David Hood

A native of the Muscle Shoals area, David Hood “fell into the music business unintentionally” when he found he was making more “playing for fun” than working for his father.

Hood was working as manager of one of his father’s tire stores when he began getting calls for sessions at Fame Studio, first on trombone and later as bassist with the rhythm section that became known for its “Muscle Shoals Sound”.

In the early days, R&B artists such as Slim Harpo, Wilson Pickett, and Aretha Franklin made the journey to Northwest Alabama to secure the services of those four talented musicians.

In 1969, Hood along with partners Jimmy Johnson, Roger Hawkins and Barry Beckett, left Fame and went into business for themselves, purchasing a small studio and upgrading it to meet their needs.

Working for producers such as Jerry Wexler, Brad Shapiro, Tom Dowd, Phil Ramone and others, hood played on many chart records by artists such as Millie Jackson, Paul Simon, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, Traffic, Bob Seger, the Staple Singers, Luther Ingram, Mel and Tim, Boz Scaggs, and many others.

In addition to his studio work, Hood has appeared live with artists such as Art Garfunkle, Ronnie Blakely, and toured for two years with the English group Traffic.

His production efforts have been varied ranging from the group Smith, Perkins, Smith to the high energy foursome Blackfoot.

During the eighties Hood helped move the rhythm section more into country music playing on albums by artist such as the Oak Ridge Boys, John Conlee, T. Graham Brown, while maintaining a firm footing in rock an soul music on albums by artists such as Julian Lennon, Glenn Frey, and Bob Seger.