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Guitarist, songwriter, and singer
Eddie Hinton may be one of the great, unheralded white blues musicians of all time. Fortunately, fans can latch onto a few recordings on compact disc.
Hinton died far too young, at the age of 51, on July 28, 1995, yet his guitar playing can be heard all over famous recordings by famous people: on hit records by
Aretha Franklin,
Wilson Pickett,
Joe Tex,
Solomon Burke,
Percy Sledge,
the Staple Singers,
the Dells,
Johnny Taylor,
Elvis Presley,
Boz Scaggs,
Hour Glass,
Otis Redding, and even reggae star
Toots Hibbert of
Toots & the Maytals.
Hinton was a session guitarist non-pareil. After working with Southern bands like the Spooks and the Five Minutes, he played lead guitar for Muscle Shoals Sound rhythm section from 1967 to 1971. What most people didn't know at the time was that
Hinton was also a talented singer, songwriter, arranger, and producer in his own right. In the late '60s, Muscle Shoals was something of a hit factory for Atlantic Records' recording artists, under the careful, patient tutelage of legendary producer
Jerry Wexler.
Hinton was just 22 when he was invited to the Shoals area by fellow songwriter and producer
Martin Greene. The
Hinton/
Greene songwriting and producing team produced several country/soul hits, including "Cover Me," and "It's All Wrong But It's Alright" for
Percy Sledge.
Sadly,
Hinton's 1978 critically hailed Capricorn Records debut,
Very Extremely Dangerous, was released shortly before the Macon, Georgia-based label folded. In 1982,
Jimmy Johnson of the Muscle Shoals rhythm section took
Hinton into the studio to record a half-dozen songs for a new album, but that project was never released, and the blow to his ego, coupled with a divorce, sent
Hinton into a personal tailspin. Changing musical trends brought popular tastes further away from blues and soul for a time in the '80s (until the rise of
Stevie Ray Vaughan brought blues back into vogue) and
Hinton was living on the streets in Decatur, Alabama when he ran into an old friend, John D. Wyker. Wyker and
Hinton were friends in the University of Alabama's drum and bugle corps. Wyker saw to it that
Hinton had housing and a plan to record again. With the help of some friends, Owen Brown and
Jeff Simpson, Wyker began recording
Hinton at Birdland Recording Studio and the new songs were combined with the tunes recorded by
Jimmy Johnson in 1982. The result was Letters from Mississippi, an album that sparked a career renaissance for
Hinton. It wasn't long before he was in demand across Europe, Alabama, and the rest of the south for his unique, soulful blues vocals and expert guitar technique. Wyker continued to serve as a musical guru for
Hinton's career rebirth and brought the singer and guitarist to Rounder Records Bullseye blues subsidiary.
Cry & Moan and
Very Blue Highway were the result.
Hinton recovered his health and general well-being and moved back home to Birmingham to live with his mother, all the while writing refreshingly good original songs. He made a short tour of Italy before returning to Birdland Studios in early 1995 to record a new album. As he was putting finishing touches on the new batch of songs, he suffered a fatal heart attack.
Hard Luck Guy was released on a revived Capricorn Records in late 1998, and the songs are some of the most soul-stirring, thoughtful, and well-recorded tracks ever put on tape by a white blues artist. Anyone who's a fan of
Otis Redding or
Al Green will latch onto these songs like a hummingbird to a magnolia blossom. Also worth seeking out are his two releases for Rounder,
Cry & Moan and
Very Blue Highway, as well as his European-only release Letters from Mississippi.
To be sure,
Hinton packed a lot of inspiring music into his 51 years by way of all the legendary sessions on which he played lead guitar at Muscle Shoals. His vocals were also singularly unique, firmly planted in the South and drenched with second-nature blues and soul feeling.
Jerry Wexler's liner notes for
Hinton's last release,
Hard Luck Guy (the title a nod to his prime influence,
Otis Redding), are worth the price of admission in and of themselves.
Wexler says of
Hinton, "He remains unique, a white boy who truly sang and played in the spirit of the great Black soul artists he venerated. With Eddie it wasn't imitation; it was totally created, with a fire and fury that was as real as
Otis Redding's and
Wilson Pickett's." ~ Richard Skelly