The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia early 1973. Lawrence was, at the time, a regular performer on the ensemble variety comedy television show "The Carol Burnett Show"; on the final episode of the sixth season (March 24, 1973), Burnett surprised Lawrence by presenting her with an RIAA gold record for over a million copies sold. The song also scored number six on the Easy Listening chart, and it peaked at number 36 on "Billboard"'s Hot Country Singles chart. It was number one for two weeks on the "Billboard" Hot 100, and was finally topped by Tony Orlando and Dawn's "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole
Tony Orlando Tony Orlando Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis (born April 3, 1944), known professionally as Tony Orlando, is an American singer, songwriter, producer, music executive, and actor, known for the group Tony Orlando and Dawn and their 1970s hits. Orlando formed the doowop group The Five Gents in 1959 at the age of 15, with whom he recorded demos, and got the attention of music publisher and producer Don Kirshner.At the age of 17, in 1961, Orlando had his first hit with the song "Ding Dong" on the MILO record label. Kirshner hired him to write songs at 1650 Broadway, Manhattan as