Brown and Opry member who has recorded 15 studio albums and charted more than 20 singles on the Billboard charts. He has had multiple No.1 hits in country, gospel, and blues. Though released well before streaming was a thing, hits such as “Wine Into Water,” “If You Could See Me Now,” and “Hell and High Water” have had millions of views and plays.
But you may not know that Brown got his start in R&B. He and his buddy would play on his college campus, where they had quite the student following.
“We’d sing at night at a little Holiday Inn that was right there next to the campus. We would sing till midnight every night, get into bed, get up in the morning, and go to class. So, we kind of sang our way through school. That’s what we used to pay our tuition, it was our singing money,” he said.
Brown stated, “I had the idea to do a soul tribute album for probably the last twenty years. When the opportunity came up, we jumped on it. We went down to Muscle Shoals, the heartbeat of soul music. Billy Lawson (co-producer) and I cut fourteen tracks, and I started asking friends to sing along with me. We made ten duets in total. This album was a lot of fun. We cut it to be authentic to the mid-60s. We used the same instrumentation, the horn sections, and some of the instruments and equipment used on the original tracks at the historic Fame Studios. I think this is the ‘truest’ album possible.”
The songs on the album encompass every type of Soul Music, From Memphis to Muscle Shoals, hence the album title.
Before the full album release this weekend, Brown teased us with a few songs off the album. The first single, “The Dark End of The Street,” is one of the greatest cheating songs ever written.
“I wanted Tanya Tucker on it because we are old friends. We have done duets before, including one big hit, ‘Don’t Go Out With Him.’ She’s sultry, and I knew this was the perfect song for us to do together,” he shared.
Then, he teamed up with one of the blusiest soul singers in country music, Randy Houser, for “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.” They recorded the vocals at Houser’s home studio, where “he nailed it,” Brown said.
Brown teamed with Wynonna to cover Al Green’s “Take Me to the River” and it may be my favorite on the record.
“Wy is a masterful vocal stylist and sings with a ton of soul,” he stated. But please note that Brown is no slouch, and together they are as good as a blues duet as any out there.
The final song released before the album came out was “When A Man Loves A Woman,” a duet Brown recorded with Christian Music’s Zach Williams. Williams had been a fan of Brown for years, and he was certainly willing and more than capable of singing on his forthcoming record.
“He’s a great, soulful, singer, so I asked him if he would be interested in laying down some vocals on a song. When he chose ‘When A Man Loves A Woman,’ boy howdy, he killed it,” Brown said.
Brown solicited Bettye LeVette to sing Aretha Franklin’s “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” and Sammy Hagar to duo with him on “Walking the Dog.” But getting 83-year-old Little Anthony to sing with Arthur Alexander’s “You Better Move On” and getting 87-year-old Eddie Brown to sing on his own “Knock on Wood” takes the album to the next level.
Another can’t-miss song off the record is Brown and Delbert McClinton performing Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally.” I am shocked at how well these country crooners cover the old stuff.
Other songs that are included on the From Memphis to Muscle Shoals record are Percy Sledge’s “It Tears Me Up, “Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man,” Clarence Carter’s “Slip Away,” and the frank and honest “Who’s Making Love” covered alongside Sam Moore.
The biggest surprise on the record was Brown’s duet with Dwight Yoakam when they performed “I’m Your Puppet.” When Yoakam found out he was cutting that song, he asked specifically to sing on it. You’ve never heard Yoakam sound this way before and just got to hear it.
These ageless tunes are the foundation of R&B, soul, and country music. They are timeless masterpieces that must be replayed and remembered.
You can follow Brown on his website, Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and all streaming services.
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Bethany Bowman is a freelance entertainment writer. You can follow her blog, Instagram, and X.
