Air Week: February 5-11, 2024 R&B Influences: Lionel Hampton Lionel Hampton’s big band was a training ground for so many of the all-time great musicians: Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Dexter Gordon, Joe Morris, Dinah Washington, Wes Montgomery, Little Jimmy Scott and Clifford Brown. His musical education began on drums and piano while attending the Holy […]

Air Week: January 29-February 4, 2024 James Brown: 1956-58 This week, the Juke In The Back features one of R&B and Rock n’ Roll’s greatest acts, James Brown. Born into a poor community in South Carolina, James Brown worked his way to the very top in the entertainment business, but it wasn’t without a struggle. […]

Air Week: January 22-28, 2024 R&B Influences: Delta Rhythm Boys The “Juke In The Back” takes a deep look at The Delta Rhythm Boys, one of R&B’s early influences. Bass singer Lee Gaines assembled the original quartet while at Langston University in Oklahoma. After they all transferred to Dillard in New Orleans, things started to […]

Air Week: January 15-21, 2024 The “5” Royales This week, the “Juke In The Back” features a rhythm & blues vocal group from Winston-Salem, NC that not only influenced James Brown, but quite possibly the entire soul movement of the late ’50s into the 1960s; The “5” Royales. They began their career as a six […]

Air Week: January 8-14, 2024 1954: Jukebox Rhythm Review, Pt. 2 This week, the “Juke In The Back” transports you back 70 years. 1954 was a pivotal year for American Music. The lines between Rhythm & Blues and Pop were getting blurred as more and more R&B records crossed over into the Pop Chart, causing […]

Air Week: January 1-7, 2024 1954: Jukebox Rhythm Review, Pt. 1 This week, the “Juke In The Back” transports you back 70 years. 1954 was a pivotal year for American Music. The lines between Rhythm & Blues and Pop were getting blurred as more and more R&B records crossed over into the Pop Chart, causing […]

Air Week: December 25-31, 2023 Mabel Scott Mabel Scott was an incredibly versatile artist. She was a pianist, pop vocalist, R&B chanteuse and could shout the blues with the best of ’em. But like many of her peers, Scott never received the royalties or recognition that she deserved, even on songs that she wrote. Many […]

Air Week: December 18-24, 2023 Cool Yule: R&B Christmas, Pt. 2 The “Juke In The Back” presents part 2 of our 2 part vintage Christmas Rhythm & Blues extravaganza that Matt The Cat is calling “Cool Yule.” Louis Armstrong presents the title song with a backing group that is often overlooked and we spin a […]

Air Week: December 11-17, 2023 Hey! Santa Claus: R&B Christmas, Pt. 1 The “Juke In The Back” begins a 2 part Holiday Music Extravaganza with a tribute to Santa Claus. This week, we find the “man in red” doing the boogie woogie, the mambo and just plain ol’ rockin’ his way into song. We’ll pour […]

Air Week: December 4-10, 2023 T-Bone Walker Drop a nickel in the ol’ Rockola Juke to hear one of the best selling and most influential bluesmen and guitarists of all-time, T-Bone Walker. This week’s show looks at how T-Bone’s immense guitar talent developed from his first recordings in the early 1940s to his breakthrough after […]