The "Juke In The Back" focuses on the " soul that came before rock n' roll," the records that inspired Elvis, Buddy Holly, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and countless others.
This week, the "Juke In The Back" continues a 3 show look at The Midnighters, one of early R&B's most successful groups.
Before they topped the R&B charts with "Work With Me Annie" in 1954, The Midnighters were known as The Royals, a rough and ready group from the east side of Detroit. Charles Sutton, the Royal's first great lead singer, shaped their early recordings (1952-53) in the style of The Orioles' leader Sonny Til.
In part 3, the "Annie" songs take the spotlight as we build off the Midnighters' "Annie" trilogy to the flood of answer records and sequel songs that emerged in "Work With Me Annie" wake. Most of the hit "Annie" follow-ups were done by The Midnighters themselves, like "Annie Had A Baby" and "Annie's Aunt Fannie," but there were some notable "Annie" songs by The El Dorados, Linda Hayes, Danny Taylor and of course the "Henry" songs by a very young Etta James. It may sound odd now, but from 1954-56, the R&B juke boxes were jumpin' to songs about "Annie," "Henry" and their crazy situations.
Matt The Cat puts this R&B fad front and center as we close up our 3 week look at the impact of The Midnighters on Rhythm & Blues and early Rock n' Roll.
Join Matt the Cat for "Juke in the Back", tomorrow morning at 04:00 AM Eastern, with an encore presentation, Sunday afternoon at 03:00 PM Eastern, after "The History of Rock And roll" on "The Mushroom FM Rockumentary" and before "The Song Remembers When" with Melissa Ricobono on Mushroom FM, the home of the fun guys, making four decades of magic mushroom memories!
And check out the complete Mushroom FM schedule at https://mushroomfm.com/schedule.
Home of the Fun Guys!