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Hello Georgia: an unforgettable experience
The birth of country music
Atlanta might have been called
“Music City USA;” and rightly so, if
you’re talking about the so-called
“Country Music” of America. It was
born in Atlanta. Before you start
laughing, stay with me for a
moment.
I love Nashville, Tenn. How could
I help but love it; a city where my
youngest daughter, Laura, her hus
band and three of our grandchildren
live? I love its music, too; music that
grips the very soul; real American
music. I love to go to Nashville, and
every time I go, I am reminded that
for the past 50 years the animated,
pulsating heart of music known the
world over as country music has
been its biggest attraction. It’s vivid
ly illustrated by such names as Hank
Williams, Patsy Cline, Roy Acuff
and Geoigia’s own, Bill Anderson.
. With all that moving and palpitat
ing in this shimmering city of enter
tainment and record production, who
could say Nashville hasn’t earned its
name.
Visiting the new sls million home
of the Grand Ole Opry, which is
equipped with the largest technical
facilities for radio, television and
stage production, and the largest
radio broadcast studio in the world,
you’d expect to agree with almost
anybody in saying that Nashville is
Music City USA; it is.
But never mind that. Let’s return to
Atlanta. Country music really started
jn.Geoigia’s capital city around the
turn-of-the century with a musical
phenomenon called “fiddling,” a
type of music produced on the vio
lin-Now the difference between a
■vidin and a fiddle is, according to
Sbffie folks in north Geoigia, the way
ybu carry it. If the instrument is in a
lease, it’s a violin; if it’s in a flour
sack, or just under your arm boldly
/delayed, it’s a fiddle.
Z~Music played on the fiddle became
IpOpular in Georgia during the last
’.century; it was the only important
folk music instrument known to our
jjeople, and it was used in dances
jand in work-related events called
"eanegrindings,” “com-shuckings”
other communal gatherings.
Along with “fiddling” another musi
cal innovation which originated in
southwest Geoigia among the blacks
was “strawbeating,” used as a
• rhythm accompaniment.
>lh 1913, a man known as Fiddlin’
..John Carson dazzled a packed audi
ence with the whizzing sounds of a
tune, with his wife
Winter camp meeting for Methodists
. <Fbr United Methodists, gathering
at Epworth By The Sea on St.
.Simons Island for Winter Camp
Meeting has special significance
because John and Charles Wesley,
the founders of the denomination,
.. lived and ministered on the island
more than 250 years ago.
' Getting away from regular, rou
' tines to hear the denominations top
preachers and teachers has made
this event a very special time for
Georgia United Methodists. A daily
leadership seminar attracts large
- numbers of pastors and church
- members.
Dr. Hal Brady 111, pastor, St. Luke
I UMC, Columbus, will open the
Z five-day event on Sunday evening.
’ Previously seen nationally on The
", Protestant Hour and the Odyssey
; Channel (formerly Faith and
’..Values), Brady presently conducts
continuing radio ministry on two
Columbus radio stations and can be
< seen on the weekly broadcast of the
< St. Luke UMC Sunday worship
Z- Service.
He is the author of On the Spot, a
> compilation of 55 second spots
< given on a Dallas talk-radio station.
€ His second book, Saved by Grace, is
< a book of sermons.
*Z "Bishop Cornelius L. Henderson,
-Z guest preacher for the week, consis
? tently draws large crowds.
£ Henderson was appointed to the
£ Florida Episcopal Area in 1996. He
* has served numerous appointments
? and has held a variety of UMC affil-
Z tations; as well as leadership, com-
* jnunity service and other affiliations.
Bible teacher Bishop Richard B.
< Wilke is perhaps best known for
j his leadership role in establishing
the denomination's outstanding
Bible Study.
A 34-week program of disciplined
£ Bible study aimed at developing
£ strong Christian leaders, Disciple
J .focuses on the disciple as learner,
follower, proclaimer and
and is credited with trans-
* forming lives and renewing the
** - * >
providing rhythm with the tapping of
the straws on her fiddle strings.
Fiddling conventions started in
Atlanta around 1870, and the city
became a prime location for what
later developed into an annual com
petitive event
By the way, classical music was
prohibited at these conventions -
only old-fashioned tunes were
allowed, and prizes of SIOO were
offered to winning contestants.
Fiddlin’ John was always the front
runner at these events, which were
held in the Municipal Auditorium-
Armory on Courtland Street.
Fiddlers would come from all over
the southeast and as many as 4,000
spectators attended the festive gath
erings.
When someone told me that John
Carson emeiged as America’s first
country musician to have records
marketed commercially, I couldn’t
believe it. But I found that it was
true. All this, and much more, I
learned about Atlanta.
For musicians, Atlanta became in
the 1920 s and 1930 s the favored
place to be; it became the capital of a
kind of music which would later be
called “country.”
But to return to the star of our
story. Fiddlin’ John was born in
Fannin County, near Blue Ridge.
Like many famous musicians of the
19905, like Elton John, Atlanta
emerged remarkably magnetic for
aspiring entertainers. So John
Carson brought his fiddle to Atlanta.
I had often wondered what might
have been the motivation which led
John to become such an accom
plished fiddler, and even about the
musical instrument he might have
used. It is generally known that
some of the world’s best violins
were made by Antonio Stradivari, an
Italian craftsman, who spent 93
years in perfecting his art and pro
ducing the marvelous instruments
which were to give his name ever
lasting fame. Only 600 of these mas
terpieces are known to have sur
vived.
I found that John Carson was given
a violin at age 10 by his father, and
that the instrument was made in Italy
by the son of Antonio Stradivari.
What away to begin a fiddling
career.
Trained at home through many
years of disciplined practice, then
challenged and toned in the heated
competition of the Old-Time
Fiddlers’ Conventions in Atlanta,
church.
Bill Crenshaw will conduct the
leadership seminar, “Accountable
Discipline Through Covenant
Discipleship Groups and Class
Leaders” which is particularly suit
ed for leaders with Emmaus
Reunion Groups, Discipline Bible
Study, Stephens Ministry and other
discipleship group experiences.
All evening services will begin
with a mini-concert by various
musical groups at 7 p.m. Combined
choirs from area UM churches and a
pastors’ choir will present special
music during services. Brunswick
musicians are Russell Jacobs, oigan
ist and Jane Jacobs and Donna
Nilsson, pianists.
Music leader and soloist is Dr.
Don Hutchison, Minister of Music
at Lebanon United Methodist
Church, Lebanon, Ky. He received a
BA degree from Asbury College
and a Master in Church Music from
Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary and a doctorate from
Super Bowl Party!!
Where’s the best place to catch the
FALCONS in the Super Bowl???
First Baptist Church!!!! °
• GIANT Bft screen
• 6 PM Sunday night
• Hotdogs, popcorn, peanuts and cokes
• Billy Martin, former Falcon will be
our guest speaker!
•EVERYONE IS WELCOME!!!! RffIEDDI
Clifford
Brewton ]M|
John was now ready for something
new; and that was the advent of
radio.
John was standing by when, in
1922, WSB radio became the first
radio station in the South. Not long
afterwards, Fiddlin’ John’s music hit
the airways to the delight of a spell
bound listening audience.
Carson’s live appearances on radio
enabled WSB in Atlanta to become
the first station in the world to give
public performances of country
music.
Was this a freak of fortune? Who
knows. But one thing is sure: Radio
enhanced Carson’s career and the
early growth of country music.
Time passed, and before long,
something else took place; a dramat
ic and far-reaching event which
marked another beginning.
On June 14, 1923, in a makeshift
studio in a vacant building on
Nassau Street in Atlanta, Okeh
Records of New York recorded two
of John’s songs; namely, “Little Old
Log Cabin,” and “The Old Hen
Cackled and the Rooster’s Going to
Crow.” With these, Fiddlin’ John
Carson was the first country musi
cian to make phonograph recordings
to be sold publicly.
Penniless at his death in 1949,
Carson had recorded more than 300
songs and had performed in every
state in the Union and many foreign
countries.
He left Georgia and the world a
wealth of folk music and opened a
gate that swings wider and wider as
time goes by.
Clifford H. Brewton, an experi
enced writer, has dedicated his pur
suits toward the unusual and spec
tacular riches of Georgia history in
a syndicated newspaper series
called “Hello Georgia." Bom in
Pierce County, he served in the
United States Army in two airborne
divisions during the Korean War. He
received a bachelor of arts degree
from Covenant College, Pasadena,
Calif., and earned a bachelor of
divinity degree in 1959 from the
Columbia Theological Seminary,
Decatur.
Graduate Theological Foundation.
Spiritual growth and Bible study
will highlight South Georgia's annu
al event Feb. 7-11, in the Minnie A.
Strickland Auditorium. Mini-con
certs will open all evening services
7 p.m. with morning services
Monday-Thursday at 11:15 a.m.
Bible study is 10-11 a.m.,
Monday-Thursday. The leadership
seminar is 1:30 p.m., Monday and
8:15-9:45 a.m., Tuesday-Thursday.
Holy Communion is offered daily at
7 a.m. in historic Lovely Lane
Chapel. Camp Meeting ends
Thursday at noon.
Questions concerning housing
should be directed to Bill Bradley,
Epworth By The Sea, (912) 638-
8688. Reservations are made by
mail, P. 0. Box 20407, St. Simons
Island, Ga. 31522 or fax only (912)
634-0642.
For further information, contact
Dr. Willis Moore, associate director,
Council on Ministries, (912) 638-
8688, ext. 12.
I ans
||» ng
_ . . . Photo/Tom Brooks
Business helps community
Norman’s Landing raised $274.21 for The Place in its regular Ping-Pong for charity. The money
was presented on Jan. 19. Pictures are (l-r) Wayne Hibbs, Delores Mitchell and Bill Norman,
owner of Norman’s Landing.
Keep your vision; don’t give up
If you are a sports fan and
support the Atlanta profession
al teams, you are no doubt
among the many who have said
things like “Atlanta in the
Superßowl?” For some reason
the words “Super Bowl” and
“Atlanta” haven’t ever been in
the same sentence, at least as a
reality. But all that changed
last Sunday afternoon as we
watched with excitement as the
Falcons came roaring back in
the last quarter to tie and then
to win in overtime.
This past week the newspa
pers have been filled with sto
ries about this unbelievable
phenomenon. There have been
articles about the team’s char
acter, its strong leadership,
determination and vision.
&Let us not become
weary in doing
good, for at the
proper time we will
reap a harvest...
99
There was something I saw in
that final quarter that carries a
lesson for us. It was the fact
that this team of professional
athletes didn’t give up. In the
midst of facing a Minnesota
team that was picked to win
and a loud and prejudiced
home crowd, they kept their
focus and were winners in the
end.
That is one of life’s hardest
lessons, to keep your vision,
goals and stay steadfast, not
willing to quit. The Word of
God teaches us that God hasn’t
promised us an easy path, but a
narrow one that is sometimes
extremely difficult. There are
obstacles in all our paths that
would threaten to trip us, knock
us off course or keep us from
going any farther. Yet we are
constantly reminded to perse
vere. James 1:4, “Perseverance
must finish its work so that you
may be mature and complete,
not lacking anything.”
Galatians 6:9 states, “Let us
not become weary in doing
good, for at the proper time we
will reap a harvest, if we do not
give up.” And Revelation 2:10
reminds us “Be faithful even to
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, January 31,1998
the point of death, and I will
give you the crown of life.”
David Joseph Schwartz once
said, “All great achievements
require time.” You have no
doubt seen or read of how
famous people of the past have
not given up, stayed with it and
eventually were successful.
Robert Frost, one of the great
American poets, labored for 20
years without fame. He was 39
years old before he sold a sin
gle volume of poetry. Today,
his poems have been published
in some 22 languages and he
has won the Pulitzer Prize for
poetry four times.
Walt Disney was once fired
by a newspaper editor for lack
of imagination; Decca Pippen,
star NBA player, received no
athletic scholarship from any
university and originally made
his small college basketball
team as the equipment manag
er. Henry Ford forgot to put a
reverse gear in the first car he
invented. He also didn’t build a
door wide enough to get the car
out of the building he built it
in. Decca Recording Company
rejected the Beatles in 1962,
saying, “We don’t like their
sound and guitar music is on
the way out!”
Billy Graham tells of his
inability to master the Chinese
language, but his wife, who
was brought up in China by her
missionary parents, continued
to encourage him. He tells of
the word picture for persever
ance in Chinese is represented
Aerate It!
Wash It!
. Till It!
Dig It!
Cut It!
Sand It! _
Rent It!
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Rev. Gary WEI
Armes
by a knife and a heart. We are
reminded and encouraged in I
Corinthians 4:1, “Therefore,
since through God’s mercy we
have this ministry, we do not
lose heart.”
Are there some barriers,
obstacles in your life that you
think you can't get over or get
through or even around them?
Don’t lose heart or give up.
Remember, lots of folks start
out with a bang, but it is how
you finish that counts.
James Corbett, a former heavy
weight champion of the world,
once said, “Fight one more
round. When your feet are so
tired that you have to shuffle
back to the center of the ring,
fight one more round! When
your arms are so tired that you
can hardly lift your hands to
come on guard, fight one more
round! When your nose is
bleeding and your eyes are
black and you’re so tired you
wish your opponent would
crack you one on the jaw and
put you to sleep - don’t quit.
Fight one more round!”
Gary Armes is the Senior
Minister for First Christian
Church.
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