ATLANTA — The original members of the progressive rock band Kansas in the 1970s hailed from Topeka and quickly became the most famous music act from that mid-sized Kansas town.
But around 1977, after “Carry On Wayward Son” became a massive hit, band members began venturing south to Atlanta, where a few had started dating flight attendants. Not coincidentally, Hartsfield International Airport, the name at the time, made touring far more convenient as well.
Lead guitarist Rich Williams said Kansas performed many times at Alex Cooley’s famed Electric Ballroom in Midtown in the 1970s. “Atlanta was a very hopping music scene at the time for rock,” he said in a recent interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “It was a fun city coming from Topeka. I met my second wife there.”
