June 15, 1944

Edward C. “Eddie” Hinton was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on June 15, 1944. The guitarist and singer-songwriter had a career that spanned the most vital part of the soul music era in Muscle Shoals. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Hinton, who was white, participated in many recordings with black soul artists, from Aretha Franklin to the Staple Singers to Percy Sledge. As a singer, Hinton is regarded among blues and soul aficionados as one of the great “blue-eyed soul” singers. As a guitarist, Hinton’s playing reflected an authentic Delta blues style. Hinton often wrote in collaboration with Muscle Shoals composers such as Donnie Fritts, Marlin Greene and Dan Penn. A Muscle Shoals session musician from 1967 until his death in 1995, Hinton also was the lead guitarist with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section in the early to mid-1970s.

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