Rolling Stones keyboardist treats U.S. state lawmakers to a tune

The Associated Press
Thursday, February 8, 2007
ATLANTA
There is usually no clapping allowed on the floor of the Georgia House.

But legislative leaders made an exception Thursday when Chuck Leavell, the Rolling Stones keyboardist, treated lawmakers to a version of "Georgia On My Mind" in the House chamber.

Before playing the piano, Leavell was greeted with a standing ovation by lawmakers who applauded his conservation work.

He has turned a 2,000-acre (800-hectare) plantation near Macon, Georgia, into a model tree farm that raises Southern yellow pine for use in homes and paper products. He has won the Georgia Tree Farmer of the Year Award several times and has written a book on the history of the American forest.

"We are the breadbasket of the world for wood," he told lawmakers, "and we want to keep it that way."

Leavell, who is from Alabama, has been a keyboard player for artists such as the Allman Brothers Band, Eric Clapton and George Harrison. He got his start in forestry with a correspondence course while touring with the Fabulous Thunderbirds.