Sunday, March 23, 2008 | A+E, Music, In this Issue...
High notes
The 25 greatest moments in Georgia music history
Right to left: A banner commemorating Widespread Panic’s 15 consecutive sold-out shows goes up at Philips Arena on Dec. 31, 2006 (Courtesy of Atlanta Spirit); Ray Charles (Jean-Pierre Muller/AFP/Getty Images); R.E.M. arrive at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame ceremony in 2006 (Spark St. Jude); James Brown (Michal Cizek/AFP/Getty Images); Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland (Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images); The Allman Brothers (led by Gregg Allman, pictured) show up twice on our list—sort of (Michael Buckner/Getty Images); Big Boi and André 3000 of OutKast (Scott Gries/Getty Images); and Ludacris shows off his Best Rap Song and Best Rap Album Grammys (Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images).
It’s that time of year again, when winter fitfully cedes its territory to spring and the concert industry revs up for another busy season. With music fans looking forward to a spring and summer filled with magic music memories, we thought we’d look backward—at the (modern-day) moments that defined our city and state’s rich musical legacy, exposed our artists to the world, sparked a revolution, made careers or just plain did us proud. And as much as Elton John’s presence in Atlanta has no doubt done for our state, we kept the focus to those acts most closely associated with Georgia. Agree with our choices? Feel we made a grievous omission? Drop us a line and let us know. Meanwhile, here they are—the 25 greatest musical moments in our state’s history.
25. THE GEORGIA SATELLITES SCORE A HIT WITH “KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF” (1986)
In retrospect, there’s nothing terribly special about the lone hit from this Atlanta band’s 1986 major-label debut. The rollicking Stones/Faces groove, bolstered by recycled Chuck Berry licks and slathered with red clay attitude, could have emerged from any of a number of quality bar bands. But Dan Baird’s raw, sexually charged ode to loose women appeared at the right place and the right time, rocketing to No. 2 on Billboard’s singles chart, and propelling the accompanying album to No. 5. Not bad for a bunch of rowdy rockers who’d played every dive bar on the Southern circuit to moderate local acclaim.—Hal Horowitz
24. “SHINE” ROCKETS COLLECTIVE SOUL INTO THE PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS (1994)
Stockbridge, Ga.’s Ed Roland recorded “Shine” for a 1991 indie solo album, “Ed-E Roland,” while he was working as an engineer at Atlanta’s Real 2 Reel studio. The tune was already ancient when it appeared on his collection of demos, 1994’s “Hints, Allegations and Things Left Unsaid,” recorded for the tiny Rising Storm label and credited to Collective Soul. Atlantic Records caught wind of the song, and the rest is history: The album went double platinum, spurred by its No. 1 hit single. The band and Roland have released other commercially successful material, yet “Shine” remains the one timeless classic in Roland’s catalog.—H.H.
23. GRAM PARSONS JOINS THE BYRDS (1968)
Born in Florida, raised in Waycross, Ga., Parsons joined the Los Angeles-based Byrds in 1968 after bassist Chris Hillman heard his International Submarine Band. Parsons persuaded the Roger McGuinn-led group to record in Nashville and was the defining influence on “Sweetheart of the Rodeo,” his only album with the band and ultimately a country rock masterpiece. Parsons went on to greater fame with his Flying Burrito Brothers, but it was this short yet influential stint with the Byrds that was the turning point in his career, bringing traditional country music to a young, hip audience.—H.H.
22. CHUCK LEAVELL JOINS THE ROLLING STONES (1982)
The most famous American to be considered a member of the Rolling Stones, Leavell began his professional career as pianist for the Allman Brothers Band, following the deaths of Berry Oakley and Duane Allman. After five years with Sea Level, he joined the Stones as second road keyboardist (behind veteran Ian Stewart) for a 1982 European Tour. Since Stewart’s passing, he’s been an integral member of the group, both onstage and on record. Leavell has since been promoted to musical director and creates each night’s set list, an impressive task with a catalog as rich as the Stones’.—H.H.
21. 99X MAKES SHAWN MULLINS A STAR (1998)
It took five albums of scuffling around Atlanta’s nascent early ’90s folk scene until 99X program director Leslie Fram famously rescued folksy singer-songwriter Mullins’ from a life of open mic showcases and college frat parties. She plucked “Lullaby” from his sixth self-released disc, 1998 “Soul’s Core,” and pretty much single-handedly promoted it across the country. Sony jumped on board and the release ultimately went platinum, springboarding the young Mullins’ still-fertile career. The song’s success cemented the now-defunct radio station’s reputation as a national tastemaker, and also helped put Eddie’s Attic on the map as the venue that nurtured Mullins’ talents.—H.H.
20. INDIA ARIE’S DEBUT RACKS UP MULTIPLE GRAMMY NOMINATIONS (2001)
Signed to Motown in 1999, Colorado-born Atlanta musician India Arie was a mainstay of the city’s thriving neo-soul scene, which orbited around the late Yin Yang Café (now reborn as Apache Café). Two years in the making, her 2001 debut “Acoustic Soul” made her a star, going double-platinum and garnering the most Grammy nominations—seven—of any artist that year. Arie famously went home empty-handed that night, and has since become so frustrated with the music business that she boycotted this year’s Grammy event. But her rise to stardom helped to expose other deserving artists like Van Hunt and her old Yin Yang cohorts Anthony David and Donnie.—H.H.
19. DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS SURVIVE THE RECORDING OF “SOUTHERN ROCK OPERA” (2001)
Before the release of “Southern Rock Opera,” Athens’ Drive-By Truckers were just another indie-rock band with a funny name. After, they were headliners whose sharp lyrics and potent three-guitar attack both reveled in and dissected the boozy Southern rock they clearly loved. More a song cycle than a “Tommy”-styled opera, the album explored Lynyrd Skynyrd’s rise and tragic fall placed in the context of the band members’ own conflicted feelings, over a sprawling 20-track double-CD filled with squalling guitars and Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley’s ruminative songs. The album’s difficult recording—under financial and physical constraints that would have sunk lesser bands—proved the group’s ability to create art under pressure.—H.H.
18. LAFACE RECORDS CHANGES THE FACE OF ATLANTA MUSIC (1989)
Antonio “L.A.” Reid and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds were already an established songwriting/producing team—having worked with Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown, Boyz II Men and others—before relocating to Atlanta to form LaFace in partnership with Arista Records. But the label made them into power players, as LaFace quickly turned into a launching pad for some of the most successful pop, hip-hop and R&B acts of the ’90s, including Toni Braxton and Atlanta artists TLC, Goodie Mob, OutKast and Usher. The label’s now based in L.A. and Reid and Edmonds are no longer involved, but there’s no escaping its influence on Atlanta and beyond.—Kevin Forest Moreau
17. LUDACRIS GETS GRAMMY LOVE FOR “RELEASE THERAPY” (2007)
Although his old nemeses Bill O’Reilly and Oprah Winfrey will never admit it, Atlanta rap superstar Ludacris has gradually evolved into a formidable recording artist, having graduated from the inexcusable bathroom skits of 2003’s career lowlight “Chicken-N-Beer” to the deceptively relaxed wordplay and more substantive tracks of 2004’s “The Red Light District” and the more mature, reflective content of his high-water mark, 2006’s “Release Therapy.” At least Grammy voters think so: Last year Luda finally took home some gold, earning Grammys for Best Rap Song (“Money Maker”) and Best Rap Album—beating out Pharrell Williams, the Roots, Lupe Fiasco and Atlanta rival T.I. for the latter.—K.F.M.
16. JENNIFER NETTLES JOINS SUGARLAND (2002)
With Soul Miner’s Daughter and her own self-titled band, singer-songwriter Jennifer Nettles had carved out a place for herself on the Atlanta music scene. But the restless Nettles was looking for something different, and she found it in the country act Sugarland, a kind of supergroup of local musicians including Kristen Hall, Billy Pilgrim’s Kristian Bush and local utility player Clay Cook. With Nettles on board, Sugarland became a force to be reckoned with and soon landed a major-label contract. As the group shrunk to a trio (with Bush and Hall) and, following Hall’s departure, a duo, Nettles’ dynamo performances have remained the chart-topping megalith’s calling card.—K.F.M.
15. THE B-52’S MAKE THEIR LIVE DEBUT (1977)
The Athens-based band’s first-ever live show on Valentine’s Day, 1977 at a friend’s house is by now the stuff of legend. In retrospect, it seems only fitting that such an inauspicious debut would launch a career now surging into its fourth decade. With their combination of surf, dance and ’60s girl-group music and futuristic/retro thrift-store chic, the B-52’s have thrived on contradiction and skewered expectations: After the AIDS-related death of co-founding guitarist Ricky Wilson, the band cemented its place in the pop firmament with 1989’s “Cosmic Thing” and its irrepressible singles “Love Shack” and “Roam.” No other act delivers a raucous dance-party atmosphere juxtaposed with bizarre lyrics with as much success.—H.H.
14. JERMAINE DUPRI RECORDS “WELCOME TO ATLANTA” (2001)
Atlanta mogul Dupri is appropriately lauded for his production talents (he earned a Grammy for Mariah Carey’s hit “We Belong Together”) and his So So Def label, but his output as a recording artist is often overlooked. “Welcome to Atlanta,” however, is hard to ignore, with shout-outs to Club 112, Frank Ski and the Velvet Room. When Jermaine and Ludacris trade off on the insistent chorus, extolling the virtues of the city where “parties don’t stop ’til 8 in the mo’ nin’,” it’s hard not to feel a shiver of civic pride.—K.F.M.
13. WIDESPREAD PANIC CELEBRATES A “BANNER” YEAR (2006)
Year in and year out, there are three certainties in Atlanta: Tyler Perry will release at least one movie; a new local rapper will blow up huge; and Athens’ Widespread Panic will perform two sold-out shows at Philips Arena each New Year’s. In honor of this impressive feat, the arena hoisted a banner on Dec. 31, 2006 commemorating 15 consecutive sold-out shows since 1999 (the total has since reached 17 with two additional sellouts last December). That’s more sold-out Philips shows than Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Prince and U2 combined, enough to earn the jam-band juggernaut the enviable position of Philips Arena’s house band.—K.F.M.
12. INDIGO GIRLS RELEASE MAJOR-LABEL DEBUT (1989)
Emily Saliers and Amy Ray already enjoyed a sizable local following and a bit of “next big thing” buzz before signing with Epic Records. But the Indigo Girls stepped up their game considerably for their self-titled Epic debut, delivering a set of passionate performances and poignant, powerful songs—“Kid Fears,” “Prince of Darkness,” “Secure Yourself,” the Saliers-penned hit “Closer to Fine”—that didn’t just introduce the Athens duo to the world; they loudly announced a pair of major talents on a par with their buddies in R.E.M.—K.F.M.
11. GLADYS KNIGHT RECORDS “MIDNIGHT TRAIN TO GEORGIA” (1973)
Although it has since become Atlanta native Knight’s signature piece, “Midnight Train to Georgia” was earlier recorded by Cissy Houston (Whitney’s mother). The composition was written and originally waxed by country singer-songwriter Jim Weatherly as “Midnight Plane to Houston” until Houston’s people changed the lyrics. Still, it wasn’t until Knight and her woo-wooing Pips grabbed hold of it in 1973 that the tune’s full soul power was unleashed on a version that hit the top of the charts in late October of that year. Knight and the Pips’ recording sits at No. 432 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.—H.H.