Donnie Fritts - Prone To Lean (1974) [Japan Remastered, 2013]

Donnie Fritts was born in Florence, Alabama in 1942. He played in local bands and was there when the Muscle Shoals music scene took off in the early 60s, finding work as both a session keyboard player and songwriter. Songs he wrote were recorded at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals and American Sound Studios in Memphis by various R&B artists. His best known songs from this era were "Breakfast In Bed", co-written with Eddie Hinton and recorded by Dusty Springfield, "Choo Choo Train", also written with Eddie Hinton and a Top 40 hit for The Box Tops, and the splendid "Rainbow Road", written with Dan Penn and recorded by Percy Sledge, Joe Simon, Arthur Alexander and Bill Brandon.
In the early 70s he worked with Kris Kristofferson, playing keyboards both in the studio and on stage, and co-writing several songs with him. In 1974 he released a solo album on Atlantic Records, which was produced by Kristofferson and Jerry Wexler and recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound. It featured lots of songs co-written with Hinton, Penn, Spooner Oldham and Tony Joe White, including a moving rendition of "Rainbow Road", and as well as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section featured many of his musician friends including Hinton, White and Oldham. Though he proved to be a somewhat limited vocalist, it still turned out to be a great album full of funky southern vibes, a mix of R&B and country styles.