Georgia on My Mind
Encyclopedia
"Georgia on My Mind" is a song written in 1930 by Hoagy Carmichael
(music) and Stuart Gorrell
(lyrics). It is the official state song of the U.S.
state of Georgia
. Gorrell wrote the lyrics for Hoagy's sister, Georgia Carmichael. However, the lyrics of the song are ambiguous enough to refer either to the state or to a woman named "Georgia". Carmichael's 1965 autobiography, Sometimes I Wonder, records the origin: a friend, saxophonist and bandleader Frankie Trumbauer
, suggested: "Why don't you write a song called 'Georgia?' Nobody lost much writing about the South." Thus, the song is universally believed to have been written about the state.
The song was first recorded on September 15, 1930 in New York by Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra with Bix Beiderbecke
on muted cornet and Hoagy Carmichael on vocals. The recording was part of Bix Beiderbecke's last recording session. The recording was released as Victor 23013 with "One Night in Havana".
Frankie Trumbauer had the first major hit recording in 1931 when his recording made the top ten on the charts. Trumbauer had suggested that Carmichael compose the song. Another 1931 hit version was Mildred Bailey
's vocal made with members of Paul Whiteman
's Orchestra (Victor 22880).
Ray Charles
, a native of Georgia, recorded it in 1960 on the album The Genius Hits the Road
. It became Georgia's state song in 1979. Inspired by this blues version, Willie Nelson
introduced the song to country audiences in 1978 as a #1 Country/Western hit.
(with Bix Beiderbecke
) in 1930 and released as Victor 23013-A. The song has subsequently been covered by many artists, significant among them: Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra, Louis Armstrong
, Mildred Bailey
in 1931, Dean Martin
, Glenn Miller
, Zac Brown Band
, Michael Bublé
, Ian Moss
, Willie Nelson
, Michael Bolton
, Anita O'Day
, Ella Fitzgerald
, Rebecca Parris
, Jo Stafford
, Red McKenzie and His Mound City Blue Blowers in 1931, Gladys Knight
, Gene Krupa
, Grover Washington, Jr.
, James Brown
, Alicia Keys
and Jamie Foxx
, Usher, Fats Waller
, Billie Holiday
, Nat Gonella
and his Georgians
, The Band
, Django Reinhardt
, Wes Montgomery
, John Mayer
, Jerry Lee Lewis
, The Righteous Brothers
, Tom Jones
, Maceo Parker
, Van Morrison
, Coldplay
, The Joel Haynes Trio (with Denzel Sinclair) and the Spencer Davis Group
(with Steve Winwood
on vocals), Tony Rice
in his California Autumn album, as well as Arturo Sandoval
in his Ronnie Scott's Jazz House album, and an instrumental
version by Oscar Peterson
. Czech singer Pavel Novak recorded song in 1968. Bing Crosby
recorded this song twice: 1956 with Buddy Cole and his trio for the LP New Tricks and 1975 with Paul Smith and Band for the LP A Southern Memoir.
On 30 July 1963, Lou Rawls
recorded the song for his album "Tobacco Road". Cold Chisel
's version of the song appeared on the album Barking Spiders Live: 1983
and has become a staple of their live shows. Guitarist Ian Moss still performs the song and a live version is included in his "Let's All Get Together" album. In 1988, pianist Rob Mullins covered the song from his album "Fifth Gear." American Idol (Season 8)
contestant Matt Giraud
performed this song during Hollywood Week Second Solo Performance. In 2006, saxophonist Gerald Albright
covered the song off the album "New Beginnings."
In 2006, Jimmy Sommers, another saxophonist covered the song for his Standards album "Time Stands Still."
In 2009, Hong Kong singer Khalil Fong
covered the song in his "Timeless" album.
that the song became a major hit, reaching the number one spot for one week in November 1960 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
. On March 7, 1979, in a mutual symbol of reconciliation after conflict over civil rights
issues, he performed it before the Georgia General Assembly
(the state legislature). After this performance, the connection to the state was firmly made, and then the Assembly adopted it as the state song on April 24.
This version of the song was played with a video montage each time that Georgia Public Television went off the air nightly. With the advent of 24-hour broadcasting
, it is rarely used now, the last time being in 2009 for the permanent sign-off of GPB's analog TV stations on February 17.
The song was used as the theme song to the CBS sitcom Designing Women
(set in Atlanta
), initially as an instrumental (performed by Doc Severinsen
), and later in a recording by Ray Charles. Charles' version was also sampled for rap group Field Mob
's 2005 single, "Georgia", featuring Jamie Foxx
and Ludacris
.
Sometime after 2000, Charles invited the Italian singer Giorgia Todrani
to sing the song with him after learning that she was named in honor of the song.
Jamie Foxx
and Alicia Keys
, backed by Quincy Jones
& his Orchestra, performed a new arrangement in honour of Ray Charles at the 2005 Grammy Awards.
recorded "Georgia" on his 1978 album Stardust. It was released as single, peaked at No. 1 for a single week and total of 16 weeks on a country chart. A year later, Willie Nelson won a Grammy award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.
magazine named "Georgia on My Mind" the 44th greatest song of all time.
The title of the song was used as the state of Georgia's license plate
slogan exclusively from January 1997 through November 2003, with some of these plates remaining valid through at least December 2009.
Georgia's welcome sign says "Welcome. We're glad Georgia's on your mind.", a reference to the state song.
The song is referenced in The Beatles
' "Back in the U.S.S.R.", with the line "Georgia's always on my mind" referring to the Georgian SSR (Soviet Georgia).
The song is featured in the Stone Mountain Laser Show that runs each summer outside Atlanta.
The song was one of the songs of the 1996 Summer Olympics
held in Atlanta.
In the television show Quantum Leap, the Ray Charles version of the song is used in several episodes, since it was the song which played at the wedding of the supporting character Al Calavicci
. The usage license was limited, and when the series was released on DVD in the USA, the producers decided they could not afford to renew the rights, so the song was replaced with generic instrumental music. Since the song was used in several emotional scenes, some fans were disappointed with this decision.
The song is mentioned in the Johnny Flynn
song, "Hong Kong Cemetery".
The song is featured at the end of the House
episode "Saviors
" performed by Hugh Laurie
.
Part of song was used as Sky Sports
coverage of 2011 Masters golf tournament
, being used at every commercial break.
It was the first song The Libertines
performed together since their 2004 split, when they opened with it at a guerilla gig at the Boogaloo Pub.
It is the corps song for the Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps.
Hoagy Carmichael
Howard Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...
(music) and Stuart Gorrell
Stuart Gorrell
Stuart Graham Steven Gorrell is best known for writing the lyrics for the song Georgia on My Mind.Gorrell attended Indiana University; there he became friends with fellow student Hoagy Carmichael...
(lyrics). It is the official state song of the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
state of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. Gorrell wrote the lyrics for Hoagy's sister, Georgia Carmichael. However, the lyrics of the song are ambiguous enough to refer either to the state or to a woman named "Georgia". Carmichael's 1965 autobiography, Sometimes I Wonder, records the origin: a friend, saxophonist and bandleader Frankie Trumbauer
Frankie Trumbauer
Orie Frank Trumbauer was one of the leading jazz saxophonists of the 1920s and 1930s. He played the C-melody saxophone which, in size, is between an alto and tenor saxophone...
, suggested: "Why don't you write a song called 'Georgia?' Nobody lost much writing about the South." Thus, the song is universally believed to have been written about the state.
The song was first recorded on September 15, 1930 in New York by Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra with Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
on muted cornet and Hoagy Carmichael on vocals. The recording was part of Bix Beiderbecke's last recording session. The recording was released as Victor 23013 with "One Night in Havana".
Frankie Trumbauer had the first major hit recording in 1931 when his recording made the top ten on the charts. Trumbauer had suggested that Carmichael compose the song. Another 1931 hit version was Mildred Bailey
Mildred Bailey
Mildred Bailey was a popular and influential American jazz singer during the 1930s, known as "The Rockin' Chair Lady" and "Mrs. Swing"...
's vocal made with members of Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman
Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...
's Orchestra (Victor 22880).
Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, a native of Georgia, recorded it in 1960 on the album The Genius Hits the Road
The Genius Hits the Road
The Genius Hits the Road is a 1960 album by Ray Charles. It is a concept album of sorts with the theme revolving around various parts of the U.S...
. It became Georgia's state song in 1979. Inspired by this blues version, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
introduced the song to country audiences in 1978 as a #1 Country/Western hit.
Versions
The song was first recorded by Hoagy CarmichaelHoagy Carmichael
Howard Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...
(with Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
) in 1930 and released as Victor 23013-A. The song has subsequently been covered by many artists, significant among them: Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra, Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, Mildred Bailey
Mildred Bailey
Mildred Bailey was a popular and influential American jazz singer during the 1930s, known as "The Rockin' Chair Lady" and "Mrs. Swing"...
in 1931, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
, Zac Brown Band
Zac Brown Band
Zac Brown Band is an American country music, southern rock, and folk band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown , Jimmy De Martini , John Driskell Hopkins , Coy Bowles , Chris Fryar and Clay Cook...
, Michael Bublé
Michael Bublé
Michael Steven Bublé is a Canadian singer. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found worldwide commercial success with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible was...
, Ian Moss
Ian Moss
Ian Moss is an Australian rock musician, best known as the guitarist and occasional singer of Cold Chisel. In that group's initial ten year career, Moss recorded eight albums, three of which were No. 1 national hits. His solo career began with a No. 1 album and single and five ARIA Awards...
, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
, Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day was an American jazz singer.Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer"...
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Rebecca Parris
Rebecca Parris
Rebecca Parris is an American jazz singer. Parris has made guest appearances with many top musicians , performed at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival in '90 & '95, North Sea Jazz Festival, Oslo Jazz Festival and of course the ever-so-hip International...
, Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
, Red McKenzie and His Mound City Blue Blowers in 1931, Gladys Knight
Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...
, Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
, Grover Washington, Jr.
Grover Washington, Jr.
Grover Washington, Jr. was an American jazz-funk / soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with George Benson, John Klemmer, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chuck Mangione, Herb Alpert, and Spyro Gyra, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre.He wrote some of his material and...
, James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
, Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
and Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop , professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a...
, Usher, Fats Waller
Fats Waller
Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...
, Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, Nat Gonella
Nat Gonella
Nathaniel Charles Gonella was an English jazz trumpeter, bandleader, vocalist and mellophonist born in London, perhaps most notable for his work with the big band he founded, The Georgians....
and his Georgians
The Georgians
The Georgians was a prominent United States jazz & dance band of the early 1920s that recorded on Columbia Records.The Georgians were the solo band Nat Gonella founded on his departure from Lew Stone and his Orchestra in 1934...
, The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
, Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
, Wes Montgomery
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
, John Mayer
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...
, Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, The Righteous Brothers
The Righteous Brothers
The Righteous Brothers were the musical duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield. They recorded from 1963 through 1975, and continued to perform until Hatfield's death in 2003...
, Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
, Maceo Parker
Maceo Parker
Maceo Parker is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, as well as Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of Brown's hit recordings, and a key part of his band, playing alto, tenor and baritone saxophones...
, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
, The Joel Haynes Trio (with Denzel Sinclair) and the Spencer Davis Group
Spencer Davis Group
The Spencer Davis Group was a mid-1960s British beat group from Birmingham, England, formed by Spencer Davis with Steve Winwood and his brother Muff Winwood...
(with Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
on vocals), Tony Rice
Tony Rice
Tony Rice is an American acoustic guitarist and bluegrass musician. He is considered one of the most influential acoustic guitar players in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz.Rice spans the range of acoustic music, from traditional bluegrass to jazz-influenced New...
in his California Autumn album, as well as Arturo Sandoval
Arturo Sandoval
Arturo Sandoval is a jazz trumpeter and pianist. He was born in Artemisa, in the newest renamed Artemisa Province, Cuba....
in his Ronnie Scott's Jazz House album, and an instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
version by Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
. Czech singer Pavel Novak recorded song in 1968. Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
recorded this song twice: 1956 with Buddy Cole and his trio for the LP New Tricks and 1975 with Paul Smith and Band for the LP A Southern Memoir.
On 30 July 1963, Lou Rawls
Lou Rawls
Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
recorded the song for his album "Tobacco Road". Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel is a rock band that originated in Adelaide, Australia. It is one of the most acclaimed Australian rock bands of all time, with a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s and huge sales that continue to this day, although its success and acclaim was almost completely restricted to...
's version of the song appeared on the album Barking Spiders Live: 1983
Barking Spiders Live: 1983
Barking Spiders Live: 1983 is a live album by Australian rock band Cold Chisel. It was recorded during the final performances of their Last Stand tour in 1983, at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. The name of the album derives from a name the band used occasionally when playing warm-up shows before...
and has become a staple of their live shows. Guitarist Ian Moss still performs the song and a live version is included in his "Let's All Get Together" album. In 1988, pianist Rob Mullins covered the song from his album "Fifth Gear." American Idol (Season 8)
American Idol (season 8)
The eighth season of American Idol premiered on January 13, 2009, and concluded on May 20, 2009. Judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson continued to judge the show's contestants, along with Ryan Seacrest as host. The season introduced Kara DioGuardi as the fourth judge on the Idol...
contestant Matt Giraud
Matt Giraud
Matthew Scott "Matt" Giraud is a dueling piano player from Kalamazoo, Michigan and the fifth place finalist of the eighth season of the reality television series American Idol.-Early life:...
performed this song during Hollywood Week Second Solo Performance. In 2006, saxophonist Gerald Albright
Gerald Albright
Gerald Albright is an American jazz saxophonist.Albright has sold over 1,000,000 albums in the U.S. alone. His self-produced music features him on bass guitar, keyboards, flutes, drum programming, and background vocals.- Biography :...
covered the song off the album "New Beginnings."
In 2006, Jimmy Sommers, another saxophonist covered the song for his Standards album "Time Stands Still."
In 2009, Hong Kong singer Khalil Fong
Khalil Fong
Khalil Fong was born on 14 July 1983. He is an American born, Hong Kong-based soul Mandopop singer-songwriter signed to the Warner Music Hong Kong.-Biography:...
covered the song in his "Timeless" album.
Ray Charles
It was not until Ray Charles' 1960 recording on The Genius Hits the RoadThe Genius Hits the Road
The Genius Hits the Road is a 1960 album by Ray Charles. It is a concept album of sorts with the theme revolving around various parts of the U.S...
that the song became a major hit, reaching the number one spot for one week in November 1960 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. On March 7, 1979, in a mutual symbol of reconciliation after conflict over civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
issues, he performed it before the Georgia General Assembly
Georgia General Assembly
The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, being composed of the Georgia House of Representatives and the Georgia Senate....
(the state legislature). After this performance, the connection to the state was firmly made, and then the Assembly adopted it as the state song on April 24.
This version of the song was played with a video montage each time that Georgia Public Television went off the air nightly. With the advent of 24-hour broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
, it is rarely used now, the last time being in 2009 for the permanent sign-off of GPB's analog TV stations on February 17.
The song was used as the theme song to the CBS sitcom Designing Women
Designing Women
Designing Women is an American television sitcom that centered on the working and personal lives of four Southern women and one man in an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired on the CBS television network from September 29, 1986 until May 24, 1993. The show was created by head writer...
(set in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
), initially as an instrumental (performed by Doc Severinsen
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen is an American pop and jazz trumpeter. He is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.-Early life:...
), and later in a recording by Ray Charles. Charles' version was also sampled for rap group Field Mob
Field Mob
Field Mob is an American Hip-Hop group from Albany, Georgia composed of artists Shawn Timothy Johnson and Darion Crawford better known by their stage names Shawn Jay and Smoke respectively...
's 2005 single, "Georgia", featuring Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop , professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a...
and Ludacris
Ludacris
Christopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
.
Sometime after 2000, Charles invited the Italian singer Giorgia Todrani
Giorgia Todrani
Giorgia Todrani, best known as Giorgia is an Italian female singer and song-writer, known for her soulful voice, which is aided by a wide vocal range, high belting register and great vocal abilities. She is one of the most iconic and famous Italian singers. She has released ten studio albums,...
to sing the song with him after learning that she was named in honor of the song.
Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop , professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a...
and Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
, backed by Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
& his Orchestra, performed a new arrangement in honour of Ray Charles at the 2005 Grammy Awards.
Willie Nelson
Willie NelsonWillie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
recorded "Georgia" on his 1978 album Stardust. It was released as single, peaked at No. 1 for a single week and total of 16 weeks on a country chart. A year later, Willie Nelson won a Grammy award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.
Chart performance
| Chart (1978) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 84 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 86 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks | 16 |
Cultural significance
In 2003, Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine named "Georgia on My Mind" the 44th greatest song of all time.
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"....
The title of the song was used as the state of Georgia's license plate
Vehicle registration plates of Georgia (U.S. state)
The U.S. state of Georgia first required its residents to register and display license plates on their motor vehicles in 1910. Since then the state has used a variety of license plate designs, including different designs for passenger, non-passenger, and, more recently, specialty or optional...
slogan exclusively from January 1997 through November 2003, with some of these plates remaining valid through at least December 2009.
Georgia's welcome sign says "Welcome. We're glad Georgia's on your mind.", a reference to the state song.
The song is referenced in The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "Back in the U.S.S.R.", with the line "Georgia's always on my mind" referring to the Georgian SSR (Soviet Georgia).
The song is featured in the Stone Mountain Laser Show that runs each summer outside Atlanta.
The song was one of the songs of the 1996 Summer Olympics
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
held in Atlanta.
In the television show Quantum Leap, the Ray Charles version of the song is used in several episodes, since it was the song which played at the wedding of the supporting character Al Calavicci
Al Calavicci
Rear Admiral Upper Half Albert “Al” Calavicci USN is a fictional character on the science fiction drama Quantum Leap, created by Donald P. Bellisario and played by Dean Stockwell.-Biography:...
. The usage license was limited, and when the series was released on DVD in the USA, the producers decided they could not afford to renew the rights, so the song was replaced with generic instrumental music. Since the song was used in several emotional scenes, some fans were disappointed with this decision.
The song is mentioned in the Johnny Flynn
Johnny Flynn
Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit are an English folk rock band signed to Transgressive Records. They are fronted by Johnny Flynn , an actor, poet and songwriter who cites W.B. Yeats and Shakespeare among his influences...
song, "Hong Kong Cemetery".
The song is featured at the end of the House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
episode "Saviors
Saviors (House)
"Saviors" is the twenty-first episode of the fifth season of House. It aired on April 13, 2009.-Plot:Cameron cancels a vacation with Chase, saying she wants to make sure House takes the case of an environmental activist named Doug who collapsed at a rally...
" performed by Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
.
Part of song was used as Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
coverage of 2011 Masters golf tournament
2011 Masters Tournament
The 2011 Masters Tournament was the 75th Masters Tournament and was played from April 7–10 at Augusta National Golf Club. It was the first major championship of the 2011 season. South African Charl Schwartzel won the 2011 event by two strokes over Adam Scott and Jason Day.Eight players held a share...
, being used at every commercial break.
It was the first song The Libertines
The Libertines
The Libertines were an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât and Pete Doherty . The band, centred on the song-writing partnership of Barat and Doherty, also included John Hassall and Gary Powell for most of its recording career...
performed together since their 2004 split, when they opened with it at a guerilla gig at the Boogaloo Pub.
It is the corps song for the Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps.