Country Music in the DLG

Jerry Reed and the winners of a music contest, Atlanta, Georgia, August 8, 1956. Newspaper caption attached to print verso identifies photographer Harold Joiner: "Winning String Band With Recording Artist Jerry Reed. L-R: Rudolph Thomas, Wendell Williams, Reed, Douglas Thomas, Gene Davis." AJCP551-69a, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.
Jerry Reed and the winners of a music contest, Atlanta, Georgia, August 8, 1956. Newspaper caption attached to print verso identifies photographer Harold Joiner: “Winning String Band With Recording Artist Jerry Reed. L-R: Rudolph Thomas, Wendell Williams, Reed, Douglas Thomas, Gene Davis.”
AJCP551-69a, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.

The 49th annual Country Music Association Awards ceremony will air at 8 pm on Wednesday, November 4th. We thought this would be the perfect opportunity to feature some of the many country music resources in the Digital Library of Georgia that are available to you. Many prominent country music artists hail from Georgia, including country music’s first commercial star Fiddlin’ John Carson, his daughter, Moonshine Kate, one of country music’s first female recording artists, guitarist and producer Chet Atkins, entertainer Jerry Reed, singer Brenda Lee, singer Alan Jackson, guitarist and singer Travis Tritt, and singer Trisha Yearwood.

Many Georgia-based musicians have performed country music that is preserved in field recordings; there are also numerous oral history interviews with country music artists that provide insight into their musical influences and life experiences as musicians. We have provided links to some examples from three collections: the Georgia Folklore Collection, the Foxfire Oral Histories, 2014 collection, and the Living Atlanta oral history collection. You can find more country music resources by browsing through these collections.

Musical recordings:

Musical recording of the Humphrey Family “Family Opry” Part 1

Part one of a two-part recording. Recording of the Humphrey Family performing with other musicians, including Renee Joseph from Louisville, Georgia. Songs (incomplete list): We Had A Friend, Song: Melody [full title unknown], Traveling Blues, Blew My Last Chance Blues, Love’s Gonna Live Here, preceded by the introduction of Renee Joseph, Fifteen Years Ago, I Saw the Light, Heaven on My Mind, On This Road to Glory. Georgia Folklore Collection, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia.

Musical recording of the Humphrey Family “Family Opry” Part 2

Part two of a two-part recording. Recording of the Humphrey Family performing with other musicians, including Renee Joseph from Louisville, Georgia. Songs include Golden Street Parade, That Wonderful Country, One Day At A Time – Old Ship Of Zion, See You On The Raptures, How Great Thou Art. Georgia Folklore Collection, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia.

Musical recording of Chancey brothers, Part 1, Gilmer County, 1978 October 22

Part one of a three-part recording. Art Rosenbaum’s recording of Chesley Chancey and Joe Chancey in Cherry Log, Georgia. Songs: Mulberry Gap, Cumberland Gap, Frankie, Greenback, Cripple Creek, Old Joe Clark, Old Grey Mare, Bile Them Cabbage, Sourwood Holler, Sally Goodin, Eleven Cent Cotton, Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar, Black Mountain Rag, Mole In The Ground. Georgia Folklore Collection, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia.

Musical recording of Chancey brothers, Part 2, Gilmer County, Georgia, 1978 October 22

Part two of a three-part recording. Art Rosenbaum’s recording of Chesley Chancey and Joe Chancey in Cherry Log, Georgia. Songs: All The Good Times, Poor Ex-Soldier, Cotton-Eyed Joe, Shout Lula, Turkey In The Straw, Arkansas Traveler, Cindy, Fisher’s Hornpipe, Rickett’s Hornpipe. Georgia Folklore Collection, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia.

Musical recording of Chancey brothers, Part 3, Gilmer County, 1978 October 22

Part three of a three-part recording. Art Rosenbaum’s recording of Ralph Chancey, Chesley Chancey, Joe Chancey, Jim Cox, and Bill Cox in Cherry Log, Georgia. Songs: Hills Of Old Virginia, Gold Rush, Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone, Go Down Moses, May You Never Be Alone Like Me, The Uncloudy Day. Georgia Folklore Collection, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia.

 

Oral history interviews: 

Oral history interview with Laura Monk, 2014

Interview with Laura Monk, lead singer of High Cotton, c. 2014 in Rabun County, Georgia, for Foxfire magazine. She talks about the inspiration behind the song “Appalachian Goodbye” and filming the music video at the Foxfire museum. She also talks about how she got into music, the musical influences that led to her Americana style, and her favorite songs that she’s written. Foxfire Oral Histories, 2014. Foxfire Museum Heritage Center, Mountain City, Georgia.

 

Three interviews with “Moonshine Kate,” one of country music’s first female recording artists.

 

Oral history interview with Rosa Lee Carson Johnson (“Moonshine Kate”) interviewed by Clifford Kuhn on 1972-1980.

Living Atlanta oral history project records, MSS 637, Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center.

 

Oral history interview with Rosa Lee Carson Johnson (“Moonshine Kate”) interviewed by Clifford Kuhn on 1979 February 15.

Living Atlanta oral history project records, MSS 637, Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center.

 

Oral history interview with Rosa Lee Carson Johnson (“Moonshine Kate”) interviewed by Clifford Kuhn on 1979 February 15.

Living Atlanta oral history project records, MSS 637, Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center.

 

We hope that you enjoy listening to some of these recordings and that you learn something new about the role of country music in Georgia!

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The Georgia Folklore Collection

Video of Nathaniel and Fleeta Mitchell, Georgia, 1984. Georgia Folklore Collection, courtesy of the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia via the Digital Library of Georgia.
Video of Nathaniel and Fleeta Mitchell, Georgia, 1984.
Georgia Folklore Collection, courtesy of the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia via the Digital Library of Georgia.

We are excited to announce the arrival of the Georgia Folklore Collection through our partnership with the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection. The Georgia Folklore Collection includes over one thousand hours of music, interviews, and storytelling.

The Georgia Folklore Collection consists primarily of field recordings made by Art Rosenbaum donated to the University of Georgia Libraries Media Archives in 1987. The collection also contains associated collections of sound and video recordings from around Georgia, including those made between 1955 and 1983 by volunteers from the Georgia Folklore Society.  Some of the artists represented in the collection include the Tanner family, Reverend Howard Finster, the McIntosh County Shouters, Doodle Thrower and the Golden River Grass, Neal Pattman, Joe Rakestraw, Jake Staggers, the Eller brothers, Doc and Lucy Barnes, Nathaniel and Fleeta Mitchell, R. A. Miller, W. Guy Bruce, Precious Bryant, and many more.

Ruta Abolins, the director of the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection describes the history of the collection: “The field recordings of the Georgia Folklore Collection were gathered by individuals wanting to collect music and the musicians unique to Georgia. In that group were people like Art Rosenbaum, now a retired art professor at the University of Georgia, George Mitchell, a music historian, and others who collected the recordings during the 1950s to 1980s. They were inspired by the work of Alan Lomax and the field recordings he made all over the world.” Abolins notes:  “The collection as a whole is so rich and diverse that anyone with even a passing interest in music or folklife can find something interesting and informative. I just hope that the content is used to educate, entertain, and inspire.”

Abolins describes the process of making this collection available online:  “We decided what should be digitized and the analog to digital file creation was taken care of by a vendor. We had gathered our basic metadata together and provided that information to the Digital Library of Georgia. The DLG then created the records for the DPLA and now we are represented in a fantastic portal that leads to digital content from all across the United States. It is a win-win-win-win project. Great for the Brown Media Archives, great for the Digital Library of Georgia, great for the Digital Public Library of America, and most importantly a great win for the American people.”

We hope that you take some time to explore the Georgia Folklore Collection and learn more about the Georgia artists represented therein.

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