Muscle Shoals Meets the 70s rewind

Part 13: Meanwhile, I’m still thinking

And now here's something completely different.

Leave it to Muscle Meets the 70s to pay homage to the song that gave rise to Glam Rock. Glam Rock, y’all. In the spirit of Marc Bolan and T-Rex, Red Mouth and F-Worms took over the historic Shoals Theatre stage and banged a gong with just the right amount of Shoals flavor and swagger.

This song’s intro — one of the sickest guitar-drum collabs in the history of humankind — defies genres. “Bang a Gong” is a lot like the Shoals, friends. This song, which in many ways defines an entire movement, is that brand of rock n’ roll that’s a little blues, a little country, a little Brit-pop, and a whole lot of post-punk goodness. With none other than Red Mouth, Eric Gebhardt, as our vessel and “Mitch Mann on the super fantastic guitar,” this MSM the 70s performance was unforgettable. It has taken up permanent residence in my headspace and I’m not mad.

"Bang a Gong" is a forever staple in my daily walk. Everything about this song – the riffs, the beats, the (Polyester) Horns(!), the words, the attitude – never fails to give me life even in my darkest hour. Listen, I am not a worldly person but thankfully, music has always brought the world to me. Yes, I am proud to be small town but I am anything but small-minded, friends. T-Rex’s “Bang a Gong (Get it On)" is how I envision the UK must have played in the 1970s. Red Mouth kind of feels like a Time Lord and I can see him ruling the world in 1970s Britain.

Red Mouth is not confined or defined by time or genre – he's everything but he's none of it ... right? He is Red Mouth and he stands alone. What an absolutely unapologetic artistic soul, y’all. Red Mouth is everything a groundbreaking artist should be. This native son's foundation is rooted in the classics with just the right amount of love, respect, and appreciation for our hit-making hometown but his nature is to lead, not to follow. Red Mouth acknowledges the mold before taking out his sledgehammer.

I promise, I was close enough to see into Red Mouth’s eyes during this performance and he has a feral fire in his soul, friends. He was very much like a caged cat daring us all to bang a gong and get it on. He shimmied, he kicked it out, and he (signature) shuffled. At one point, he pointed to the background vocalists — I was a little blinded by Red Mouth’s aura but I think it was Marie Lewey, Cindy Walker, Andrew Granlund, and Angela Hacker singing their souls for us on this song — then, I kid you not, Red Mouth pointed right at me. I melted away into fangirl oblivion.

So many of the MSM the 70s performances – like Red Mouth's "Bang a Gong" – were extra special because the songs are so very precious to me. They're woven into the fabric of who I am. I never dreamed it possible that these already mega-important personal songs could be elevated even more at the hands of my Shoals music heroes. I bow down to the “supercalafragisilistic Fiddleworms everybody” but their MSM friends make everything legendary. Mind blown.

Stay tuned ... more to come.

Dig Worms.

Photo by Devona Hawkins