It’s become commonplace for presidents and politicians to consort with musicians, but that was not the case in the Seventies, when the two worlds barely collided. Starting with his run for governor of Georgia in the Sixties and continuing through his presidential campaign the following decade, Jimmy Carter proudly and openly associated with rock-era musicians. Aretha Franklin and Paul Simon played at his inauguration in 1977, and not surprisingly, he was friendly with the leading Southern rock bands of the time (some of whom came from his own home state).
Carter also tapped into the financial clout of rock & roll: When fans bought tickets to Carter benefits that featured the Allman Brothers Band, the Marshall Tucker Band, and others, his campaign was able to claim the sales amounted to small donations (and thereby matched federal funds). In a previously unpublished…
