Air Week: August 4-10, 2025

Atlantic Records was the most influential, significant and important independent record label to come out of the late-1940s, during a time when there were many great, small indie labels being born. What gave Atlantic the advantage over Specialty, Chess, Modern, Vee-Jay, Exclusive, King, etc is the breadth of material, variety of music styles and the sheer number of hit records that led to the Rock n’ Roll explosion of the mid-1950s. Matt The Cat and the “Juke In The Back” present this behemoth, 14 part series celebrating the first 10 years of Atlantic’s existence: 1947-57. This week in part three, we’ll focus on 1951 and hear a few more stellar hits from bandleader Joe Morris and rising star Ruth Brown. Stick McGhee had his final charting record in ’51, but would still turn out some fantastic material for Atlantic and later, King Records. Also, two influential vocal groups make their debut this year for Atlantic: The Clovers and The Cardinals. The Clovers scored a #1 record right out of the gate with the first song ever written by Ahmet Ertegun with “Don’t You Know I Love You So” and Joe Turner releases his first single for the label. This program is highlighted by excerpts of an interview Matt The Cat conducted with Atlantic’s co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, a few years before his death in 2006. So buckle in and prepare yourself for an in-depth, 14 part look at the history of Atlantic Records, which could also be described as a look at the history of American Music itself.

LISTEN BELOW