Series: Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat

Produced by Matt Baldassarri

Caption: The Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
The Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat 

Matt The Cat presents the soul that came before rock n' roll: 1950s rhythm and blues. Each week, this underrated and rollicking music plays on that old Rockola Jukebox in the back.

If you wanted to hear rhythm & blues during the 1950s, you couldn't get it from the juke box in the front. No, no! In order to hear that glorious, down and dirty R&B, you had to go to the low-lit, spit-shined "Juke In The Back." These songs are the building blocks of rock n' roll. These are the records that inspired Elvis and single-handedly led to the rock n' roll explosion of the mid-1950s. Big Joe Turner, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Ruth Brown, Ray Charles, Wynonie Harris, LaVern Baker, Roy Brown, Joe Liggins, Professor Longhair and many more take center stage on The Juke In The Back. Matt The Cat hosted a similar program on XM Satellite Radio called "Harlem" and now he brings this great music and information to PRX.


18 pieces

Order by: Default | Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
Matt The Cat & The "Juke In The Back" feature a look at one of most significant little record labels in history: Trumpet Records. Based in Jackson,...

  • Added: Sep 03, 2010
  • Length: 00:58:39
Caption: Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
The "Juke In The Back" features the legendary Ray Charles 1953 rehearsal tapes. This is Ray at his most raw as he learns some new tunes that he wi...

  • Added: Aug 24, 2010
  • Length: 00:59:31
Caption: Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
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 Chicag...

  • Added: Aug 18, 2010
  • Length: 00:59:11
Caption: Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
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. From The...

  • Added: Aug 11, 2010
  • Length: 00:58:35
Caption: Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
The 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...

  • Added: Aug 04, 2010
  • Length: 00:58:53
Caption: The Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
The "Juke In The Back" jumps and grooves this week as Matt The Cat features both sides of all six single releases for The Flamingos on Chance Recor...

  • Added: Jul 28, 2010
  • Length: 00:58:13
Caption: Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
This week, we continue our salute to the great blues shouter, Big Joe Turner with part 2 of 2. The show opens in 1951, with Turner's first recordi...

  • Added: Jul 21, 2010
  • Length: 00:59:21
Caption: Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
This week, the "Juke In The Back" is loaded with nothing but the great recordings of Big Joe Turner, the "Boss Of The Blues." The show also featur...

  • Added: Jul 15, 2010
  • Length: 00:59:08
Caption: Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
The "Juke In The Back" is jumpin' this week as we take a look at the history and influence of the Champion Jack Dupree classic, "Junker's Blues." ...

  • Added: Jul 09, 2010
  • Length: 00:59:18
Caption: Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
This week, we take a look at two of the most famous "characters" from 1940s and '50s R&B: Deacon Jones and Fanny Brown. Sometimes these two were r...

  • Added: Jun 30, 2010
  • Length: 00:59:02
Caption: Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
What's more American than celebrating America's birthday with some good ol' red, white and Rhythm & Blues about THE Fourth of July staple: food? Di...

Bought by KMXT


  • Added: Jun 23, 2010
  • Length: 00:59:33
  • Licenses: 1
Caption: Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
Drop a nickel in the ol' Rockola Juke for an hour of pre-rock rhythm & blues. This week, we feature the very first recordings made by Jackie Wilso...

  • Added: Jun 16, 2010
  • Length: 00:58:50
Caption: Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
The juke is jumpin' with records focusing on classic R&B songs about cars. Musicologists Billy Vera and Steve Propes drop by the "Juke In The Back...

  • Added: Jun 09, 2010
  • Length: 00:58:44
Caption: Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
The juke is jumpin' this week with a salute to the lighter side of classic 1950s rhythm and blues. These "novelty" R&B tunes come from jump blues ...

  • Added: May 26, 2010
  • Length: 00:59:00
Caption: Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
This week, "The Juke In The Back" looks at how one of R&B's greatest voices, Lavern Baker, got her start. Matt The Cat collects ALL of Baker's ear...

  • Added: May 14, 2010
  • Length: 00:57:42
Caption: Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
The ol' Rockola Juke is jumpin'. Drop a nickel in and throw a few back with the "king of R&B drinking songs," Amos Milburn. Plus, Big Mama Thornt...

  • Added: May 05, 2010
  • Length: 00:59:06
Caption: The Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
This week on The Juke: late Atlantic co-founder Ahmet Ertegun tells an amazing story about how the label came to sign Professor Longhair, we hear s...

  • Added: Apr 30, 2010
  • Length: 00:59:25
Caption: The Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat
The old Rockola Juke In The Back takes a look at R&B songs about TV, the evolution of Ray Charles' "Mess Around" and some rare live 1950s R&B via A...

  • Added: Apr 28, 2010
  • Length: 00:59:01