Vita Records: Aug 13, 2018: 11am - 12pm
This week's Juke In The Back is a look into the mu...
Big Maybelle: Aug 06, 2018: 11am - 12pm
This week the Juke In The Back highlights the ofte...
Pee Wee Crayton: Jul 30, 2018: 11am - 12pm
This week the Juke In The Back honors one of the g...
1953 Jukebox Rhythm Review, Pt. 2: Jul 23, 2018: 11am - 12pm
This week, the jukebox is in the spotlight as Matt...
1953 Jukebox Rhythm Review: Jul 16, 2018: 11am - 12pm
Rhythm & Booze: Jul 09, 2018: 11am - 12pm
Raise your glasses as we toast Rhythm & Booze: Win...
Wynonie Harris: Jun 04, 2018: 11am - 12pm
The "Juke In The Back" is overflowin' with records...
Richard Barrett: May 28, 2018: 11am - 12pm
This week, the Juke In The Back honors one of the...
Little Miss Cornshucks: May 21, 2018: 11am - 12pm
Little Miss Cornshucks was an influential figure i...
The Ravens: May 14, 2018: 11am - 12pm
This week's show features The Ravens, an R&B vocal...
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This week's Juke In The Back is a look into the musical legacy of Vita Records, another small West Coast label that made a significant contribution to Rhythm & Blues and the formation of Rock n' Roll....
This week the Juke In The Back highlights the often-ignored early career of Big Maybelle, one of the great female blues shouters. Produced for Pacifica Radio in Salem, MA.
This week the Juke In The Back honors one of the greatest, yet more underrated originators of electric blues guitar: Pee Wee Crayton. Produced for Pacifica Radio in Salem, MA.
This week, the jukebox is in the spotlight as Matt The Cat takes you back 65 years and highlights the top jukebox hits of the second half of 1953. Produced for Pacifica Radio in Salem, MA.
This week, the jukebox is in the spotlight as Matt The Cat takes you back 65 years and highlights the top jukebox hits of the first half of 1953. Produced for Pacifica Radio in Salem, MA.
Raise your glasses as we toast Rhythm & Booze: Wine, Wine, Wine on this week's "Juke In The Back." The entire program features the greatest wine R&B drinking songs of the 1940s and '50s. You'll find s...
The "Juke In The Back" is overflowin' with records by one of R&B's greatest blues shouters and entertainers: Wynonie "Mr. Blues" Harris. Part 1 of this 2-part series focuses on Wynonie's early recordi...
This week, the Juke In The Back honors one of the silent architects of Rock n' Roll, Richard Barrett. He's known today to fans of vocal group music as the lead singer and chief songwriter for The Vale...
Little Miss Cornshucks was an influential figure in post WWII Rhythm & Blues with an almost mythical reputation who inspired Ahmet Ertegun to start Atlantic Records. She began recording for Marl Young...
This week's show features The Ravens, an R&B vocal group formed in New York City in 1945. With Jimmy Ricks' bass lead and some tremendous harmony behind him, The Ravens were the predecessors to the do...
Excello Records: May 07, 2018: 11am - 12pm
Drop a nickel in the ol' Rockola Juke as Matt The Cat dedicates the entire hour to the great little Nashville R&B label, Excello Records. Produced for Pacifica Radio in Salem, MA.
Jimmy Preston: Apr 30, 2018: 11am - 12pm
This week's "Juke In The Back" is jumpin' with some pristine shellac from the great and highly unappreciated Jimmy Preston, who made a major contribution to early Rock n' Roll by ushering in the era o...
Little Esther Phillips: Apr 23, 2018: 11am - 12pm
Esther Mae Jones is one of the First Ladies of R&B, yet her 1950s output under the name Little Esther is sadly overlooked. Little Esther was discovered by bandleader Johnny Otis in 1949, when she was...
20180416: Apr 16, 2018: 11am - 12pm
he entire Juke In The Back this week features Motown's biggest acts, before there even was a Motown Records and before those acts were household names. Matt The Cat spins the earliest records by The M...
John Lee Hooker: Apr 09, 2018: 11am - 12pm
John Lee Hooker, one of the most influential musicians of the 20th Century, single-handedly invented his own electric guitar boogie sound. This week, Matt The Cat digs deep into John Lee Hooker's earl...
Billy Stewart & R&B Jail Songs: Apr 02, 2018: 11am - 12pm
Many 1960s soul legends had their start in 1950s R&B and this week, the Juke In The Back takes a listen to Billy Stewart's early records for the Chess and Okeh labels. We'll also spend a few days in j...
The Cadillacs: Mar 26, 2018: 11am - 12pm
The Cadillacs began their journey in 1953 as The Carnations and when they changed their name they helped usher in a new era of automobile names for R&B vocal groups. Lead tenor Earl "Speedo" Carroll a...
Jimmy Coe: Mar 19, 2018: 11am - 12pm
This week the Juke In The Back is proud to feature Jimmy Coe, a great 1950s saxophonist, bandleader and session man that is often ignored today. Coe came up in the 1940s playing in renowned bands incl...
Spark Records: Mar 12, 2018: 11am - 12pm
This week's show features the story of Spark Records, one of the premiere short-lived R&B record labels of the 1950s. Started by songwriters Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller after they were stiffed on roya...
Billy "The Kid" Emerson: Mar 05, 2018: 11am - 12pm
The American soul that came before rock 'n' roll. This week's show features Billy "The Kid" Emerson, a talented R&B singer and songwriter who never had a hit record, but whose songs were covered by th...
Ivory Joe Hunter, Pt. 1: Feb 12, 2018: 11am - 12pm
The Juke In The Back spotlights one of the most underrated hit-makers of the 1940s and '50s, Ivory Joe Hunter. He was a prolific piano player who constantly blurred the lines between rhythm & blues an...
Cat Records: Feb 05, 2018: 11am - 12pm
This week we feature Cat Records, the short-lived subsidiary of Atlantic Records. Atlantic set Cat up to be their Rock n' Roll label, but after only a year and a half and 18 single releases, they deci...
Howlin' Wolf: Jan 29, 2018: 11am - 12pm
This week, the Juke In The Back focuses on the great Howlin' Wolf's earliest recordings. Before he became a huge star on Chess Records in Chicago, Wolf was a local celebrity in Memphis, recording with...
Marvin Phillips: Jan 22, 2018: 11am - 12pm
Marvin Phillips is important to post WWII rhythm & blues, because he, along with Jesse Belvin helped to popularize the R&B duo. This week's "Juke In The Back" takes a look at Marvin Phillips' impressi...
Jukebox Rhythm Review, Pt. 2: Jan 15, 2018: 11am - 12pm
The jukebox takes center stage as we travel back 70 years to dig on the hep sounds of 1948. This week, in part 2 of 2, the Juke In The Back features the biggest jukebox hits of the last half of 1948....
Jukebox Rhythm Review, Pt. 1: Jan 08, 2018: 11am - 12pm
The jukebox takes center stage as we travel back 70 years to dig on the hep sounds of 1948. This week, in part 1 of 2, the Juke In The Back features the biggest jukebox hits of the first half of 1948....
Combo Records: Jan 01, 2018: 11am - 12pm
"Juke In The Back" kicks off 2018 with a profile of Combo Records, a small, independent Los Angeles record label that only scored one national hit, but had a stellar roster full of the top R&B acts of...
A Rhythm & Blues Christmas: Dec 18, 2017: 11am - 12pm
The entire Juke In The Back is loaded with the greatest R&B Christmas records from the late 1940s and 1950s. Its the yuletide soul that came before rock n roll. From the all-time classics by Clyde McP...
Ike Turner: Dec 11, 2017: 11am - 12pm
One of Rhythm & Blues' greatest innovators was also one of its most notorious personalities. He was born in the heart of the Mississippi Delta and his band, The Kings Of Rhythm, recorded what some wou...
Johnny Ace: Dec 04, 2017: 11am - 12pm
He is often called the "first casualty of rock n' roll," since his life was brought to a controversial end just as rock n' roll was picking up steam in the mainstream. This week's "Juke In The Back" h...
The Cardinals: Nov 27, 2017: 11am - 12pm
The Cardinals only scored 3 R&B hits, but all 3 made the top ten and are considered classics today. The group formed in Baltimore in late 1946 and came to the attention of Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abram...
Little Ceasar: Nov 20, 2017: 11am - 12pm
Today Harry "Little" Caesar is best remembered as an actor from movies and TV and the voice behind 1952's "Goodbye Baby," one of the strangest R&B hits of all-time. But the story of Little Caesar and...
Little Ceasar: Nov 13, 2017: 11am - 12pm
The American soul that came before rock 'n' roll. This week Matt The Cat is proud to bring this underrated R&B singer into the spotlight. We'll dig on his recorded output for John Dolphin's Recorded I...
Fats Domino, Part 2: Nov 06, 2017: 11am - 12pm
Part Two of a tribute to Fats Domino, covering the years 1953–1955. Matt the Cat plays the American soul that came before rock 'n' roll on the Juke In The Back. Produced for Pacifica Radio in Salem, M...
Fats Domino, Part 1: Oct 30, 2017: 11am - 12pm
Part One of a tribute to Fats Domino, covering the years 1950–1953. Matt the Cat plays the American soul that came before rock 'n' roll on the Juke In The Back. Produced for Pacifica Radio in Salem, M...
Ray Charles, Pt. 2: Oct 02, 2017: 11am - 12pm
Matt the Cat plays the American soul that came before rock 'n' roll on the Juke In The Back. This week, the "Juke In The Back" presents part 2 of a four part feature on the early musical career of the...
Ray Charles, Pt. 1: Sep 25, 2017: 11am - 12pm
This week, the Juke In The Back begins a four part feature on the early musical career of the great Ray Charles, which will cover 1948-58. Produced for Pacifica Radio in Salem, MA.
The Spiders: Sep 18, 2017: 11am - 12pm
New Orleans is not known for its R&B vocal groups. In a city where jazz, blues and zydeco thrive, one vocal group rose to the top: The Spiders. Produced for Pacifica Radio, Matt The Cat explores The S...
The Flamingos, Pt. 3: Sep 11, 2017: 11am - 12pm
Produced for Pacifica radio, the "Juke In The Back" jumps and grooves this week as Matt The Cat presents part 3 of a three-part feature on The Flamingos, one of the most influential and best remembere...
The Flamingos, Pt. 2: Sep 04, 2017: 11am - 12pm
Produced for Pacifica radio, the "Juke In The Back" jumps and grooves this week as Matt The Cat presents part 2 of a three-part feature on The Flamingos, one of the most influential and best remembere...
The Flamingos, Pt. 1: Aug 28, 2017: 11am - 12pm
Produced for Pacifica radio, the Juke In The Back jumps and grooves this week as Matt The Cat begins a 3-part feature on The Flamingos, one of the most influential and best remembered vocal groups of...
Sam Cooke: Aug 21, 2017: 11am - 12pm
The Juke In The Back features a full hour of Sam Cooke. Cooke's early period singing gospel with the renowned Soul Stirrers is often cited, but hardly ever featured. Matt The Cat focuses on Sam Cooke'...
Elvis' R&B Influences: Aug 14, 2017: 11am - 12pm
Matt the Cat plays the American soul that came before rock 'n' roll on the Juke In The Back. 40 years ago this week, we lost the "King Of Rock n' Roll". Much has been written about Elvis' enormous imp...
Jimmy Witherspoon, Pt. 2: Aug 07, 2017: 11am - 12pm
Jimmy Witherspoon is one of most influential blues shouters to emerge after WWII, and yet he remains just a footnote in the evolution of Rhythm & Blues and Rock n' Roll. Witherspoon is best remembered...
Jimmy Witherspoon, Pt. 1: Jul 31, 2017: 11am - 12pm
The (Original R&B) Diamonds: Jul 27, 2017: 11am - 12pm
The Juke In The Back takes a look at one of New York's greatest, but almost unheard of, R&B vocal groups: The Diamonds. They only got 3 singles released by Atlantic Records during 1952 and '53 and wou...
The Robins: Jul 13, 2017: 11am - 12pm
This week, the Juke In The Back features The Robins, one of the earliest and most influential West Coast R&B vocal groups. They first appeared on wax in April of 1949 as the 4 Bluebirds, backed up by...
Etta James: May 25, 2017: 11am - 12pm
Producer Jerry Wexler called Etta James, "The greatest of all modern blues singers." That's great praise coming from a guy who worked with the greatest of the greats for 50 years. On this week's Juke...
The Harptones: May 11, 2017: 11am - 12pm
The Harptones never had a national hit record, yet they are arguably the finest vocal group to come out of New York City during the 1950s. This week, Matt The Cat digs out many of The Harptones' wrong...
Aladdin Records, Part 2: Apr 27, 2017: 11am - 12pm
The Juke In The Back presents part 2 in our series on Aladdin Records, one of the most important independent labels of the pre-rock era. Part 2 will pick up the Aladdin Records Story in 1950 and carry...
