Georgia Grassroots Music Festival | Catalog number: HY 1346

I found this record at a Goodwill store in Atlanta at a cost of $0.77. The only information I could find on this album was a Discogs page with none on sale, and an ebay listing that had been up for years. The asking price was $150.00, but no one had bid.

The back cover reads:

A celebration of the south's musical heritage is held each year in Atlanta at the Georgia Grassroots Music Festival. The foot-stomping sound of fiddle bands, the moving wails of blues singers, the rollicking tunes of banjo pickers and the spirited shouts of gospel groups are enjoyed by thousands at this free two-day event. From blues, ballads and bluegrass, to gospel, old-time and country, almost every type of regional traditional music is represented on three stages with more than 35 performers and groups appearing.

The festival culminates an annual extensive field research effort to locate the best down-home musicians in every part of Georgia from the mountains and the cities to the sea coast and the swamp. All the musicians to appear at the festival are truly traditional in the sense that they have grown up with their music rather than learning it in school or from records. For most of the musicians the festival marks the first time they have appeared before a large audience outside of their own communities.

This album features a representative sample of the music to be heard at the festival. The selections were taken from tapes made at the 1976 and 1977 festivals and from field tapes made prior to the festivals. Those who enjoy the spirit captured in these grooves are invited to attend the fourth annual Georgia Grassroots Music Festival, which will be held September 16 and 17 at the Atlanta Civic Center.

Sponsored by the City of Atlanta in cooperation with the Georgia Folklore Society with assistance of a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts.

Produced and edited by George Mitchell
Front cover illustration by Art Rosenbaum
Photography by John Miller
Back cover design by Walton Harris

Not for sale commercially

Purpose:

I pick up old stereo equipment and turntables, when I can find them, and fix them up to sell them. I get sentimentally attached to them after repairing them, but I sell them anyway because who needs 20 record players laying around? Here, I will aggregate all of my repair jobs so I can look back at the cool equipment I have repaired and sold.

I also collect vinyl records. I acquire most of my records from thrift stores. Occasionally I come across records that have very little information about them available on the internet. The purpose of this blog is to provide high quality images and description of the rare records I find.