Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat

Series produced by Matt "The Cat" Baldassarri

Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Image by: Public Domain 
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.


694 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, the "Juke In The Back" looks at the great Smiley Lewis, another influential force out of New Orleans that time has chosen to forget. He ...

Bought by KJZX-Austin, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WUTC, WOUB and more


  • Added: Jan 29, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
In 1950, Down Beat Records owner Jack Lauderdale was forced to change the name. He chose Swing Time and left the logo exactly same. Lauderdale cont...

Bought by KMXT, KSRQ, KJZX-Austin, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio and more


  • Added: Jan 22, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, the jukebox is in the spotlight as Matt The Cat takes you back 70 years and highlights the top jukebox hits of the second half of 1953. ...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, KJZX-Austin, WHRV, WUTC, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio and more


  • Added: Jan 15, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, the jukebox is in the spotlight as Matt The Cat takes you back 70 years and highlights the top jukebox hits of the first half of 1953. Y...

Bought by KSRQ, Royalton Community Radio, KJZX-Austin, WHRV, WUTC and more


  • Added: Jan 08, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Charles Brown was the "King of Smoky Blues" for over 50 years. A move to Los Angeles in 1943, hooked him up with Johnny Moore, who hired him to sin...

Bought by KCSM, Royalton Community Radio, KTRT RADIO INC, KJZX-Austin, WHRV and more


  • Added: Jan 01, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 11
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week's "Juke In The Back" is dedicated to one of the true unsung heroes of 1940s and '50s rhythm & blues, Johnny Moore's Three Blazers. The gr...

Bought by KCSM, Royalton Community Radio, KTRT RADIO INC, KJZX-Austin, KSRQ and more


  • Added: Dec 25, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 11
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Matt The Cat has dug up some more R&B Christmas treasures and added a few tunes about New Years for this week’s continuation of the “Juke In The Ba...

Bought by KCSM, Royalton Community Radio, KJZX-Austin, WHRV, WUTC and more


  • Added: Dec 18, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
It's the Holiday Season, so why not grab a glass of 'nog, sit back and relax and dig on some great vintage Rhythm & Blues Christmas tunes. It’s the...

Bought by KCSM, Royalton Community Radio, KSRQ, WHRV, KJZX-Austin and more


  • Added: Dec 11, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, "Juke In The Back" focuses on Down Beat Records, another of the early, small, independent R&B record labels. Afro-American businessman J...

Bought by KCSM, Royalton Community Radio, KJZX-Austin, KSRQ, WHRV and more


  • Added: Dec 04, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The "Juke In The Back" pays its respects to a true musical icon, B.B. King. Matt The Cat focuses on B.B.'s first records for Nashville's Bullet Rec...

Bought by KCSM, Royalton Community Radio, KSRQ, KJZX-Austin, WHRV and more


  • Added: Nov 27, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Pookie Hudson spent his entire life close to the music he loved. In high school, he began to develop his own style using his falsetto with just a t...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, KTRT RADIO INC, KJZX-Austin, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio and more


  • Added: Nov 20, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
If you're "hep to the jive" and can "dig the scene," then you're in for a treat on this week's "Juke In The Back." Matt The Cat presents Cab Callow...

Bought by KCSM, Royalton Community Radio, KSRQ, KJZX-Austin, WHRV and more


  • Added: Nov 13, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Cobra Records left quite a bite, even thought this little West Side Chicago label was only in existence for three short years. They hit gold right ...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, KSRQ, KJZX-Austin, WHRV, WUTC and more


  • Added: Nov 06, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The "Juke In The Back" highlights the often ignored early career of Big Maybelle, one of the great female blues shouters. Matt The Cat highlights h...

Bought by KCSM, Royalton Community Radio, KJZX-Austin, WHRV, WUTC and more


  • Added: Oct 30, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, the ol' Rockola Jukebox is haunted by a strange spirit of rhythm & ghouls. Dig on some of your old favorites by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, L...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, KSRQ, WHRV, KJZX-Austin, WUTC and more


  • Added: Oct 23, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The "Juke In The Back" honors one of the greatest, yet more underrated originators of electric blues guitar: Pee Wee Crayton. Matt The Cat presents...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, WHRV, WUTC, KJZX-Austin, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio and more


  • Added: Oct 16, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Little Miss Cornshucks was an influential figure in post WWII Rhythm & Blues. Lavern Baker copied Cornshucks' country girl stage act down to the na...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, KJZX-Austin, KSRQ, WHRV, WVTF and more


  • Added: Oct 09, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The "Juke In The Back" features The Ravens, an R&B vocal group that set the stage for all the groups that would follow. With Jimmy Ricks' bass lead...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, KTRT RADIO INC, KSRQ, KJZX-Austin, WHRV and more


  • Added: Oct 02, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
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 ...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, KJZX-Austin, KTRT RADIO INC, WHRV, WUTC and more


  • Added: Sep 25, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Vocalese is a musical sub-genre of Jazz and R&B that burst on the scene in 1952 and was practically gone by 1954. Before it departed, King Pleasure...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, KJZX-Austin, WHRV, KSRQ, WUTC and more


  • Added: Sep 18, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 9