SWEET SOUTHERN SOUL- Atlanta's Tragar & Note Labels

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Eccentric Soul: The Tragar & Note Labels 

Numero Group

 

There are some people who do it for the free schwag, some who do it for the opportunity to hobknob with rock stars, and some who do it for the modicum of fame you get when your name is seen in print by thousands of people. But for my money the best part of getting to write about music for a living is the opportunity it affords you to hear great music you might not ever have known about otherwise, and to share the joy of that discovery with like-minded individuals. Eccentric Soul: The Tragar & Note Labels is a perfect case in point, offering up 50 sizzling soul tracks by a bunch of artists you’ve never heard of.

 

The 2-CD compilation is really the story of ATL native Jesse J. Jones, a saxophonist-turned-producer who headed up the little-known Tragar and Note record labels. In spite of the Jim Crow laws, the first half of the 20^th century had been a relatively productive time for black business in Atlanta, with the Sweet Auburn district producing the nation’s first black-owned newspaper, the biggest black-owned insurance company, hotels, office buildings and restaurants. The City Too Busy To Hate was the heart of the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” with clubs such as the Royal Peacock and the Magnolia Ballroom peaking at the city’s most swinging hotspots, yet there were relatively few independent black records out of Atlanta breaking out on the national scene.

 

Jones, who left home at 17 to tour with blues screamer Jimmy Witherspoon (eventually hiring a young Ornette Coleman for his first pro gig), moved to the West Coast in 1956 to avoid gambling debts he’d racked up in after-show high stakes card games. He wound up working as an arranger with Robert “Bumps” Blackwell, who had discovered Ray Charles and Little Richard, and later hit the jackpot with Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me.” Jones subsequently wound up at a series of failed labels– Ebb, Lita, Four-J– before his inexperience and greed found him persona non grata in the insular L.A. industry.

 

Returning to Atlanta, Jones’ next venture was bankrolled by white music lover Jean Wallace. Named after his wife Tracy and son Gary, Tragar Records set up shop in the West End, a perfect location for recruiting local talent. Whether due to Jones’ blacklisting in the music business or simple lack of promotion, these excellent singles never got the attention they so righteously deserve. But like most of the other albums in the Numero Group’s Eccentric Soul series, the anthology unlocks an embarrassment of riches for fans of the ‘60s/‘70s soul sound, uncovering a deep and rich Atlanta music scene that has never really gotten its due credit.

 

Tee Fletcher’s furiously funky “Down In The Country” opens the set appropriately enough, taking time to shout out to R&B legends like James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin and Sam & Dave, and underscoring the reality that many of the Tragar and Note artists could’ve been contenders had Jones’ business savvy matched his ear for artistry.  But it’s primarily the women who shine brightest here, from Franciene Thomas’ rollicking “I’ll Be There” and dynamically emotional “Too Beautiful To Be Good” to Eula Cooper’s soaring voice on the brass- and string-supported “Try” and the exhilarating “Let Our Love Grow Higher,” which is arguably the set’s finest moment.

 

In the end, while offering a cautionary reminder that talent alone is not enough to ensure showbiz stardom, the fantastic compilation also serves to remind us that the ATL’s status as a hotbed of urban music talent goes back decades. –BRET LOVE

(originally appeared in Georgia Music Magazine)