In 1977, Muscle Shoals Sound Studio cofounder and Swampers guitarist Jimmy Johnson offered a local band called Jackson Highway a song called “Old Time Rock and Roll.”
The band, named after Muscle Shoals Sound’s 3614 Jackson Highway address, centered around songwriting brothers: singer/guitarist Dennis Gulley and bassist/backing vocalist Russell Gulley. Dennis had sung lead vocals on the original demo for “Old Time Rock and Roll,” penned by Shoals songwriters George Jackson and Thomas E. Jones.
“Our first record was already in Nashville being mastered,” Russell recalled, referring to final sonic adjustments on a recording. “I told Jimmy, ‘It’d be kind of like the movies where you run in and say, ‘Stop the presses!’ I don’t know if we do it or not. But then the next thing, of course …”
Detroit singer Bob Seger ended up recording “Old Time Rock and Roll.” Initially, Seger wasn’t into the song. But after his manager insisted it was a hit and a trial live performance in Europe got a huge crowd response, Seger saw the light. He tweaked the lyrics some.
Dennis Gulley said, “The original demo is about a girl. ‘She takes those old records off the shelf …’ And there was a whole verse about Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. He [Seger] took that verse out, made it first person, and rewrote the verse. ‘Call me a relic, call me what you will, say I’m old fashioned, say I’m over the hill,’ that was Bob’s lyric.” According to Dennis, he was paid $75 for singing on the demo. It’s worth nothing that Seger didn’t take a songwriter’s cut on “Old Time Rock and Roll.”
It took Seger a couple tries to decide the right recording to release, eventually settling on one anchored by Swampers drummer Roger Hawkins and bassist David Hood. In 2016, Hood told me Seger was the most profitable artist the prolific Swampers, aka Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, ever worked with. “Because we got to share in the production, publishing and then played on his stuff,” Hood said.
“Old Time Rock and Roll” became Seger’s signature hit after his version’s 1979 release. “And that’s the way it should have been,” Russell said. “I’m so glad that George Jackson and Tom Jones got that song to Seger because it was great for all of them and helped us in the long run, too.” According to Russell Gulley, Seger later recommended Jackson Highway to Capitol Records, who released the band’s 1980 sophomore album and major label debut, which like their 1977 Muscle Shoals Sound Records debut, was self-titled. “He returned the favor,” Russell said.
Jackson Highway wasn’t destined for stardom. But the band -- also featuring guitarist Britt Meacham, keyboardist Tommy Patterson and drummer Ronny Vance -- got to tour with ‘70s stars like Ted Nugent, Triumph and UFO. And, according to Russell Gulley, Meacham’s guitar licks from the “Old Time Rock and Roll” demo appear uncredited on Seger’s hit version. Today, Jackson Highway’s two classic era albums hold up well. They’re an “almost famous” band more Southern rock fans should know.
“We were at our peak like when we split up,” Dennis said. “We recorded live on a cassette that I have now. I’ve listened to it recently and I was amazed at how tight and how good we were playing. It was like geez, we should’ve hung together another year, and we probably would have gotten another record.”
Dennis and Russell grew up in Fort Payne, the humble North Alabama municipality that also produced Country Music Hall of Fame band Alabama. In their youth, the Gulleys crossed paths with future Alabama members like guitarist Jeff Cook, and performed at the same local talent contest Cook did. Russell says the Gulley family was “poor but we were rich in other ways. I didn’t get a record player until I was in eighth grade.”
Like many kids back then, Russell fell under the spell of The Beatles, Rolling Stones and other British Invasion bands. Younger brother Dennis introduced him to psychedelic rockers like Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream. Rock pioneers like Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Bo Diddley in their ears too. Even pop bands like Herman’s Hermits. A bit later, Southern rock vanguards Allman Brothers entered the mix. Russell played in local bands with names like the Decades.
There was a seismic change when Russell was drafted to serve in the Vietnam War. He was a member of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division. He spent around two years in a combat zone, stationed about 50 miles south of the DMZ. “I’m one of those guys that came home,” Russell said.
Back in Alabama, his marriage went kaput. “We both had changed completely since we were very young.” Russell said he and his wife parted amicably, “I found myself in a position with nothing to keep me back from chasing whatever my dream was.” That dream was music.
Dennis had joined a popular Southeastern touring band called Cross, whose horn-powered sound echoed that of “25 or 6 to 4” hit-makers Chicago. Russell became a roadie for the band. The brothers also started writing songs together.
“When they went to Muscle Shoals to do their demos,” Russell said, “Jimmy Johnson asked, ‘Who wrote the song?’ And that opened a conversation about me.” At the time, Russell was touring with Southern soul singer Ruby Winters, who had a hit in the U.K. with the song “I Will.”
He got a call from Johnson to come to Muscle Shoals. “Muscle Shoals Sound had only been open a few years and Jimmy felt like it all starts with the song,” Russell said. “And if he could get the songwriters to move into Muscle Shoals the way they were congregating in Nashville that would be the future of the music business. So he recruited us first as songwriters.”
The band that became Jackson Highway, like many local musicians, made their bones playing in bars on the Alabama-Tennessee state line. The Gulleys’ songwriting publisher, Mike O’Rear, got them a house band gig at a place called Johnny’s Club. They played three or four nights a week, developing musical chemistry.
“He [O’Rear] was pitching our songs to other people,” Russell said. “But he came to a conclusion pretty quick, ‘You’re not writing songs for other people. These are Jackson Highway songs.’ He gave us that name, by the way, since the band formed around a dream of a bunch of guys going to Muscle Shoals and being taken in by Jimmy Johnson.”
Jackson Highway wrote their debut album at Muscle Shoals Sound’s auxiliary demo studio at 102 East Second Street. Johnson gave them the keys to the demo studio. They’d record there each night after the state line bar gigs.
The recording console, according to Russell, was the same one used to record Percy Sledge’s seminal Shoals ballad “When A Man Love A Woman.” Russell lauded Johnson for his support of the band. “He believed in musicians being in business for themselves. He wanted us to be our own bosses.”
Occasionally, Jackson Highway would be working out music and someone would come in to retrieve a microphone for Muscle Shoals Sound clients, like shaggy rocker Rod Stewart, who cut his 1975 “Atlantic Crossing” album at Muscle Shoals Sound.
The band shaped much of the first Jackson Highway album, including standout cuts like rocker “Wayne County, Tennessee” and the melancholic “Circles,” themselves. Johnson and Hood had a more hands-on approach to the Capitol Records follow-up.
by Matt Wake, Jun. 12, 2025
Tracks
1. Piece Of Good Earth (Russell Gulley) - 2:53
2. Pick-Up Truck (Tommy Patterson) - 2:31
3. Circles (Russell Gulley, Tommy Patterson) - 3:11
4. Honky Music (Dennis Gulley, Russell Gulley, Tommy Patterson) - 2:51
5. Hook, Line And Sinker (Dennis Gulley, Russell Gulley, Tommy Patterson) - 3:25
6. Wayne County, Tennessee (Mike Lawley) - 2:35
7. You Got Me Dancin' (Ronnie Brown, Dennis Gulley) - 2:40
8. Mississippi Funk (Doug Mays) - 2:48
9. Every Day Will Be A Holiday (Booker T. Jones, William Bell) - 2:57
10.Stick It Back In The Mud (Britt Meacham, Dennis Gulley, Russell Gulley, Ronny Vance, Tommy Patterson) - 2:31
Jackson Highway
*Dennis Gulley - Piano, Organ, Bass, Acoustic, Electric Guitars, Lead, Background Vocals
*Britt Meacham - Acoustic, Electric Guitars, Background Vocals
*Tommy Patterson - Piano, Synthesizers, Harmonica, Lead, Background Vocals
*Ronny Vance - Drums, Percussion, Background Vocals
*Russell Gulley - Bass Guitar, Background Vocals
With
*Jimmy (Bebob) Evans - Drums (Tracks 3,4)
*David Hood - Bass (Track 3)
*Tim Henson - Piano (Track 7), Arp String Ensemble (Tracks 3,9)
*Roger Hawkins - Additional Percussion
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