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Georgia Mae Harp lives in a retirement community in South Carver, but back in the day, she was known as the young star yodeler of WBZ radio. Known for her triple yodel and her signature white guitar, she found herself center stage within the hotbed of cowboy yodeling and Country & Western music that flourished in New England during the 1940s.
While still in junior high, Georgia Mae started entering amateur contests. One prize was to make a recording and sing on radio station WBSO in Wellesley. This led to a regular Saturday afternoon slot. In the summers, she toured with the "Kiddies Review" and played theaters around New England. Soon after, she was approached by a group called the Blue Ridge Mountaineers and began working with them. Everyone was still in high school. They did summer shows and had a program on WHDH in Boston.
Around this time, WBS became WORL, stationed in the Hotel Kenmore in Kenmore Square. Georgia Mae had a daily program on this 5,000 watt station. She was then approached by the station manager at WBZ, a 50,000 watt station. Her daily program on the New England Farm hour at 6:20 a.m., had many loyal fans. Another program followed called "Georgia Mae and Her Buckaroos".
Georgia Mae had her own TV show on WBZ TV on Saturday nights and she disk jockeyed a show on WLAW in Lawrence. The show was called "Korn's a-Krackin" with a studio audience. She traveled throughout the New England states and Canada doing shows in everything from grange halls, theaters, fairs and clubs.
Be on the lookout for a forthcoming collection of 1940s radio transcriptions from Georgia Mae Harp, produced by the British Archive of Country Music.
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