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
Arthur Lee Maye did something that few had ever done. He concurrently had a career as a R&B singer, leading the LA-based group Arthur Lee Maye & Th...

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


  • Added: Aug 08, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
On July 27 th, we lost the amazing, soaring tenor of The Harptones’ Willie Winfield. The Harptones never had a national hit record, yet they are ar...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WYAP and more


  • Added: Aug 01, 2021
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The "Juke In The Back" takes a look at one of New York's greatest, but almost unheard of R&B vocal groups: The Diamonds. Matt The Cat also features...

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


  • Added: Jul 25, 2021
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The "Juke In The Back" presents the final part of a 3 part feature on Chuck Berry's early career. This week, Matt The Cat focuses on Berry's record...

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


  • Added: Jul 18, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, the "Juke In The Back" presents part 2 of 3 as we examine the early recordings of Chuck Berry, the "Father Of Rock n' Roll." In part 2, ...

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


  • Added: Jul 11, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, Matt The Cat looks at Chuck Berry's very first year of recording, featuring everything he recorded between May, 1955 and April, 1956. Yo...

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


  • Added: Jul 04, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The Juke In The Back jumps into summer by spotlighting THE summertime holiday, the 4th of July. We're diggin' the 4th in song, ranging from songs a...

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


  • Added: Jun 27, 2021
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Eddie Rich, the original lead tenor of The Swallows, one of the greatest and most underrated R&B vocal groups of the 1950s joins Matt The Cat for a...

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


  • Added: Jun 20, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, we take a look at two of the most famous "characters" from 1940s and '50s R&B: Deacon Jones and Fanny Brown. Sometimes these two were re...

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


  • Added: Jun 13, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 7
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 KCSM, Royalton Community Radio, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WOUB and more


  • Added: Jun 06, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, the "Juke In The Back" features one of the great big talents of early R&B, Little Willie John. From interviews with people who knew Will...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WYAP and more


  • Added: May 30, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
On May 3, 2021, we lost another legend of Rhythm & Blues and father of Rock n' Roll as Lloyd Price passed away at the age of 88. Matt The Cat prese...

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


  • Added: May 23, 2021
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Jimmy Witherspoon is one of most influential blues shouters to emerge after WWII and yet he remains just a footnote in the evolution of Rhythm & Bl...

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


  • Added: May 16, 2021
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Jimmy Witherspoon is one of most influential blues shouters to emerge after WWII and yet he remains just a footnote in the evolution of Rhythm & Bl...

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


  • Added: May 09, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • 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, KTRT RADIO INC, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: May 02, 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, WHRV, WOUB, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Apr 25, 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, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, KTRT RADIO INC, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Apr 18, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • 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, WOUB, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Apr 11, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • 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, KTRT RADIO INC, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Apr 04, 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, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WOUB and more


  • Added: Mar 28, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 8