The New Georgia Encyclopedia is supported by funding from A More Perfect Union, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Bill Lowery began his career in Atlanta as a disc jockey and broadcaster for Georgia Tech football games at radio station WGST in 1948. His weekly programs at the station included Musical Tune and Uncle Ebenezer Brown.
Bill Lowery, pictured in 1969, poses at Bill Lowery Enterprises, which included the Lowery Music Company and the National Recording Corporation. Lowery, known as "Mr. Atlanta Music," was a prominent disc jockey, producer, manager, and music publisher in the city from 1948 until his death in 2004. He was one of the first two inductees into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, which he also helped to establish.
Alex Cooley, pictured in 1978, owned and operated a number of the best-known rock venues in Atlanta, including Alex Cooley's Electric Ballroom and the Tabernacle. In 1987 Cooley was inducted as a nonperformer into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.
Courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Alex Cooley gives an interview to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 1998. Cooley became a concert promoter during the late 1960s and founded the city's Midtown Music Festival in 1994.
Courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Phil Walden founded the Capricorn Record Series, an imprint of Atlantic Records, in 1969. He launched the "southern rock" genre under Capricorn, with such acts as the Allman Brothers Band, the Dixie Dregs, and Wet Willie.
Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries, Georgia Music Hall of Fame Collection.
Antonio "L.A." Reid cofounded LaFace Records, a rap and rhythm-and-blues label in Atlanta, with Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds in 1989. Reid continued to manage the company after Edmonds's departure in 1993, and since 2000 he has served as the president and chief executive officer of Arista Records, which bought out LaFace that same year.
In his unique career, Jermaine Dupri has been a breakdancer, songwriter, music producer, entrepreneur, rapper, and athletics manager. He has held high-level positions at major record companies, in addition to owning Atlanta-based So So Def Records, and he has produced several music acts that have gone on to sell millions of albums each.
Image from Timothy M. Moore
Pete Drake was a record producer, record company founder, and musician whose steel-guitar playing was heard on hundreds of hit recordings. He was one of the most sought-after backup musicians of the 1960s.
Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries, Georgia Music Hall of Fame Collection.
The 40 Watt Club was established in 1978 in an Athens apartment lit only by a 40-watt light bulb. Now situated in its sixth location at 285 West Washington Street, the club has hosted such well-known Athens bands as R.E.M, the B-52's, and Widespread Panic.
Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Geoff L. Johnson.
