Donnie Fritts is a Florence, Ala. native and one of many local musical luminaries. He played and travelled with Kris Kristofferson‰۪s band for nearly 20 years, and has released three previous albums-- all stacked with hit original tracks. He‰۪s a lauded songwriter, noted for his tracks ‰ÛÏWe Had It All‰ (recorded by scores of artists from Waylon Jennings and Dolly Parton to Ray Charles) and ‰ÛÏBreakfast in Bed‰ which he co-wrote with Eddie Hinton for Dusty Springfield‰۪s album Dusty in Memphis.
‰Û÷Oh My Goodness‰۪ is Donnie Fritts‰۪ most polished record to date, an elevated and slight departure from the funky muscle shoals sound he‰۪s known for, but with every bit the powerhouse songwriting that made the world take notice decades ago. ‰ÛÏI didn‰۪t want to do just another funk album,‰ Donnie says. ‰ÛÏI wanted to do songs I really love and songs I never got to cut before.‰ It features appearences from John Prine, Brittany Howard (Alabama Shakes), The Secret Sisters, Dylan LeBlanc, Jason Isbell & Spooner Oldham.
‰ÛÏPeople don‰۪t make records with 71 year-old guys,‰ he says, his humility always sitting shotgun by his talent. John Paul White, formerly of the Grammy winning duo The Civil Wars and presently co-founder of Single Lock Records, befriended Donnie in 2013 when he asked him to play at the Muscle Shoals documentary premiere in Florence. Later, John Paul insisted the two cut an albumThis morphed into an amalgamation of fresh sound and honed talent backed by Nashville and Muscle Shoals legends, and rising brilliants alike. ‰ÛÏJohn Paul came by the house and I just started playing songs on the Wurlitzer piano. John Paul said, if we do this album, you just play that Wurlitzer, sing the songs, and we‰۪ll build around it.‰