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In the spring of 1956, Nat Tarnopol left his job at Union Tire in Detroit at the age of 25 to try his hand in the music business. Determined to manage and only publish R&B music, Tarnopol began working with an older and established artist manager by the name of Al Green. Green managed Atlantic recording artists LaVern Baker and Johnny Ray. In addition to being a manager, Green was associated with the Flame Show Bar, which was the main hangout for all the R&B artists in Detroit's Black Bottom section.

At around this time, a 22-year-old Jackie Wilson had just broken his contract with Billy Ward & The Dominos in hopes of starting a solo career. Green and Tarnopol agreed to manage Wilson and began recording Wilson's demos while in Detroit, with music written by two unknown songwriters by the names of Billy Davis and Berry Gordy Jr. Wilson's demos were being shopped to New York labels such as Atlantic Records, where Green had an existing relationship.

While waiting for Atlantic to make up their mind about Wilson, Decca Records A&R chief, Bob Theile, made an offer to sign Wilson to Decca. By the time the contracts were ready for signature, Green had suffered a massive heart attack and died, leaving the entire job of management to Tarnopol. Tarnopol had no formal education, but growing up in the streets of Detroit gave him a keen understanding of business and how to stand his ground. Everything else had to be either learned or invented as he went along.

Wilson's first single "Reet Petite", which was recorded at New York's Pythian Temple Studio, entered the Billboard pop chart in November of 1957. However, instead of showing up on the prestigious Decca label, the executives at Decca decided to release Wilson on their lesser-known Brunswick label.

The Brunswick trademark went all the way back to the twenties and had been passed around from Warner Brothers Records to Columbia Records and then to Decca in the 50's. Decca decided to release Wilson's recordings on Brunswick so as not to blemish the pristine image of the Decca label with the association of an R&B artist. In the late fifties, R&B records were still referred to as "Race Records."

Over the next four years, Tarnopol scored eleven Top Ten singles with Wilson, and had helped put the Brunswick trademark back on the map as an active and successful record label, while making Jackie Wilson one of the first black artists to cross over into popular music. Hits like LONELY TEARDROPS, I'LL BE SATISFIED, TO BE LOVED, YOU BETTER KNOW IT, DOGGIN' AROUND and NIGHT made Wilson one of the biggest stars of his day and a regular on American Bandstand, The Ed Sullivan Show and even at New York's Copacabana.

May 6th 1960
Bell Sound Studio NYC
Jackie Wilson and Nat Tarnopol

Dick Clark and Jackie Wilson