Eddie Hinton (Born 15/06/1944, Died 28/07/1995)

His mother and father divorced when Eddie was young and he spent most of his adolescence growing up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He eventually made it to the University Of Alabama, but set his stall out early and eventually told his mother that he didn't need a degree to play music.
He spent much of his early career working with local bands such as The Spooks, where the seventeen year old majored on guitar and harmonica. During a stint with The Minutes in Nashville, he met the music publisher Paul Ballinger and the latter persuaded him to quit the road and move to Sheffield, Alabama to work initially at Fame and as part of what was eventually to become the very accomplished Muscle Shoal session team - he ended up playing lead guitar for the 'Rhythm Section' from 1967 through to the mid 70s.
Hinton also wrote and produced throughout this period, striking up partnerships with Marlin Greene (the wonderful Percy Sledge hit 'Cover Me') and, especially, Donnie Fritts. The Hinton/ Fritts team produced 'Breakfast In Bed' (a hit for Dusty Springfield and a stand-out on the "Dusty In Memphis" album) as well as 'Choo Choo Train' for the Box Tops. Other artists who have recorded his songs over the years include Aretha Franklin, Tony Joe White, Sweet Inspirations, Gregg Allman and Bobby Womack ('A Little Bit Salty').

Although this period of his musical life was immensely satisfying and he always maintained that he never regretted turning down the chance to take on lead singer duties with the soon to be formed Allman Brothers, in truth neither the years nor the music industry were particularly kind to Hinton. His own work, characterised by a bluesy soul voice often compared to Otis Redding, began in earnest with the excellent "Very Extremely Dangerous" on Capricorn Records in 1978 (largely using masters recorded with the likes of Barry Beckett at Muscle Shoals) - and the record label ceased trading almost immediately after the album's release. A wonderful album immediately consigned to the cut-out bins! Thankfully, it is now available and is an excellent purchase.
Eddie continued to gig locally and in 1982 he laid down tracks with Jimmy Johnson for a proposed album but the recordings never got further than the studio mixing desk. This setback, and the divorce from his wife Sandra, seemed to send Eddie into a tailspin which left him alone and increasingly subject to bouts of depression. In some accounts he got as low as living on the streets of Decatur in Alabama before an old friend John D Wyker ran into him and got him back on the straight and narrow.

Wyker encouraged Eddie to record some new material and these tracks, along with the Jimmy Johnson material, became the mainstay of Hinton's second solo release "Letters From Mississippi" - again, a Hinton album was released to great critical acclaim but this time it did manage to do a little more to rekindle his career. (The album has subsequently been picked up Zane Records in the UK and is still available). Following the relative success of this release, Eddie managed to secure a deal with the Rounder Records subsidiary Bullseye Blues, releasing "Cry And Moan" and the particularly fine "Very Blue Highway".
Around this time, Eddie appeared more positive than he had done for years. His health seemed to be improving, he had moved back to Birmingham and reconciled with his mother and in early 1995 he'd gone back into Birdland Studio to record a new album. It was as he was about to put the finishing touches to the recordings that he suffered a fatal heart attack in July of 1995. ("Hard Luck Guy" is the acclaimed posthumous album)

Those who knew him best felt that he had put many of his demons behind him and that the manic moments that had plagued his earlier times were no longer part of his life. His mother put it best when she said shortly after Eddie's death that "He was just the kindest person, just a joy to be around. He just had a monkey on his back. But you know, he was kicking it..."
In many ways, excellent as all the above albums are, perhaps the best way to hear Eddie at his best is through the previously unreleased original songwriting sessions that demoed the many songs that were covered so successfully by other artists. "Dear Y'All" is a nineteen song collection, some polished and the finished article, others a little rougher, but all delivered with the Hinton trademark vocal, full of emotion and warmth - like finding a long lost friend.