Blues You Should Know

Send us a text Blues You Should Know goes True Crime! Two programs about actual crimes enshrined in the blues. In Pt.1 we listened to different versions of a single case: the murder of Wm. Lyons by "Stack" Lee Shelton...

Send us a text Blues You Should Know goes True Crime! Two programs about actual crimes enshrined in the blues. Program #1 focuses on a single crime: the murder of William Lyons by "Stag" Lee Shelton, in St. Louis, MO...

Send us a text This program features what I, and the original interviewer Ron Weinstock, believe is the first ever extended interview with Robert Lockwood, Jr. This took place at the studios of radio station WRUW-FM on...

Send us a text The second half of our two part series on blues mandolin features several of the post-war stars of the mandolin including Johnny Young, Martin, Bogan & Armstrong, Steve James, and more. This program also...

Send us a text Do you think of the mandolin as a blues instrument? You should and you will after hearing these two programs. In part 1 we'll hear some of the early practitioners of blues mandolin like Coley Jones, Yank...

Send us a text In part two we explore Lonnie's post-war recordings and life. We hear how he adapts his music to a new era. Lonnie has his biggest hit, "Tomorrow Night" for King Records, in 1947 and becomes a favorite of...

Send us a text Lonnie Johnson may arguably be the most influential guitarist of all time. He was the first guitarist to play single string solos in both jazz and blues styles long before even Django Reinhardt or Charlie...

Send us a text One of the most interesting characters in genre full of interesting characters was J.B. Long of North Carolina. Long was a shopkeeper who, for reasons we may never fully understand, made recording great...

Send us a text One of the most interesting characters in genre full of interesting characters was J.B. Long of North Carolina. Long was a shopkeeper who, for reasons we may never fully understand, made recording great...

Send us a text Known today mainly for his sensitive and evocative compositions like Hit the Road Jack, Please Send Me Someone to Love, and Rivers Invitation, Percy Mayfield began his career as a big band vocalist of the...

Send us a text Every blues fan knows about the three Kings of the Blues, Albert, BB & Freddie, but we're going to add two more: Saunders King and Earl King. In Part 2 we explore the music and life of Earl King of New...

Send us a text Every blues fan knows about the three Kings of the Blues, Albert, BB & Freddie, but we're going to add two more: Saunders King and Earl King. Part 1 takes a look at the music and life of Saunders King who...

Send us a text We kick off season three with a special program about blues from my home-town, Cleveland, Ohio. We start by explaining why Cleveland has never the blues center that Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, or...

Send us a text While Louis Jordan was clearly the most successful recording artist of the jump-blues era of the late '40s-early '50s, there were also quite a few great performers of that era including Tiny Bradshaw...

Send us a text According to legend, a young Bob Wills once rode 50 miles on horseback to hear Bessie Smith sing. Throughout his long career, Wills mined the blues for some of his best and most popular numbers. His band...

Send us a text Blues You Should Know Podcast presents our final (yes, I mean it this time) program on the music of King Records, Ohio's great eclectic record label. There was just too much great music, and too many...

Send us a text Here in Part 7 we go over the life of King Records founder and president Syd Nathan. We also spotlight some great King artists we haven't been able to fit into the programs so far. These include some of...

Send us a text Part 6 of our series on King Records is devoted to one artist-James Brown. We cover the recordings he made for King from his debut single, Please, Please, Please through his recordings with Bootsy &...

Send us a text There were indeed Kings at King Records. Two of the best known were Albert and Freddy King, but there were more! Kings of King on Blues You Should Know. Support the show

Send us a text King records released a great deal of Bluegrass music without a large roster of Bluegrass performers. The artists they did have, though, were the top-o-the heap. Reno & Smiley, Bobby Osborne and Jimmy...

Send us a text The Blues on King. King wasn't a hard-core blues label the way Chess was, but blues was a significant part of its catalog. Hear John Lee Hooker, Smokey Smothers, Tiny Topsy, Cleanhead Vinson, Johnny...

Send us a text As the '40s fade into the '50s, Syd establishes a toe-hold, then a foot-hold in the R & B market while maintaining King's presence in the Country market. Hear Earl Bostic, Tiny Bradshaw, Lonnie Johnson...

Send us a text We begin our 8 part series on Ohio's great, eclectic record label King Records, started and owned by the wonderfully colorful and irascible Syd Nathan. We begin with Syd's journey into the record business...

Send us a text The film and play "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" is a great piece of historical fiction, but it gets one thing very wrong: Ma Rainey's records were actually produced by two extraordinary African-Americans: J...

Send us a text Here's a look at American music's ultimate crossover song: John Henry. To African-Americans he was a symbol of racial pride; to unionists, he represented the power of the American worker and union...