“Girls! Lord, I loved them! A little too much.”
–Raymond Andrews
Raymond Andrews, the award-winning Georgia novelist, died on November 25, 1991, in Athens, Georgia. He left behind a number of unpublished book-length manuscripts. One of the books was the sequel to Andrews’ The Last Radio Baby: A Memoir, titled Once Upon a Time in Atlanta.
Raymond Andrews experienced a distinguished publishing career. In 1979, his first novel, Appalachee Red, was awarded the James Baldwin Prize for Fiction. His other books include Rosiebelle Lee Wildcat Tennessee, Baby Sweet’s and Jesus and Jessie and Cousin Claire. The latter earned an American Book Award the year after Andrews died.
The Chattahoochee Review published Once Upon a Time in Atlanta in the Winter 1998 issue. As a subscriber, I obtained a rare copy. Andrews grew up in Madison, Georgia, to a sharecropping family, and left for Atlanta at fifteen years old with a serious literary ambition. Andrews arrived in Atlanta to meet his older brother Harvey in 1949. The brothers resided at the YMCA on Butler Street.
In Once Upon a Time in Atlanta, Andrews chronicles segregated Atlanta, movie-going, bus travel, his first love affair, his fiendish interest in sports and a sharp perspective on racial tensions. Andrews writes about graduating from high school, joining the Air Force and memories of his rural Georgia childhood. He knew the streets of Atlanta like the back of his hand.
This rare edition contains fifteen original drawings by the writer’s brother Benny, an internationally recognized artist. My favorite parts of the book include Andrews’ description of legendary music spots in Atlanta–the Royal Peacock and the 81 Theater. During this time, Andrews witnessed Billy Wright, Piano Red, Johnny Otis, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Louis Jordan and Ivory Joe Turner play in Atlanta clubs.
Andrews documents Atlanta’s soulful eateries such as Hunter Street Rib House. He elucidates on the Atlanta Crackers baseball team, Georgia politics, Atlanta newspapers, schools and local radio in his matter-of-fact literary style. Andrews captured cultural ongoings in the Atlanta streets. On page 156, he describes downtown:
“Decatur Street was loaded down with dives, juke joints, and honky-tonks where a lot of blues singing (and everything else) went on both indoors and on the street. Many years earlier Decatur Street was filled with black whorehouses while right around the corner on Courtland Street were the white whorehouses. The black and white pimps often got together to swap samples. Yet, by 1950 Decatur Street had tamed down considerably but still had its ‘spots’, along with its ‘sin street’ reputation.”
Once Upon a Time in Atlanta preserves a vivid portrait of a bygone era.