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
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 90.5 WSNC, WHRV, WLPR , WOUB, and KSRQ


  • Added: Jan 11, 2015
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 5
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 KMUW, KPVL, WLPR , 90.5 WSNC, WHRV and more


  • Added: Jan 04, 2015
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 7
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 KPVL, WLPR , KKRN, WOUB, and KSRQ


  • Added: Dec 28, 2014
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 5
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 KPIP-LP, KMXT, KPVL, WLPR , KSRQ and more


  • Added: Dec 22, 2014
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The entire "Juke In The Back" is loaded with the greatest R&B Christmas records from the late 1940s and 1950s. It's the yuletide soul that came bef...

Bought by KPIP-LP, KRPS, KKRN, 90.5 WSNC, WJAB and more


  • Added: Dec 14, 2014
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 11
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, the "Juke In The Back" brings the jukebox into the spotlight as we journey back 70 years and dig on the top requested jukebox records fr...

Bought by WLPR , WRNC-LP, 90.5 WSNC, WOUB, KSRQ and more


  • Added: Dec 07, 2014
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
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 ...

Bought by 90.5 WSNC, WRNC-LP, KMXT, WLPR , KSRQ and more


  • Added: Nov 30, 2014
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week we salute Solomon Burke, the "King of Rock n' Soul and the "Juke In The Back" is loaded with his very first recordings from 1955 to 1960....

Bought by WRNC-LP, WLPR , 90.5 WSNC, and WOUB


  • Added: Nov 23, 2014
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The "Juke In The Back" spotlights two extremely underrated R&B pioneers this week: Titus Turner and saxophonist Buddy Lucas. Matt The Cat tells the...

Bought by KPVL, WLPR , and WOUB


  • Added: Nov 16, 2014
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
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. We'll a...

Bought by KPVL, WRNC-LP, 90.5 WSNC, KKRN, WLPR and more


  • Added: Nov 09, 2014
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The Cadillacs were one of the most versatile R&B vocal groups of the 1950s, handling uptempo gems like "Speedo" and classic doo wop ballads like "G...

Bought by KPVL, WRNC-LP, 90.5 WSNC, WLPR , WOUB and more


  • Added: Nov 02, 2014
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Richard Berry is truly one of the unsung heroes of early rhythm & blues and rock n' roll. That he wrote and recorded the original version of "Louie...

Bought by KPVL, 90.5 WSNC, WRNC-LP, WLPR , KSRQ and more


  • Added: Oct 26, 2014
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Matt The Cat celebrates Halloween with the scariest, spookiest and most sinister vintage rhythm & blues records ever made! It's the disembodied "so...

Bought by KPIP-LP, WLPR , WETD, 90.5 WSNC, WRNC-LP and more


  • Added: Oct 19, 2014
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, the "Juke In The Back" presents the final part of a 4 part feature on the early musical career of the great, Ray Charles, which will cov...

Bought by KPVL, 90.5 WSNC, WLPR , and WOUB


  • Added: Oct 12, 2014
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, the "Juke In The Back" presents part 3 of a 4 part feature on the early musical career of the great, Ray Charles, which will cover 1948-...

Bought by WLPR , 90.5 WSNC, WOUB, KSRQ, and KPVL


  • Added: Oct 05, 2014
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, the "Juke In The Back" presents part 2 of a four part feature on the early musical career of the great, Ray Charles, which will cover 19...

Bought by WLPR , 90.5 WSNC, WOUB, KSRQ, and KPVL


  • Added: Sep 28, 2014
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
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. Part...

Bought by KPVL, 90.5 WSNC, WOUB, WLPR , and KSRQ


  • Added: Sep 21, 2014
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The Penguins’ “Earth Angel” was the first rhythm & blues song to crossover into the pop world in such a big way that it announced the beginning of ...

Bought by WLPR , 90.5 WSNC, KSRQ, and WOUB


  • Added: Sep 14, 2014
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The "Juke In The Back" honors Little Esther, the 14 year old phenom that scored 3 #1 hits in 1950, singing with Johnny Otis' musical ensemble. She ...

Bought by WLPR , 90.5 WSNC, WOUB, and KSRQ


  • Added: Sep 07, 2014
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, Matt The Cat digs deep inside the back of the "Juke In The Back" to dust off some 78rpm shellac plattahs that never get played. It's a g...

Bought by KPVL, WLPR , 90.5 WSNC, KSRQ, and WOUB


  • Added: Aug 31, 2014
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 5