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.


697 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Atlantic Records was the most influential, significant and important independent record label to come out of the late-1940s, during a time when the...

Bought by KCSM, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, KTRT RADIO INC, WYAP and more


  • Added: Mar 21, 2021
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Atlantic Records was the most influential, significant and important independent record label to come out of the late-1940s, during a time when the...

Bought by KCSM, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WHRV, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WOUB and more


  • Added: Mar 14, 2021
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Atlantic Records was the most influential, significant and important independent record label to come out of the late-1940s, during a time when the...

Bought by KCSM, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WOUB and more


  • Added: Mar 07, 2021
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Atlantic Records was the most influential, significant and important independent record label to come out of the late-1940s, during a time when the...

Bought by KCSM, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WOUB, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Feb 28, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Atlantic Records was the most influential, significant and important independent record label to come out of the late-1940s, during a time when the...

Bought by KCSM, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WHRV, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KMXT and more


  • Added: Feb 21, 2021
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Atlantic Records was the most influential, significant and important independent record label to come out of the late-1940s, during a time when the...

Bought by KCSM, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WHRV, WOUB, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Feb 14, 2021
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Atlantic Records was the most influential, significant and important independent record label to come out of the late-1940s, during a time when the...

Bought by KCSM, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WOUB and more


  • Added: Feb 07, 2021
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Atlantic Records was the most influential, significant and important independent record label to come out of the late-1940s, during a time when the...

Bought by KCSM, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WOUB, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Jan 31, 2021
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
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. In ...

Bought by KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WOUB, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Jan 24, 2021
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 8
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 1951. ...

Bought by WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WOUB, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KTRT RADIO INC and more


  • Added: Jan 17, 2021
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 6
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 1951. Y...

Bought by WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WOUB, KTRT RADIO INC, KMXT and more


  • Added: Jan 10, 2021
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Let's begin 2021 with a solid hour of Boogie Woogie Rhythm & Blues. The blues style of Boogie Woogie piano features a strong left hand, playing rep...

Bought by KCSM, WHRV, WOUB, KTRT RADIO INC, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Jan 03, 2021
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
"Juke In The Back" is proud to honor the late, great Johnny Otis. He was a true renaissance man. Otis was a singer, songwriter, drummer, bandleader...

Bought by KCSM, KMUW, WHRV, WOUB, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Dec 27, 2020
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 8
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, WJAB, WHRV, WOUB, KSRQ and more


  • Added: Dec 20, 2020
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
2020 has been a tough year all around, so why not grab a glass of 'nog, sit back and relax and dig on some great vintage Rhythm & Blues Christmas t...

Bought by KCSM, WJAB, KSRQ, WHRV, WOUB and more


  • Added: Dec 13, 2020
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The Larks are one of the most influential and best sounding vocal groups of the early 1950s and yet, they are never remembered quite as well as man...

Bought by WHRV, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WOUB, KMXT, and KTRT RADIO INC


  • Added: Dec 06, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The Larks are one of the most influential and best sounding vocal groups of the early 1950s and yet, they are never remembered quite as well as man...

Bought by WHRV, WOUB, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KMXT, and KTRT RADIO INC


  • Added: Nov 29, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The "Juke In The Back" looks at the very beginnings of one of early R&B's biggest groups, The Midnighters. Before "Work With Me Annie," they were k...

Bought by WHRV, WOUB, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KTRT RADIO INC, KMXT and more


  • Added: Nov 22, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The "Juke In The Back" presents part 3 in our series on Aladdin Records, one of the most important independent labels of the pre-rock era. Part 3 f...

Bought by WHRV, WOUB, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KTRT RADIO INC, WYAP and more


  • Added: Nov 15, 2020
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, "Juke In The Back" features part 2 of our 3 part series on Aladdin Records. Matt The Cat focuses on Aladdin's releases from 1950-53 and ...

Bought by WYAP, WHRV, WOUB, KMXT, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Nov 08, 2020
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 6