The Film Forum

• 1544 Piedmont Avenue NE, Atlanta GA
• Managers: George Ellis, Michael Ellis
• Capacity: One screen, 174 seats

Take a right from Seal Place onto Monroe Drive, and it's a short ride to Ansley Mall at the intersection of Monroe and Piedmont. These days the shopping center is homogenized with the likes of Publix, Starbucks, Panera, etc. In the 1970s, it was full of unique shops, and a small, narrow theater was tucked near the middle.
The Film Forum, opened in 1971,* was loved by locals not only for its dedication to independent, obscure, and foreign films, but also for the father/son team that ran it: George and Michael Ellis. The Ellises were devoted to fans, like themselves, who appreciated movies outside the mainstream. The smell of freshly popped corn welcomed you, along with a hello from George and/or Michael. You almost always ran into other folks you knew. It was a friendly, cozy, comfortable place, like an extension of your living room.

Poster for the Film Forum,
photo of George and Michael Ellis by Joe DeCasseres,
silkscreen print by Grace Zabriskie

Manager George Ellis was known and beloved by many. As evidenced in my 1/15 post about Grace Zabriskie, he acted in Atlanta theater productions. He also worked in film and television, and was probably most recognized as "Bestoink Dooley," a character he created to host various programs, mostly movie presentations, for the Atlanta CBS affiliate.

Favorite films often played the Film Forum for weeks on end. George initiated a $1 midnight show seven nights a week. I must have seen Harold and Maude a dozen times or more. The midnight showings were profitable, perhaps even more so than their regular features.
By 1974, the Film Forum was "solidly–if not spectacularly–solvent." On November 18 that year, property owner Louis Osteen entered the theater with a locksmith, evicted the Ellises, and changed the locks on them, upending their 50/50 business arrangement which had been sealed with only a handshake (admittedly "naive" per Michael Ellis.) Osteen wanted 100% of the profits. He did not foresee the fierce backlash. The Great Speckled Bird took an immediate stand:

"This paper will carry no Film Forum ads and run no Film Forum reviews until George and Mike are back at the theatre, or safely installed somewhere else. Creative Loafing, one of our competitors, has also pulled their ad this week. Other papers, despite hard times and low ads, may join. There is talk of phone campaigns, pickets, and legal action. By this time next week, some or all of these should be underway. If you are interested in helping George and Mike, call us here at 875-8301; we'll plug you into whatever is happening... The Ellis's have given to the Atlanta community for years. Now let's help them back."

The news spread like wildfire. Loyal fans picketed and boycotted the theater. Osteen threatened to take both The Bird and the Ellises to court. Movie attendance dropped nearly 90%. Osteen closed the theater. He negotiated with the Ellises and achieved a signed contract January 7, 1975, with terms honoring their previous 50/50 verbal arrangement.
George and Michael returned to the helm of the Film Forum and the fans rejoiced. Power to the people, right on.

*The space had previously operated as the Ansley Mall Mini Cinema, which opened in 1968.

Sources:
CinemaTreasures.org
"Shutout at the Film Forum," by Jon Jacobs, The Great Speckled Bird, Vol. 7 No. 48, November 28, 1974
"Film Forum Manager Ellis Fired," by Farnum Gray, The Atlanta Constitution, November 29, 1974
"BOYCOTT!... until George & Mike are back," by J.D. Cale, The Great Speckled Bird, Vol. 7 No. 49, December 5, 1974
 "Film Forum / They're Back," by Jon Jacobs, The Great Speckled Bird, Vol. 8 No. 2, January 9, 1975

Moe Slotin, 1950-2001

Moe Slotin was living on Seal Place when we met. He became a good friend: supportive, generous, funny, and kind. He wrote concert reviews for The Great Speckled Bird at the time, and often took me and other friends along as sidekicks, sharing his backstage passes. Sometimes he'd quote us in his write-ups. He even had me cover a show for him once or twice. I always appreciated his trust and confidence. 
During the altered-state haze of the early 70s, Moe remained grounded, our designated driver long before the title was invented. He didn't drink or smoke, much less partake of controlled substances, and he was the first vegetarian I ever knew. I'd never even heard of brown rice until Moe introduced me to his favorite vegetarian restaurant, the Morningstar Inn, near Emory.

Moe Slotin in Underground Atlanta
sharing The Bird with the Atlanta PD,
1970 photo by Carter Tomassi

On top of Moe's writing commitments, he was part of the road crew for Hydra, one of the South's top bands of the time. Moe and Hydra's bassist Orville Davis shared the duplex on Seal Place. (I joined the household, too, and minded the fort while they were on the road.) The band toured extensively and often opened for major headliners such as Mountain, Procol Harum, and Trapeze. 

Hydra opened for Blue Oyster Cult on a leg of their 1974 tour. Moe accepted a subsequent job offer from BOC, and that was the last I saw him. A life-long mutual friend kept me updated as Moe traversed two decades in music. In addition to BOC, he went on to work with The B-52s, Patti Smith, Talking Heads, Aerosmith, and many others. An accomplished sound engineer, he settled in NYC and designed for the likes of Max's Kansas City and Madison Square Garden. 
After 20 years on the road, Moe left rock-and-roll to work as a licensed journeyman Porsche mechanic. In another abrupt career turn, he returned to school to become a physical therapist, and, no surprise, graduated top of his class. He fell in love, married, and had a child. After several years of professional practice in Manhattan, the family moved to Moe's hometown of Savannah GA, where he continued his work in physical therapy and also became an instructor for Armstrong Atlantic State University in that field. 
It was a shock to learn he was taken by cancer at age 51, especially since Moe had lived such a consciously healthy life. He positively impacted so many people in such varied arenas throughout his life. He was well-loved and is well-remembered. His parents created the Morris Slotin Memorial Scholarship for Armstrong State University. It is awarded annually to an outstanding student of physical therapy who has chosen the profession as a second career. Appropriate, especially because Moe was as outstanding as they come. 

Sources:
"The Two Worlds of Moe Slotin," by Barry J. Ostrow
Armstrong University Donor's Report, Fall 2014

The Grateful Dead at the Sports Arena

Follow-up to December 23, 2014 post:
Here are two promo ads for the Grateful Dead's May 10, 1970 concert at Atlanta's Sports Arena. The Hampton Grease Band opened. As mentioned previously, the Allman Brothers were not on the bill, but lent their equipment to The Dead and joined in for an epic jam that still echoes.

The Great Speckled Bird
Volume 3, Number 18
May 4, 1970

The Great Speckled Bird
Volume 3, Number 19
May 11, 1970

Bill Fibben, 1944-1999

Bill Fibben lived on Seal Place during the early 1970s. We met after I moved into a house down the street with mutual friends. Bill was a photojournalist working with The Great Speckled Bird at the time and witness to many transformative events of the era. I never saw him without a camera in reach. His photography was integral to The Bird's documentation of the period.

Bill Fibben in Piedmont Park
Photo by Carter Tomassi
(Seated behind Bill is sound engineer/musician/photographer Mike Hatchett, 
in striped shirt. He also lived in the Seal Place neighborhood.)

After several years with The Bird, Bill joined the Atlanta Gazette, another alternative city paper run by Rick Brown, who was also formerly with The Bird and lived on Seal Place, too. In the early 1980s, Bill entered Georgia's film production industry. He contributed sound recording to over forty motion pictures. In that context I would run into him during the 1990s while working in film, too. He was always kind and welcoming with his unforgettable smile, no matter how much time passed in-between. Cancer took Bill Fibben's life in 1999 when he was only 55. His body of work remains a gift for us all.

Al Kooper & Duane Allman on Free Concerts: Point/Counterpoint

On June 24, 1969, Don Speicher of The Great Speckled Bird interviewed musician/producer Al Kooper prior to the first Atlanta International Pop Festival. Kooper was one of the performers booked for the July 4th weekend event. 

Their conversation included discussion of ticket pricing, corporate sponsorship, and their divergent attitudes regarding free concerts.

DS: There's some talk of sometime during that weekend trying to do a free thing in the park, with some local people and anyone else who might be interested.

AK: No one will do it. No one will do it just because they can't. I mean really. If I'm in a big group and I'm sitting in New York and someone wants us to do a free gig in Atlanta in the park and you're gonna reach about a hundred thousand people I'd say groovy, how are we gonna get there? Where are we gonna stay? Who's doing the sound? How are we gonna transport the equipment? You can't just go up.

...

DS: ...to me, free things in the park, with local bands, are much more of the whole total experience and a lot more overwhelming a lot of times than like a rock festival.

AK: Yeah, but you don't understand that we can get Coca Cola to foot the bill for Blood, Sweat & Tears to come to town. And they got to be groovier than any local band you got. And they're paying the bill for you to lie in the grass and get high and have a good time. Now if that's wrong, then you're wrong.

...

DS: Yeah, but there's this really big hangup about hitting Coca Cola to give us some music because Coca Cola....

AK: You already got the wrong approach. 

DS: I'm not so sure. Coca Cola is like all the evil there is, sitting on Atlanta, Georgia.

AK: You got to trick them. Now, what you're saying is that you want Coca Cola to bring you some music. 

DS: No. No, we don't. I dig that, but it's whether you want to play that game at all.

AK: That's not a game, man, that's a means to an end.

Atlanta disproved Al Kooper's theory on the Monday after the pop festival, when the festival's promoters staged a free concert in Piedmont Park. The Grateful Dead, Chicago Transit Authority, Spirit, Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, Allman Brothers Band, and Hampton Grease Band played for free for a huge crowd of fans. [The park by that time had become a popular venue for local and regional musicians. The Allman Brothers were major forerunners.] Duane Allman gets the last word on the subject:

"Playing the park's such a good thing because people don't even expect you to be there. About the nicest way you can play is just for nothing, you know. And it's not really for nothing. It's for your own personal satisfaction–and other people's–rather than for any kind of financial thing."

Sources: 
The Great Speckled Bird, Vol. 2 Nos. 10, 17
Skydog, The Duane Allman Story, by Randy Poe, published by Backbeat Books, 2006, 2008.

Piedmont Park Free Concerts

By Spring 1969 midtown Atlanta's Piedmont Park had become the primary setting for free concerts, usually on Sundays, from the afternoon into the evening. The central location drew local and regional talent, most memorably the Allman Brothers Band, who had recently relocated from Jacksonville FL to Macon GA. Atlanta had yet to open any substantial rock clubs, therefore the park became a key venue for musicians to showcase material to a large audience. 

Piedmont Park, Atlanta, 1969
Photo by Carter Tomassi

Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks recalled:

"After several weeks of work learning this new material we were busting to get out of that [Macon] warehouse and play it for people. So... we loaded ourselves and our equipment into our Econoline and what other rides we could glom and headed to Atlanta (later to be renamed Hotlanta, I believe we coined this term but can't prove it). We went straight to Piedmont Park and found a perfect spot to set up. It was a rather large flat space at the top of some stairs with some electrical outlets within reach. We didn't ask permission, we just set up and started pouring out all of this music we had only played for ourselves up to that time.... When we finished some people were so transfixed they simply laid down and spent the night there. Others made sure that the place was cleaned up. Of course the next Sunday we went back and there was a shit load more folks than were there the week before as well as a couple of other Atlanta bands that wanted to play. This grew into a weekly event that went from that little place to a big flatbed stage set up on the end of a very large field that someone provided complete with a massive generator. Plus many more bands. The crowd grew to the level of around 10,000 after a few weeks and I don't recall a single incident of violence in all the months that this magical thing continued."

Duane Allman, Piedmont Park, Atlanta, May 11, 1969
The Great Speckled Bird, Vol. 2, No. 10, May 19, 1969
Cover photo by Bill Fibben

According to Duane Allman:

"Playing the park's such a good thing because people don't even expect you to be there. About the nicest way you can play is just for nothing, you know. And it's not really for nothing. It's for your own personal satisfaction–and other people's–rather than for any kind of financial thing."

UPDATE, APRIL 2018: Glenn Phillips (guitarist, composer, co-founder of the Hampton Grease Band) left a comment 4/4/18 on my 1/19/15 Discovery, Inc. post. Here's an excerpt in which he pinpoints the essential birth of the Piedmont Park free concerts. (For full context, click the Discovery label in the right column, then read the comments section.):

"The [Hampton] Grease Band's spontaneous Piedmont Park shows started [...] in the spring of '68 when I discovered there was a live outlet in the pavilion [...]. We started playing there pretty much every week and did shows there by ourselves on the grass by the pavilion, in the pavilion, in the tall brick gazebo off to the side of the pavilion (which also had a live outlet at the time, but was a pain in the ass to carry our equipment up to), and on the stone steps (which is where the Allman Brothers first appeared with us on May 11, 1969, when Phil Walden called the Grease Band personally to see if it was okay if the Allman Brothers played with us that day)."  

1969

• Hampton Grease Band, Crust, Smoke, Nail, Little Phil & The Night Shadows, Toni Ganim, Anne Romaine - March 29 (The Great Speckled Bird first birthday celebration)
• "BE-IN. Atlantis Rising festivities in the park. Music, food, etc." - April 20
• "BE-IN. Atlantis Rising festivities in Piedmont Park, all afternoon, music, rapping etc." - April 27
  
• "ROCK CONCERT/BE-IN. Celebrate opening of Atlantis Rising community trade fair, six rock groups" - May 3
• Allman Brothers Band, Hampton Grease Band - May 11
• Allman Brothers Band - May 18
• Booger Band - May 25 (during Atlanta Arts Festival)
• "BE-IN. Nexus House sponsors a be-in with bands, 2 pm, community supper, 5 pm" - June 22 
• Brick Wall, The Bag, Jim Cross, Semore, Barry Bailey, John Ivy - June 28 ("Grand Opening Be-In" for Atlantis Rising)
• Grateful Dead, Chicago Transit Authority, Spirit, Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, It's A Beautiful Day, Allman Brothers Band, Hampton Grease Band - July 7 (Monday concert following July 4th weekend's Atlanta International Pop Festival in Hampton GA, arranged by festival promoters)
• The Unpolished Brass - August 10
• Solid Blues - August 24 ("Socialist politics, folksingers, rock music, and guerrilla theatre... Jenness for Mayor rally")
• "Free Grease Job - Labor of Love" - Hampton Grease Band, Robin - August 31
• Allman Brothers Band - September 14
• "Mini-Pop Festival" - Allman Brothers Band, Hampton Grease Band, Brick Wall, Sweet Younguns, Booger Band, Radar, Hand Band - September 21 (rally for firebombed Atlantis Rising trade mart; 23 arrests made, initiated by disclosure of undercover narcotics officers; police used tear gas and batons on crowd, some of whom threw rocks; GSB photographer Bill Fibben arrested for taking pictures of police action, "interfering with arrest")
• Allman Brothers Band - September 27
• "Piedmont Music Festival" - Allman Brothers Band, Mother Earth with Tracy Nelson, Billy Joe Royal, Joe South, Boz Scaggs, Second Coming, Royal Blues, Hand Band, Boogie Chillun, Lee Moses - October 17-19
• Community Council of the Atlanta Area, Inc., meeting in the park with free music - November 2

1970

• "Free Music In The Park" - February 28-March 1 (sponsored by Universal Life Church)
• "Free Music In The Park" - March 7-8 (sponsored by Universal Life Church)
• Axis, Handle, Chakra, Paul Hanson & Pat Alger - March 20
• Screaming Yellow, Shayde - April 19
• "Spring Peace Festival" - Stump Brothers, Axis, Ether, Celestial Voluptuous Banana, Country Pye, Eric Quincy Tate, Light Brigade, Eros, Robyn, Perpetual Motion, Ruffin, What Brothers, Stuff, White Lie, Stonehenge, Last Era, Bremrod, Booger Jam, Total Electric, Corn Cobb Jam, Pegasus Lantern Light Show - June 6-7
• Allman Brothers Band, Majester Ludi, Chakra, Ether - June 14
• "Peace Festival" - Stump Brothers, Axis, Celestial Voluptuous Banana, Eric Quincy Tate, Nancy Harmon & The Victory Voices, Robyn, Twelve Eyes, What Brothers, White Lie, Pegasus Lantern Light Show - June 21 
• Hampton Grease Jam, Chakra, Milan, Flint - June 28
• Brewer & Shipley - July 19
• "Free Music" - July 26
• 15 Minutes, Joel, Buckwheat, What Brothers, Malford Mann, Babylon - August 9
• Duckbutter, Axis, Hydra, Flint, Joel, Ewing Street Times - August 16
• Younguns, Perpetual Motion, Hydra, Plymouth Rock, Interprize - August 30
• Sunrise, Horizon, Milkweed, Chakra, Street Explosion - September 13
• Radar, Younguns, Booger, Perpetual Motion, Chair - September 20
• Allman Brothers Band, Hampton Grease Band, Eric Quincy Tate, Avenue of Happiness, Stump Brothers, Chakra - September 27
• Stonehenge, Jelly Roll, Crossover, What Brothers, August, Underground Balloon Corporation, Kaleidoscopic Light Show - October 4
• "Women's Festival" - Anne Romaine, Ruthie Gordon, Carol & Barbara, Esther LeFevre, The Ribs - October 10
• Sweetwater; Warm; Looney Tunes; Red, White & Blue(grass); Chair - October 18
• Hydra; Red, White & Blue(grass); Younguns - October 25
• Joe South, Glass - October 30
• Avenue of Happiness - December 23

1971

• Stonehenge, Chakra - March 28
• Stump Brothers, East Side Blues Band, Horse Roscoe - April 3
• Wet Willie; Alex Taylor, Friends & Neighbors - April 4
• Thunder, What Brothers, Smooth's Barn Dance, Perpetual Motion, John Flynt, Flood - April 11
• Hydra, Flint, Foxes - May 23
• Goose Creek Symphony, Sunrise, Kudzu, Signal, Gladstone, David Harris (speaker) - May 30
• Allman Brothers Band - May 31
• What Brothers, Kudzu, Howling Bull - June 13
• Milkweed, Hansen & Alger, Fox Watson, Doris Abrahams, Vince Quinn, Jeff Espina - June 20
• Hydra, Duckbutter, A Man Called Joad, Glass Menagerie, Perpetual Motion - July 4 (12th Gate benefit)

Sources:
thebutchtrucks.blogspot.com/2011/08/piedmont-park.html
The Great Speckled Bird, Vol. 2 Nos. 6, 7, 11, 15, 16, 24
The Great Speckled Bird, Vol. 3 Nos. 9, 25, 29
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_International_Pop_Festival_(1969)
www.allmanbrothersband.com
www.hittinthenote.com/first_mountain.asp
Midnight Riders, by Scott Freeman, published by Little, Brown and Company, 1995
Skydog, The Duane Allman Story, by Randy Poe, published by Backbeat Books, 2006, 2008.

Note: Entries in quotes are from The Great Speckled Bird calendar pages.

The Great Southeast Music Hall

The Great Southeast Music Hall, Emporium & Performing Arts Exchange Inc.

• Broadview Plaza Shopping Center, 2581 Piedmont Road NE, Atlanta GA
• Owners: Bob Dulong, Maurice "Mo" Ehrlich
• Capacity: 530
• Opened: Monday, October 30, 1972
• Note: The Great Southeast Music Hall is probably most remembered for hosting the very first American performance of the Sex Pistols, January 5, 1978.

1972

• Jeff Espina, Pat Alger, Silverman - October 28 (preview)
• Jonathan Edwards, Pat Alger - October 30-November 5
• Tim Hardin - November 7-12
• Harry Chapin, Jeubal - November 14-19
• New York Rock Ensemble, Suggins County String Band - November 21-26
• Johnny Nash, Rogue's Gallery - November 30, December 2-3
• Al Kooper, Rogue's Gallery - December 1
• Joe Walsh, The Barnstormers, Doris Abrahams - December 5-10
• Hampton Grease Band, Jeff Espina - December 12-17
• Arthur, Hurley & Gottlieb; Alan Beck - December 19-24
• Silverman, Ray Whitley - December 26-31

1973

• Edmonds & Curley, Joe da Roach - January 2-7
• The Earl Scruggs Review, Pat Alger - January 9-14 
• Odetta - January 16-21
• Radar, Fletcher & The Piedmonts - January 19-20 (at midnight)
• Len Chandler, Morris Dudley - January 23-28
• Flood, Sweet Rye - January 26-27 (at midnight)
• Townes Van Zandt, Banks & Shane - January 30-February 4
• Roadapple, Doke House Blues Band - February 2-3 (at midnight)
• Dion, Steve Ferguson - February 6-11
• Hydra, East Side Blues Band - February 9-10 (at midnight)
• Oliver, Tunesmith - February 13-18
• Eric Quincy Tate, Maelstrom - February 16-17 (at midnight)
• Buddy Moss, Joab, Jeff Espina - February 22-25
• Fletcher & The Piedmonts, Starving Braineaters - February 23-24  (at midnight)
• Danny Cox, Doris Abrahams - March 2-5
• Hampton Grease Band - March 2-3 (at midnight)
• John Hartford - March 6-11
• Atlanta Rhythm Section, Devil's Advocate - March 9-10 (at midnight)
• Odetta, Smith & Scrapper - March 12-18
• Brother Bait, Caliban - March 16-18 (at midnight)
• Doc Watson, Breakfast Special - March 20-25
• Scald Cats, Sweet Rye - March 23-24 (at midnight)
• Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys - March 27-April 1
• Mose Jones, Protrudamus - March 30-April 1 (at midnight)
• Lily Tomlin - April 3-7
• Kudzu, Stump Brothers - April 6-8 (at midnight)
• James Cotton Blues Band, Ellen McIlwaine - April 12-15
• Harry Chapin, John Herald & The Honkies - April 17-22
• Lynyrd Skynyrd, Traktor - April 20-21 (at midnight)
• Looking Glass - April 24-28
• Howdy Doody Revival with Buffalo Bob, Tom Waits - May 1-6
• Atlanta Rhythm Section, Mason - May 4-6 (at midnight)
• Charles Lloyd - May 10-13
• Eric Quincy Tate, Elements - May 11-13 (at midnight)
• Goose Creek Symphony - May 15-18
• Will Boulware, Mike Holbrook, Al Nicholson - May 19
• Wheatridge - May 19-20
• Leo Kottke, Jimmie Spheeris - May 22-27
• Eric Weissberg & The Dueling Banjoes - June 8-10
• The Dillards, Silverman - June 12-17
• The Earl Scruggs Revue - June 19-24
• John Prine - June 28-30
• Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - July 1-2
• Tom Rush - July 3-8
• Pat Paulsen - July 10-15
• Al Kooper - July 12
• Phil Ochs, The New Grass Band - July 17-22
• The Great Speckled Bird Benefit Concert: Al Kooper, Mose Jones, Birtha, Phil Ochs, Bill Sheffield, Small Drink, Corrinne Smith, Pat Alger, Robin Conant - July 23
• Doug Kershaw - July 24-29
• Procter & Goodman - July 31-August 5
• Jim Croce - August 8-11
• Al Kooper - August 12 (benefit for friends of James and Julian Bond)
• Albert Hammond, Lori Jacobs - August 14-18
• Steve Goodman - August 19
• Chuck Mangione - August 21-26
• Melissa Manchester - August 29-September 2
• Eric Anderson - September 5-9
• Kinky Friedman - September 11-12
• Goose Creek Symphony - September 13-16
• Linda Ronstadt - September 18-23
• John Stewart, Wheatridge - September 25-30
• Red, White & Blue(grass) - October 2-4 
• Red, White & Blue(grass); Heartwood - October 5-7
• Lightnin' Hopkins - October 9-13
• Commander Cody - October 15
• Doc & Merle Watson - October 16-21
• Harry Chapin - October 23-28
• New Riders Of The Purple Sage - October 29
• Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - October 30-November 4
• The Dillards - November 6-11
• Procter & Bergman - November 12
• Mason Williams - November 13-18
• Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Sherman Hayes - November 20-25
• Taj Mahal - November 26
• Doug Kershaw, Lee Clayton - November 27-December 2
• Jerry Jeff Walker - December 4-9
• Loudon Wainwright III, Lori Lieberman - December 11-16
• Silverman - December 18-23
• The Country Gentlemen - December 26-30
• Bluegrass Jamboree - December 31

1974

• The Committee - January 2-6
• Sopwith Camel, Franklin Ajaye - January 10-13
• Waylon Jennings - January 15-20
• Earl Scruggs Revue - January 21-23
• Cheech & Chong - January 24-27
• Goose Creek Symphony - January 31-February 3
• Oliver - February 6-10
• Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffet - February 12-17
• Jonathan Edwards - February 19-24
• John Hartford - February 27-March 3
• Tom Rush - March 5-10
• Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Steve Martin - March 12-17
• David Bromberg, Aztec Twostep - March 19-24
• Doc & Merle Watson - March 26-31
• Roger McGuinn, Pillmore & Hatcher - April 2-7
• Brewer & Shipley - April 8
• Henry Gross, The Talbot Brothers - April 9-14
• BW Stevenson - April 8
• Country Joe McDonald, Barry Melton, "special guest Barry Manilow" - April 16-21
• The Committee - April 23-28
• Ry Cooder - April 29
• Buffy St Marie - April 30-May 5
• Tim Weisberg - May 6
• Ace Trucking Company, Orphan - May 7-12
• Goose Creek Symphony - May 13
• Eric Weissberg & Deliverance - May 14-19
• Melissa Manchester, Martin Mull - May 21-25
• Martin Mull; Travis Shook & The Club Wow - May 28-June 2
• Doug Kershaw - June 3-5
• Dr Hook & The Medicine Show - June 6-9
• Uncle Josh Graves - June 11-16
• Hampton Geese Band, Buddy Moss - June 17
• Rick Cunha, Wendy Waldman - June 18-23
• Mad Mountain Mime Troupe - June 24
• The New Grass Revival & David Allan Coe - June 25-30
• Mike Greene Band, Pat Alger - July 1-3
• Paul Davis, Pyramid, Pat Alger - July 4-7
• Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - July 8-9
• Lightnin' Hopkins, Murray McLauchlan - July 10-14
• Wendy Waldman - July 15-17
• Weather Report, Steven Grossman - July 18-20
• Janis Ian, Larry Gatlin - July 22
• Earl Scruggs Revue, Larry Gatlin - July 23-28
• Doc & Merle Watson, Sammy Walker - July 29
• Esther Phillips; Barbara Barrow & Mike Smith - July 30-August 4
• The Incredible String Band - August 5-7
• Rahsaan Roland Kirk, David Pomeranz - August 8-11
• Steve Martin, Mimi Farina - August 15-August 18
• John Hammond, Muledeer & Moondog Medicine Show - August 20-25
• Tracy Nelson & Mother Earth, Norman Blake - August 27-31
• Josh Graves, Norman Blake - September 2-4
• Josh Graves, Rainmaker - September 5-7
• Leo Kottke, Madhouse Company of London - September 9-11
• Madhouse Company of London, Leon Redbone - September 12-15
• JJ Cale - September 16
• Oregon - September 17-18
• Jimmy Buffett - September 19-22
• Jonathan Edwards, Mad Mountain Mime Troupe - September 23-24
• Charlie Byrd, Mad Mountain Mime Troupe - September 25-29
• Return to Forever featuring Chick Corea - September 30
• Goose Creek Symphony, Michael Collins - October 1-5
• Tom Rush, Orphan - October 7
• Paul Davis, Pyramid - October 8-12
• John Hartford; Red, White & Blue(grass) - October 14-16
• Red, White & Blue(grass) - October 17-20
• Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Gallagher & Lyle - October 21-23
• Sammi Smith, Claire Hamill- October 24-27
• John Fahey, Sam Parsons - October 28
• Tim Weisberg, Sam Parsons - October 29-30
• Dr Hook & The Medicine Show, Sam Parsons - October 31-November 3
• Don Everly, Willis Allen Ramsey - November 4-7
• Taj Mahal, Ron Douglas - November 8-9
• Chuck Mangione - November 11-13
• Robert Klein, Tom Waits - November 14-17
• Dan Fogelberg - November 18
• Doc & Merle Watson, Dick Feller -November 19-24
• Gino Vanelli - November 25
• Doug Kershaw, Gove - November 26-30
• Darius Brubeck Ensemble, Ed Begley Jr - December 2-4
• David Bromberg - December 5-8
• The Dillards, Sam Leopold - December 9-11
• McCoy Tyner - December 12-15
• Ramsey Lewis Trio - December 16
• Severin Brown - December 17-22
• Tim Weisberg, Mike Williams - December 31-January 4

The Great Speckled Bird

Published in Atlanta from 1968 to 1976, The Great Speckled Bird was one of the longest-running and highest quality underground newspapers of the era. Reporting on both politics and popular culture, The Bird, as it was commonly known, linked left-leaning activists and rebellious youth throughout Georgia and across the South.

The Great Speckled Bird, named after a traditional folk song of the same name made popular by country musician Roy Acuff, originated among Atlanta's small community of New Left activists, particularly those associated with Emory University. After publishing an anti-Vietnam War newsletter on Emory's campus during the fall of 1967, graduate students Tom and Stephanie Coffin met that December with students from other local colleges, as well as with regional political activists, in the hopes of creating a multicampus underground newspaper. The talks resulted in the formation of The Great Speckled Bird.

Volume 1, Number 1, March 15-28, 1968

The first issue was published in March 1968. The newspaper became so popular with the Atlanta New Left and countercultural communities that within six months it went from being a biweekly newspaper to a weekly publication. A large part of its appeal lay in the variety of stories it published. While many underground papers dealt solely with politics, The Bird also allotted space to the counterculture. A typical issue would contain a story about antiwar protests alongside a review of a recent rock concert. It frequently published articles on the women's movement, abortion, racial issues, and gay liberation.

The Great Speckled Bird relied on a network of volunteers to sell the newspaper on street corners, college campuses, and in high schools. The radical content of the paper and the "hippie" dress of the volunteers often led to harassment by local authorities. Atlanta police, for various reasons, arrested people selling the newspaper on street corners on charges ranging from jaywalking to distributing pornographic material. City building and fire inspectors routinely visited the house in which the staff worked, and schools banned the publication from their campuses. In May 1972, The Bird's offices were firebombed, but the paper continued to publish thanks to the generous support of Atlanta media, donations, and other community backing. The dedicated staff emerged more motivated than ever, working out of temporary quarters until a new location was secured.

By summer of 1970 The Great Speckled Bird had become the largest paid weekly newspaper in Georgia, with a circulation of 23,000 copies. That number declined, however, over the next several years, and by 1976 the newspaper experienced severe financial difficulties. 

Despite efforts to keep the newspaper afloat, the final issue was published in October 1976. (Two attempts to revive the paper, in 1984 and 2006, were unsuccessful.) 

Sources: 
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/great-speckled-bird 
http://www.library.ufl.edu/spec/pkyonge/greatspeckled.htmThe Great Speckled Bird; Volume 5, Number 19,; May 5, 1972