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
Piece image
Johnny Otis was one of the most important figures in rhythm & blues and contributed greatly to the birth of rock n' roll. He wrote, played on and ...

Bought by KPVL, WRNC-LP, WOUB, and KSRQ


  • Added: Nov 17, 2013
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
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." W...

Bought by WOUB, WRNC-LP, and KSRQ


  • Added: Nov 10, 2013
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The West Coast is often ignored as a post World War II Rhythm & Blues hot spot, but some mighty fine R&B artists, groups and labels called LA home....

Bought by KPVL, WRNC-LP, WOUB, and KSRQ


  • Added: Nov 03, 2013
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
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 Wilson...

Bought by KPVL, WOUB, KSRQ, and WRNC-LP


  • Added: Oct 27, 2013
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 4
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, KPVL, WOUB, and KSRQ


  • Added: Oct 19, 2013
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, "Juke In The Back" features The Griffin Brothers, one of the unsung Rhythm & Blues groups from the early 1950s. The Griffin Brothers we...

Bought by WOUB, KPVL, and KSRQ


  • Added: Oct 13, 2013
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
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"...

Bought by WRNC-LP, KPVL, WOUB, and KSRQ


  • Added: Oct 06, 2013
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, "Juke In The Back" features another unsung hero of early Rhythm & Blues, Floyd Dixon. He's often overlooked or labeled as a Charles Brow...

Bought by KCSM, WOUB, WRNC-LP, KPVL, and KSRQ


  • Added: Sep 29, 2013
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The "Juke In The Back" is jumpin' this week with a salute to the lighter side of classic 1950s rhythm and blues. These “novelty” R&B tunes come fr...

Bought by WRNC-LP, WOUB, KPVL, and KSRQ


  • Added: Sep 22, 2013
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Before Little Richard's atomic howl burst through radios in early 1956 with a feverish "Wop-bop-a-loo-mop alop-bam-bom," he was just another Rhythm...

Bought by WRNC-LP, WOUB, and KSRQ


  • Added: Sep 16, 2013
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
"Juke In The Back" digs deep into New Orleans R&B this week for the highly underrated 1950s vocal group, Bobby Mitchell & The Toppers. Best known f...

Bought by WRNC-LP, WOUB, KPVL, and KSRQ


  • Added: Sep 08, 2013
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week's "Juke In The Back" features every record Bo Diddley recorded during his debut year of 1955. You'll hear where it all began with one of ...

Bought by WOUB, WRNC-LP, KPVL, and KSRQ


  • Added: Sep 01, 2013
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 4
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 WRNC-LP, WOUB, KPVL, and KSRQ


  • Added: Aug 25, 2013
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
On Part 2 of the "Juke In The Back"'s tribute to Sun Records' early R&B releases, Matt The Cat features Elvis' first, historic professional recordi...

Bought by KCSM, WOUB, KPVL, and KSRQ


  • Added: Aug 18, 2013
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week's "Juke In The Back" spotlights the most influential and important record label of all-time, Sun Records. In part 1 of this 2 part series...

Bought by KCSM, KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., WRNC-LP, WOUB, KPVL and more


  • Added: Aug 11, 2013
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Elvis Presley's early music was a blend of Hillbilly, Country, Gospel and R&B. This week's "Juke In The Back" explored the enormous debt Elvis owed...

Bought by WNMU-FM, KCSM, WRNC-LP, WOUB, KPVL and more


  • Added: Aug 04, 2013
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
There are many great pianists in the history of boogie woogie that helped push its evolution, but it was Little Willie Littlefield who popularized ...

Bought by KCSM, WRNC-LP, KKRN, WOUB, KPVL and more


  • Added: Jul 28, 2013
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
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,...

Bought by WOUB, WRNC-LP, KPVL, and KSRQ


  • Added: Jul 21, 2013
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The "Juke In The Back" features the most important and influential vocal group of the post World War II era, The Orioles. Baltimore's finest singin...

Bought by WRNC-LP, WOUB, KPVL, and KSRQ


  • Added: Jul 14, 2013
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, "Juke In The Back" presents one of the architects of the "honkin'" sax, Paul Williams. Williams' Sextette released some moderately succe...

Bought by WRNC-LP, WOUB, KPVL, and KSRQ


  • Added: Jul 07, 2013
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 4