Air Week: December 9-15, 2024

There were so many important figures in post WWII Rhythm & Blues that helped build what would become Rock n’ Roll. Today’s popular culture has left so many musical pioneers behind and this week the “Juke In The Back” features Joe Liggins, one such pioneer who’s been largely forgotten. Liggins scored one of the biggest hits of all-time when his “The Honeydripper” hit #1 on the R&B Chart for 18 staggering weeks in 1945. Singer/songwriter and music historian, Billy Vera drops by the “Juke” to tell us how “The Honeydripper” became such an enormous hit. Liggins scored 10 solid hits for Leon Rene’s Exclusive Records before moving to Art Rupe’s Specialty Records in 1950. At Specialty, Liggins had the biggest R&B hit of 1950 when “Pink Champagne went to #1 for 13 weeks and ended up selling more copies than “The Honeydripper.” It looked like Joe Liggins’ career couldn’t be stopped, but soon Rock n’ Roll, the music he helped create, pushed him and his contemporaries aside to make way for the youth movement. Last week, we spotlighted Joe’s younger brother Jimmy and this week, “Juke In The Back” is proud to honor one of the great musical pioneers of the last century as Matt The Cat plays every chart hit from the fantastic Joe Liggins.

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