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.


711 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Marvin Phillips is one of LA's unsung heroes of 1950s rhythm & blues. He, along with Jesse Belvin, popularized R&B duos with their 1952 smash, "Dre...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, KNCT FM, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WOUB and more


  • Added: Apr 03, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Jack McVea is an integral part of the Los Angeles Rhythm & Blues scene of the 1940s. He's best remembered today as the originator of the recorded v...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, KNCT FM, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, KMXT and more


  • Added: Mar 27, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Few African Americans accomplished so much (songwriter, revered singer, entrepreneur) during the 1950s as the legendary Sam Cooke. This week, Matt ...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, KNCT FM, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, KTRT RADIO INC and more


  • Added: Mar 20, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, Matt The Cat spotlights the fantastic R&B that was coming out of Decca Records in the late '40s and early '50s. As you'll hear, many maj...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, KMXT, WYAP and more


  • Added: Mar 13, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The "Juke In The Back" features The Robins, one of the earliest and most influential R&B vocal group to come out of Los Angeles in the late '40s an...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, KTRT RADIO INC, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, KMXT and more


  • Added: Mar 06, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
What better way to celebrate Mardi Gras than with the “Grandaddy of New Orleans Rhythm & Blues”? That, cats & kittens, is Henry Roeland Byrd, aka R...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, KMXT, WOUB and more


  • Added: Feb 27, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Get ready for Carnival with part 3 of "Juke In The Back"'s 3 part series on the great, influential and infectious music that came out of New Orlean...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WOUB, KMXT and more


  • Added: Feb 20, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Get ready for Carnival with part 2 of "Juke In The Back"'s 3 part series on the great, influential and infectious music that came out of New Orlean...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WYAP, WOUB and more


  • Added: Feb 13, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Get ready for Carnival as the "Juke In The Back" begins a 3 part series on the great, influential and infectious music that came out of New Orleans...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WOUB, KTRT RADIO INC and more


  • Added: Feb 06, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Air Week: January 31-February 6, 2022 This week, the "Juke In The Back" is proud to shine the spotlight on guitarist Gene Phillips, one of the unsu...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, KMXT, WOUB and more


  • Added: Jan 30, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Air Week: January 24-30, 2022 This week, "Juke In The Back" highlights the short career of one of R&B's greatest talents: JOHNNY ACE. His great rec...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WOUB and more


  • Added: Jan 23, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Air Week: January 17-23, 2022 The Ink Spots, along with the Mills Brothers, Delta Rhythm Boys and Golden Gate Quartet built the musical bridge from...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WOUB, and KMXT


  • Added: Jan 16, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Air Week: January 10-16, 2022 This week, the jukebox is in the spotlight as the "Juke In The Back" features part 2 of a 2 part series on the bigges...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, KTRT RADIO INC, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WOUB and more


  • Added: Jan 09, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
Air Week: Jan 3-9, 2022 This week, the jukebox is in the spotlight as Matt The Cat takes you back 70 years and highlights the top jukebox hits of t...

Bought by WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WOUB, KTRT RADIO INC, Royalton Community Radio and more


  • Added: Jan 02, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
"Juke In The Back" ends 2021 with a profile of Combo Records, a small, independent Los Angeles record label that only scored one national hit, but ...

Bought by WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, KMXT, WYAP, WOUB and more


  • Added: Dec 26, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The "Juke In The Back" presents part 2 of our 2 part vintage Christmas Rhythm & Blues extravaganza that Matt The Cat is calling "Cool Yule." Dig on...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WOUB, KTRT RADIO INC, WYAP and more


  • Added: Dec 19, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
The "Juke In The Back" begins a 2 part Holiday Music Extravaganza with a tribute to Santa Claus. This week, we find the "man in red" doing the boog...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WYAP, WOUB and more


  • Added: Dec 12, 2021
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, Matt The Cat begins a sporadic series on the music that influenced the R&B that we love so dearly. What better way to begin such a serie...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WYAP, WOUB and more


  • Added: Dec 05, 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 the final part of a 4 part feature on the early musical career of the great, Ray Charles, which will cov...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, WHRV, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, KMXT, WOUB and more


  • Added: Nov 28, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Juke In The Back with Matt The Cat, Credit: Public Domain
This week, the "Juke In The Back" presents part 3 of a 4 part feature on the early musical career of the great, Ray Charles, which will cover 1948-...

Bought by Royalton Community Radio, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WHRV, WOUB, KMXT and more


  • Added: Nov 21, 2021
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 6