I am a huge fan of the passionate and heartbreaking white soul of Eddie Hinton, having been introduced to him by the Drive-By Truckers’ two cover versions of his songs on their “Go-Go Boots” album. The more well-known of the two is perhaps ‘Everybody Needs Love’, but they also covered ‘Where’s Eddie’ with Shonna Tucker on vocals. Patterson Hood has explained that the album was where they “finally fully embrace the music of our original hometown area of Muscle Shoals, exploring the waters of country/soul and that mystical intersection between the two dominant poles of our shared musical heritage”. It certainly is the most soulful of their efforts. Here is a video recorded to promote the album, featuring a beautiful solo version of the song from Tucker.
‘Where’s Eddie’ was not performed on record by Hinton but was written by him with Donnie Fritts for Lulu’s 1969 Muscle Shoals Sound album “New Routes”. Legend has it that it was done at daybreak with them up in a tree. Fritts was a session keyboard musician who was involved in the famous Muscle Shoals studios, where many fabulous soul tracks were recorded, and where Hood’s father, David, was a session bass player on many of these tracks. Fritts was Kris Kristofferson’s keyboard player for forty years and also wrote hits for Charlie Rich, Waylon Jennings and Dolly Parton. The fabulous ‘Breakfast in Bed’, originally by Dusty Springfield and later covered by UB40, was another song he wrote with Hinton.
Hinton was a friend of David Hood’s, and so Patterson Hood knew him from a young age. He recalls Hinton being “more attentive to a small child than most of Dad’s co-workers”, but now knows that he was an extremely troubled individual, in and out of mental institutions, before his death in 1995. Hinton had such a brilliant soul voice- he sounds ‘black’- but was also a great musician, playing guitar on Boz Skaggs’ first album and on The Staple Sisters’ ‘I’ll Take You There’. For anyone wishing to investigate his music, the album “Very Extremely Dangerous” is a great place to start.
I love the mesmerising way that Tucker captures here perfectly the yearning for love and acceptance conveyed by Hinton’s lyrics, which you can’t help but think were a reflection of his own desperate feelings. Hood comments that it “says more about Eddie than any shrink’s perspective”. Lulu’s version is also worth listening to, and there is another wonderful cover by Bonnie Bramlett on The Country Soul Revue’s album “Testifying”.
Tucker, from near Florence, Alabama, started playing bass aged 12. She joined the Drive-By Truckers in 2003 and eventually left in 2011. She wrote and sang three tracks on “Brighter Than Creation’s Dark” in addition to the excellent country-soul of ‘Dancin’ Ricky’ on “Go-Go Boots”. Married for a time to Jason Isbell, she also played on his first album, “Sirens of the Ditch”.
After the DBTs, Tucker formed a band, Shonna Tucker & Eye Candy, which included her then partner, John Neff, who also played with the DBTs. They recorded “A Tell All” in 2013 and “Dreams of Mine EP” in 2019. She has recorded some solo singles and EPs in recent years, with 2021’s ‘Trouble with a Golden Heart’ being the last. You can still hear the nice soul and country influence in her work, and can only wish her well for any musical projects in the future.
