Sunday, March 23, 2008 | A+E, Music, In this Issue...
SP High notes

The 25 greatest moments in Georgia music history

10. OUTKAST SPLITS IN HALF, DOUBLES OUR PLEASURE (2003)

It’s an open question whether OutKast will ever collaborate on a follow-up project to 2006’s “Idlewild” film and soundtrack. But the longtime friends from East Point have been counted out before. The 2003 double-album “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below”—essentially a pair of solo albums—sparked concerns that their creative output would suffer. But the swaggering originality of Big Boi’s “Speakerboxxx” and the quirky Prince-does-jazz acid trip of André 3000’s “The Love Below” proved the duo could be just as inventive and compelling apart as they’d been together. Indeed, Big Boi’s “The Way You Move” and André’s ubiquitous pop gem “Hey Ya!” scored the biggest hits of the group’s career.—K.F.M.

9. THE WORLD SAYS “YEAH!” TO USHER (2004)

Usher Raymond had already been an R&B star for 10 years when it came time to record his fifth studio album, “Confessions.” But that album’s first single, the dance-floor-dominating “Yeah!,” shot him to an entirely different level of fame. Driven by a naggingly simplistic keyboard riff and peppered with infectious yelps from producer-of-the-moment Lil Jon (with a Crystal-smooth interlude from Ludacris to freshen things up toward the end), the punchy tune muscled its way to radio dominance the way OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” had the year before. Usher himself later admitted that he originally wasn’t sure the song was a good fit for him; we’re sure he’s glad he eventually came around.—K.F.M.

8. PHIL WALDEN FORMS CAPRICORN RECORDS (1969)

First launched by Walden, then best-known as Otis Redding’s manager, and Frank Fentor in Macon, the independent label (named after Walden’s astrological sign) ultimately became the foremost purveyor of Southern rock in the ’70s. The Allman Brothers Band was its biggest attraction, but successful and influential acts such as Wet Willie, Elvin Bishop and the Marshall Tucker Band helped Capricorn establish the Southern rock sound. The label collapsed in 1979, squashed by disco, but Walden revived it in the ’90s, establishing the careers of Widespread Panic, 311 and Cake before Capricorn finally folded again in the early part of the 21st century.—H.H.

7. OTIS REDDING PERFORMS AT THE MONTEREY POP FESTIVAL (1967)

The Dawson, Ga. soul man was already an established R&B luminary when he hit the stage for the headlining slot on one night of the renowned 1967 “Summer of Love” festival. However, that short 40 minute set, backed by Booker T. and The MG’s, galvanized the predominantly white, hippie audience and immediately elevated Redding to crossover superstar status. It was the height of a career that was tragically ended just months later with an untimely plane crash. Thankfully, the performance was recorded in its entirety; along with D.A. Pennebaker’s subsequent film of the festival, that recording documents Redding’s turbo-charged performance for posterity.—H.H.

6. THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND PERFORMS “AT FILLMORE EAST” (1971)

Few would have suspected that when the Macon-based, Florida-born Allmans took the stage of the famed NYC venue on the weekend of March 12 and 13, 1971 (opening for Johnny Winter), they would record one of the most influential live albums ever. Although the group’s set list was already established through constant touring, the stars aligned for these gigs, aided by legendary producer Tom Dowd, who cut and pasted the best sections of the extended sets together to showcase the group’s uncanny ability to fuse blues, jazz and rock with long jams that remain inspirational.—H.H.

5. TLC RELEASE “CRAZYSEXYCOOL” (1994)

On its first album, 1992’s “Ooooooohhh … on the TLC Tip,” the Atlanta-based trio TLC came across as spunky teenagers who might have wandered off the set of “The Cosby Show.” But the group’s Grammy-winning follow-up changed all that. Aided by a cadre of songwriters and producers—including Dallas Austin, Jermaine Dupri, Sean “Puffy” Combs and the Organized Noise trio—Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas crafted a confident, poised and adult milestone. Buoyed by the insistent hits “Waterfalls” and “Creep,” the classic “CrazySexyCool” stands as one of the strongest R&B albums of the ’90s.—K.F.M.

4. JAMES BROWN RELEASES “LIVE AT THE APOLLO” (1963)

Although it’s now considered a seminal soul classic, James Brown’s first live album, recorded on Oct. 24, 1962, was released over the objections of his then-label, King Records. But after the album spent 63 weeks on Billboard’s top 200 chart, all doubters were silenced. The sweat-soaked, high-energy performance, in front of a clearly enraptured audience at the Harlem theatre, helped Brown attain the title of “Hardest Working Man in Show Business.” “Live at the Apollo” made the Augusta native into an international figure and remains a soul masterpiece.—H.H.

3. R.E.M. RECORDS “RADIO FREE EUROPE” (1981)

“Europe” isn’t the best song in R.E.M.’s impressive catalog, but it’s the one that made the rest of its recording career possible. The Athens band had been together a little more than a year when it convened at Winston-Salem’s Drive-In Studio to record its debut single with producer Mitch Easter. Although guitarist Peter Buck’s jangly, arpeggio-happy sound was still in its embryonic stage, the song’s dynamic, left-of-center arrangement and Michael Stipe’s inscrutable delivery were intriguing enough that the single, released on the indie label Hib-Tone, racked up critical accolades and college-radio airplay, resulting in a deal with I.R.S. Records. And the rest, as they say, is history.—K.F.M.

2. RAY CHARLES RECORDS “GEORGIA ON MY MIND” (1960)

Ray Charles didn’t write “Georgia on my Mind”—it was penned by Stuart Gorrell and the acclaimed composer Hoagy Carmichael in 1930. But it was the Albany, Ga.-born Charles who made the song a smash hit when he recorded it 30 years later for his theme album “The Genius Hits the Road.” Although the lyrics are vague enough to refer to either the state or, as written, a woman named Georgia, Charles’ version is forever linked with the state of his birth, and became the official state song of Georgia in 1979.—K.F.M.

1. ATLANTA INTERNATIONAL POP FESTIVAL PUTS GEORGIA ON THE (MUSIC) MAP (1969)

A month and a half before Woodstock became a part of rock ‘n’ roll history, a group of music fans (including future event-production guru Alex Cooley) proved that Atlanta could throw a party just as well as some farm in upstate New York. Held over July Fourth weekend at the Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Ga., the Atlanta International Pop Festival drew an estimated 150,000 fans to see Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, Chicago Transit Authority, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grand Funk Railroad and Led Zeppelin, among others. The Allman Brothers were reportedly turned away because they were booked by someone who wasn’t authorized to do so. A second event, held in Byron, Ga., the next year, drew bigger crowds but proved a comparative disappointment due to crowd-control issues and a number of cancellations. Cooley, along with partner Peter Conlon, went on to produce hundreds of rock shows and later founded the successful Music Midtown festival.—K.F.M.