Quin Ivy, Quinon Ray Ivy to give him his full name, started out as a DJ and after a few years found himself at WLAY-AM in Muscle Shoals. At this point he got to know Rick Hall and they wrote some songs together, some of which Jimmy Hughes recorded early in his career. Before long Quin opened a record store on East 2nd Street in Sheffield called Tune Town (looking at Google maps the rank this store was in still stands, although most, if not all, are standing empty). In 1965 he opened up his first studio right across the street from his store, it was a very basic affair and initially called NORALA (NORthern ALAbama). Where this studio stood is now just an empty lot but it is marked by an Alabama Tourism Dept Historical Marker. Quin was taking "overflow" from Rick's FAME studio and also sharing The Swampers as session players, and Marlin Greene became, essentially, his number two.
Things changed radically for Quin when a local band including the then unknown Percy Sledge walked into his studio sometime in 1965 and demoed a song that would eventually be honed by the team into When A Man Loves A Woman. This record became the first ever song to come out of the Muscle Shoals area, and the first ever Southern Soul song, to make it to number 1 in the Billboard Top 100 Pop charts. It was, of course, a massive international hit too. The details of the deal Quin Ivy struck with both Rick Hall and Atlantic's Jerry Wexler (who ensured national distribution of the record) tell you a lot about the man - Quin was a thoroughly decent guy, effectively giving Sledge, Hall, and Greene cuts of the cut he had agreed with Wexler.
Quin continued to work with Sledge into the Seventies but never had another record that made it in quite the same way as When A Man Loves A Woman. Soon after that single's success he started two labels - South Camp, nationally distributed through Atco, and Quinvy. Great singers such as Don Varner, Bill Brandon, and Tony Borders had single releases but none were more than local hits.
Sometime in 1968 Quin Ivy moved across town in Sheffield and opened a bigger studio at 1307 Broadway. This became formally known as Quinvy. (The NORALA studio was sold and renamed Paradox, before eventually being leased by Muscle Shoals Sound in 1973 and converted into a writer's workshop and demo studio, at which point it became known as Muscle Shoals Sound Studio B. It is not known when this studio was closed, nor when it was, sadly, demolished but I assume it's days were certainly numbered by the end of the 70s when Muscle Shoals Sound moved to the Cypress Moon studio).
The Quinvy studio thrived for a few years, and along side Percy Sledge, other now well known artists on the Soul scene, eg Swamp Dogg, Doris Duke, ZZ Hill, recorded there. And also some not so well known ones such as Judy White, Brooks O'Dell, Freddie North, and Ernie Shelby.
By late '73 Quin Ivy backed away from the recording business and sold the Quinvy studio to David Johnson. The studio then become known as Broadway Sound. The building still stands but the studio itself closed in 1989.
Quin Ivy went back to school and obtained an accounting degree. From around 1980 he then spent the rest of his working life teaching Business Administration at the University of North Alabama, retiring in 1996.
This is very much a potted history of the NORALA and Quinvy studios which were an important part of the Muscle Shoals scene in the 60s and early 70s. Most of this information I have gleaned following a deep dive into their history and Quin Ivy's career following my return from our Deep South road trip. As I said in my previous post, I am kicking myself for doing more of this research before our trip.
The following sources were helpful:
Pete Nickols' (with some input from John Ridley) exhaustive articles here at Sir Shambling's superb site.
Roots Of American Music Trail pages on NORALA, Quinvy/Broadway Sound, and Dick Cooper.
Pete Nickols articles were mostly written at least 10 years ago I believe. In my research I found a Wikipedia page on Quin Ivy which was no more than a stub. It still had Quin as a living person with no known birth date. But in my searches I also found his obituary, which states he was actually born in Banner, Mississippi on June 3rd 1935, and passed away on December 10th 2022. I have added this information to his Wikipedia page. (I would like to expand his page further but I will need to read some Wiki how to's first!, especially on how to quote sources).
*** RIP Quin Ivy ***
Today's record is one that was released on the Quinvy label (I love the design, I wonder where the idea came from?). Yes, Buddy was white and may have been seen as a Soft Rock artist but the A side of this 45 was a hit on the Carolina Beach scene and can be described as Soul. The B side however is much more to my liking. Best described as Country Soul, I guess, it is a beautiful and sweet recording, which I think perfectly evokes the feel of the Muscle Shoals area. I can't explain it, but I have always felt drawn to the Muscle Shoals sound and, yes, since our visit to the Muscle Shoals area - which encompasses Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, Tuscumbia, and Florence, which all pretty much merge into each other - I am completely gone on the area. There is definitely something in the air.. and something in the water, as they say.
Buddy Causey - I Had No Idea 1970
PS: If you are ever in Florence, Alabama make sure to pay the Wildwood tavern a visit, great beer and free pinball!
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