Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President

If you’re looking for ways to lift your spirits during these troubled times, be sure to see the new documentary: “Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President.” It details the impact of iconic musicians, like Willie Nelson, the Allman Brothers, and Bob Dylan, in Carter’s bid for president in 1976.

“It was the Allman Brothers,” says Carter with a smile, “that helped put me in the White House by raising money when I didn’t have any money.” Yes, this is true! Most of you are probably as surprised as I am.

The documentary is filled with footage of performers at rallies that served to fund Carter’s campaign, and others who performed at the request of the White House when Carter took office, including Jimmy Buffett, Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Loretta Lynn, Barbara Mandrel, Paul Simon, etc. Someone observes that Carter may have hosted more cultural events at the White House than any other president.

This is not a political movie. Nor is it a sweet trip down memory lane.

Watch this movie because: 1.) you can’t help but smile at the seeming incongruity of Carter and rock musicians, and 2.) it spotlights those qualities of Jimmy Carter which we desperately need in our troubled times: he is a good man, whose honesty and compassion are immediately apparent to people who come into personal contact with him.

“Music is the best proof of what we have in common,” says Carter. This is a joyful movie that reveals the foundational role music has played in all of Carter’s activities, whether personal, social, or political. We are so lucky that Chris Farrell and Mary Wharton stumbled across this aspect of Carter’s presidency while Carter is still with us.

The movie opens with an interview of Carter, now 95 years old, as he listens to a Bob Dylan album on a record player. He is clearly happy to be talking about what music means to him and the musicians who have become his friends.

“Bob Dylan’s music permeated the Governor’s Mansion,” says Carter. “My sons and I were brought closer together because of Bob Dylan’s songs.” When Carter learned that Dylan would be performing in Atlanta, he invited Dylan to the state residence.

In an interview for the movie, America’s Number 1 Troubadour describes his surprise when he first met Carter. “He quoted my songs back to me.” says Dylan. “He put my mind at ease by not talking down to me.” Carter describes feeling “honored” when the two had a private conversation in the garden and Dylan asked about his faith. They have been friends ever since.

Bob Dylan and Jimmy Carter—Who Knew!

Carter’s decades-long friendship with Willie Nelson seems a little less surprising to me. At one point, Willie comments that he and Carter were from the “same spot.” Willie is from Texas, so I’m guessing that he’s referring to the fact that he and Carter are both from poor, rural areas in the South. Carter describes not have running water or electricity until he was a teenager. Another surprise—this Annapolis graduate and nuclear engineer grew up without running water.

Carter met and became friends with many of the rock and country musicians during his four years as governor of Georgia. When he decided to run for President in 1976, Carter asked the Allman Brothers Band if they would perform at fundraisers for his campaign.

Band member Chuck Leavell remembers the band saying yes to “this wonderful man who’s been a great governor for the state of Georgia.”

Carter’s loyalty to Greg Allman after a cocaine arrest reveals his compassion. Many had urged Carter to distance himself from Allman if he wanted his campaign to remain viable. But Carter stood by those he considered friends.

“There were some people who didn’t like me being involved with Willie and Bob Dylan and Chuck and other ‘disreputables,’” Carter laughs, “but I didn’t care about that because I was doing what I really believed.” Carter says Allman was one of the first people he invited to the White House. There are pictures of Allman and Cher and a funny story about the finger bowls at a White House dinner.

Music Growing Up

Carter’s use of music in his campaign was no gimmick. His love of music reaches back to his childhood in a rural part of Georgia that was 80% Black, making him deeply familiar with southern music traditions and all-night Gospel sings. The clips of Carter and Rosalynn participating in church services show them completely at ease no matter who they are with. Carter is also a big fan of jazz and classical music.

“When Jimmy Carter would go to a Black church and they’d start singing,” says Ambassador Andrew Young, also former Mayor of Atlanta, “he would start singing. He knew all the words to the songs.”

Carter ran for governor on an anti-segregation platform. His liberal stance was embraced by son Chip who recalls, “I got beat up almost every single day [at school] because I wouldn’t denounce African-Americans.” One of Carter’s first acts as governor was to hang the portrait of Atlanta-born, Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin-Luther King, Jr. in the Governor’s Mansion.

Carter came on the national scene at a time when the country was recovering from Vietnam, trying to move forward on the promise of the Civil Rights movement, coping with job loses as good-paying factory jobs moved overseas, and suffering from the pervasive spread of drugs in American life. As strange as it may sound, this peanut farmer who became governor of Georgia somehow connected with a troubled generation. They all seemed to be on the same page and he was thrilled to have their support.

“They [the Carters] liked and listed to rock music,” said Jimmy Buffett, who performed at campaign events. “We weren’t just window dressing.”  If you look quick, you’ll see one clip where Carter is singing along as Willie performs Whiskey River Take My Mind.

Bishop Michael Curry, elected in 2015 as the first African-American to serve as the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, explains, “We were looking to be a country of integrity again. He [Carter] made an immediate connection with the Black community because of that.”

Describing what Carter’s election meant for the South, Rosanne Cash says. “You can’t fathom how important that was.”

Musicians at the White House

At first glance, it’s hard to believe that Carter, this deeply religious man, who writes poetry and wasn’t much of a drinker, turned the White House into the coolest, hippest place to be as soon as he took office. Crosby, Stills, and Nash just showed up one day unannounced, and Carter found time to meet with them. Jazz concerts outside on the south lawn captivated guests, and there is a clip of Carter singing good-naturedly at Dizzy Gillespie’s urging.

Reflecting on these events, Carter says, “It was a great honor for me and a pleasure to bring to the White House these people who in many cases had not been recognized for their contribution to the country.” He was proud of American culture in all its forms.

There’s a wonderful clip of Rosalynn singing a duo with Willie Nelson, “Goodnight, Irene,” during a NASCAR event. This may be the event Willie refers to in his memoir where he smoked a joint on the roof with someone from the White House staff. Carter, in this movie interview, says it was actually his son Chip who was with Willie. Willie didn’t want to embarrass Carter’s family.

One story that leaves me with a giant unanswered question is related to the historic opening of normalized relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China in 1979. Richard Nixon had laid the groundwork when he first visited China in 1972 while still in office. In bipartisan spirit, Jimmy Carter followed through, overseeing the opening of the first embassy from Communist China in the US.

What surprises me is the Chinese ambassador’s reply when Carter inquires, “What would you like to see? How can we help you?”

The Chinese ambassador says he wants to see Nashville! How and why did this diplomat from a communist country know about Nashville??

Carter’s people got right on it and the music companies arranged a spectacular weekend. Barbara Mandrell performed at a special luncheon and the ambassador laughed heartily when someone translated the lyrics for him, “She’s Sleepin’ Single While I’m Drinkin’ Doubles.” There are lots of still pictures, including Johnny Cash showing the ambassador how to play a particular chord on a guitar.

Carter put considerable effort into using America’s world leadership as a positive force. His heroic efforts to see peace in the Middle East resulted in the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt in 1978.

Sadly, it was events in the Middle East that played a major role in Carter being a one-term president. In November 1979 the revolutionary movement in Iran seized 52 American hostages and held them for over a year. Carter launched a failed rescue attempt, but refused to take any military action that might result in the killing of the hostages. This was an extra challenge for his reelection campaign, but staff members say “he was only interested in getting the hostages back alive.”

“I tried when I was president to preserve the peace,” says Carter, “and I’m grateful now that I went through four years in the White House and we never dropped a bomb, we never fired a missile, we never shot a bullet to kill another person.” He credits his “religious commitment” as an important part of what he tried to do.

Re-election Campaign 1980

It is painful to watch the opposition to Carter’s bid for reelection in 1980 at one of his first campaign events in northern Alabama. The Klan showed up in force, all wearing white sheets! Even after fifteen years, Southern opposition to the Civil Rights Act was still bitter. Carter’s staff said he would “heckle them back” as he walked along, calling the demonstrators cowards

“We’ve had lessons we’ve learned with a great deal of pain,” he tells an audience. “The past is not a place to live. We must go forward.”

By electoral votes, Carter’s loss to Ronald Reagan was a clobbering: 49 to 489. But the popular vote shows there was still broad support for this man of principle: 35.5 million to 43.9 million.

Iran released the hostages as Carter was flying home to Plains, Georgia, on Air Force One. On a small stage with a banner saying “Welcome Home,” Carter shares the good news with his supporters, and then you see him and Rosalynn dancing to music in celebration.

Twenty-one years later, Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize for his continued work on behalf of humanity and world peace.

“It was one of the proudest moments of my life,” says Willie Nelson, seeming almost teary-eyed, as he recalls playing for Carter in celebration of this international honor. Of course, he played Georgia. “With all the odds against him [Carter], he still did what he thought was right. That’s not a bad pattern to follow.”

Passages from Dylan’s interview are scattered throughout the documentary and reflect the long association of the two men:

“Oh, it’s impossible to define Jimmy. I think of him as a simple kind of man like in a Lynyrd Skynyrd song. He takes his time, doesn’t live too fast. Troubles come but they will pass. Find a woman and find love, and don’t forget there’s always someone above.

“He’s the kind of man you don’t meet every day, and you’re lucky to meet if you ever do.”

Yes, our country was lucky to meet Jimmy Carter and is lucky to have him with us still. In these terrible times, I am comforted and re-energized knowing there are people like Jimmy Carter, trying to help the world find its way. I must not give up believing that we can make the world better, that we can right our wrongs.

How to See This Movie

If you can’t find this movie on Netflix or Amazon yet, you can stream it on your computer at Laemmle.com. Signing up for an account is free and this movie was $9.99 with a credit card. If your computer screen is too small, use an HDMI video cord to connect your computer to your TV.

Carter’s book of poetry, “Always a Reckoning,” is available on Amazon