At the end of the Second World War, economics forced the big bands to trim their once great size and thus, the Jump Blues combo was born. Between 1946-1954, rhythm and blues laid the tracks for what was to become Rock n’ Roll. So how come, 75 years later, this vibrant and influential music is still so unknown to so many? Matt The Cat is going to change that with the radio program, “Juke In The Back.” These were the records that you couldn’t hear on the jukebox in the front of the establishment. To hear all this great 1950s rhythm & blues, you had to go to “Juke In The Back.”
https://www.jukeintheback.org
Episode #454 – Story Of The Signifying Monkey & Listener Requests
Air Week: January 14-20, 2019
The Story Of The Signifying Monkey & Your Listener Requests
This week, Matt The Cat loads the “Juke In The Back” with a musical history of the old African folktale about The Signifying Monkey. We’ll trace this tale’s journey to America on slave ships from Africa as it became threaded into African-American culture in song, from Big Maceo’s adaptation of the story about the Monkey and the Baboon to the Big Three Trio’s 1947 popular version of “The Signifying Monkey.” Along the way, Cab Calloway, jazzer Hot Lips Page, Rockabilly rarity Smokey Joe and even Chuck Berry have a crack at this classic story of the ultimate trickster. Also on this week’s program, Matt The Cat takes your listener requests, which run across the genre we celebrate, Rhythm & Blues. So don’t miss “the soul that came before Rock n’ Roll” on this week’s “Juke In The Back.”
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