Juke In The Back With Matt The Cat

Series produced by Matt "The Cat" Baldassarri

Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat
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.


669 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat
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
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
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
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
"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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat
The "Juke In The Back" presents part 1 of a 3 part series on Aladdin Records. Aladdin was one of the independent LA record labels that launched in ...

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


  • Added: Nov 01, 2020
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat
Halloween has always been a frightfully good time of the year for the "Juke In The Back." This year, Matt The Cat, along with Miss Rosie and Bobby ...

Bought by WHRV, WNMU-FM, WOUB, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KTRT RADIO INC and more


  • Added: Oct 25, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat
This week, the "Juke In The Back" solutes the Unsung Ladies of R&B! We'll dig deep into a stack of shellac from some women you know, like Varetta D...

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


  • Added: Oct 18, 2020
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat
This week, "Juke In The Back" honors two unsung R&B heroes who passed away over the past six months. Vocal group leader and songwriter Gaynel Hodge...

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


  • Added: Oct 11, 2020
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat
Pianist Paul Gayten is one of the true unsung heroes of R&B and rock n' roll, but he is often overlooked in the history of the genre. Matt The Cat ...

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


  • Added: Oct 04, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat
Etta James was one of the grittiest and most influential R&B singer of all-time. This week, Matt The Cat focuses on Etta's early records from 1954-...

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


  • Added: Sep 27, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat
Today's popular culture has left so many musical pioneers behind and this week the "Juke In The Back" features Joe Liggins, one such pioneer who's ...

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


  • Added: Sep 20, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat
With so many wonderful vocal groups present during the 1950s, it took a few distinct ones to lead the pack and blaze the trail. The Heartbeats are ...

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


  • Added: Sep 13, 2020
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 5