Honkers and shouters: the golden years of rhythm and blues

Introduction : Anatomy of rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues under fire

Part I : The roots

Leroy Carr and Tampa Red. Mamie Smith ; Leroy Carr ; Tampa Red ; Thomas A. Dorsey (Georgia Tom) ; Blind Boy Fuller

Spats and a washboard, and hokum. Lonnie Johnson ; Roosevelt Sykes ; John Lee (Sonny Boy) Williamson ; Jazz Gillum ; Washboard Sam

Big Bill Broonzy. Memphis Minnie ; Kansas Joe ; Lester Melrose

Uprights in the turpentine, lumber and levee camps. Speckled Red ; Little Brother Montgomery ; Sunnyland Slim ; Big Boy Crudup

The ballin' towns. St. Louis Jimmy ; Robert Johnson ; Champion Jack Dupree ; Memphis Slim ; Joe Turner ; Pete Johnson ; Jimmy Rushing

The boogie woogie craze, and 1938. Pine Top Smith ; Jimmy Yancey ; Meade Lux Lewis ; Albert Ammons ; Count Basie ; Billie Holiday ; Slim & Slam

Blues bands, and Louis Jordan. Lionel Hampton Band ; Lucky Millinder ; Erskine Hawkins ; Cab Calloway ; Louis Jordon

Groove 1 : Louis Jordan

Groove 2 : Berle Adams

Part II : The components

Pvt. Cecil Gant and the "Sepia Sinatras". Cecil Gant ; Charles Brown ; Lowell Fulson ; Ivory Joe Hunter ; Amos Milburn ; Charles Brown ; Roy Brown ; Roy Milton

Groove 3 : Lowell Fulson

T-Bone Walker and the electric guitar. T-Bone Walker ; Lester Sill ; Eddie Durham ; Charlie Christian ; Les Hite ; Freddie Slack

Groove 4 : Aaron "T-Bone" Walker

Black is green : preconditions for the rise of R & B

Pioneer R & B labels and groups. Leon and Otis René ; Joe Liggins ; Eli Oberstein ; The Mississippi Sheiks ; Joe Davis ; Una Mae Carlisle ; The Five Red Caps ; Savannah Churchill ; The Four Tunes ; Pete Johnson ; Joe Turner ; Herb Abramson ; The Ravens ; Sonny Til & the Orioles ; The Five Royales ; Bobby Freeman ; The Larks ; Mahalia Jckson ; Wynonie Harrie

Groove 5 : Bobby Shad

Gospel song, and Dinah Washington. Sallie Martin ; Dinah Washington ; Clyde Otis ; Fred Norman ; Thomas A. Dorsey ; Gatemouth Moore

Groove 6 : Leon René

Groove 7 : Johnny Otis

The honkers. Paul Williams ; Big Jay McNeely ; Illinois Jacquet ; Earl Bostic ; Bill Doggett ; Clifford Scott ; Maxwell Davies ; Rude Pompanelli ; Sam "The Man" Taylow ; Sam Butera ; King Curtis

Part III : The Californian cataclysm

Record company in a cigar box. Art Rupe ; The Sepia Tones ; Roy Milton ; Jimmy Beard ; Greg Lee ; Jack Gutshall ; Jimmy Liggins ; Camille Howard ; The Soul Stirrers ; Lloyd Price ; Larry Williams ; Little Richard ; Joe Liffanes ; Percy Mayfield ; Sam Cooke

Record company on a railroad track. Bihari Brothers ; Hadda Brooks ; Lester Sill ; Johnny Dolphin ; Hunter Hancock ; Smokey Hogg ; Pee Wee Crayton ; Roy Hawkins ; John Lee Hooker ; Elmore James ; Ike Turner ; Jimmy Witherspoon ; B.B. King ; Shirley Gunter & the Queens ; The Teen Queens ; The Cadets ; The Jacks

Groove 8 : Jimmy Witherspoon

Groove 9 : B.B. King.

Two other family-owned record "indies". Jack McVea ; Paul Reiner ; Ralph Bass ; Mesner Brothers ; Helen Humes ; Amos Milburn ; Charles Brown ; Lightnin' Hopkins ; Floyd Dixon ; Peppermint Harris ; Thurston Harris ; The Five Keys ; Shirley & Lee ; Gene & Eunice

Groove 10 : Ralph Bass

Bay area blues. Bob Geddins ; Lowell Fulson ; Jimmy McCracklin ; Roy Hawkins ; Lafayette Thomas ; Johnny Fuller ; Jimmy Wilson ; Chris Strachwitz ; Mance Lipscomb ; Big Joe Williams ; Big Jay McNeely ; Clifton Chenier

From Fats Domino to Sam Cooke. Lew Chudd ; Antoine "Fats" Domino ; Dave Bartholomew ; Ricky Nelson ; Smiley Lewis ; The Spiders ; Dootsie Williams ; The Penguins ; The Medallions ; The Meadowlarks ; Randy Wood ; The Del-Vikings ; The Soul Stirrers ; Sam Cooke

Part IV : The midwest mavericks

Record company in an icehouse. Syd Nathan ; Lucky Millinder ; Bull Moose Jackson ; Henry Glover ; Tiny Bradshaw ; Bill Doggett ; Lonnie Johnson ; Ivory Joe Hunter ; Wynonie "Mr. Blues" Harris ; Ralph Bass ; Billy Ward and the Dominoes ; The Charms ; The Five Royales ; Lowman Pauling ; The Midnighters ; Hank Ballard ; Little Willie John; James Brown

Storefront record company. Chess Brothers ; Gene Ammons ; Willie Mabon ; Willie Dixon ; Etta James ; Muddy Waters ; Howlin' Wolf ; Bo Diddley ; Little Walter ; The Moonglows ; The Flamingos ; Otis Rush

Chicago's black-owned record company. James Bracken ; Vivian Carter Bracken ; Calvin Carter ; The Spaniel ; The El Dorados ; The Dells ; Gladys Knight & the Pips ; Jimmy Reed ; John Lee Hooker ; The Diablos ; Jerry Butler ; Curtis Mayfield ; Dee Clark ; Betty Everett ; Gene Chandler ; Joseph Brown ; Eddie Boyd

Groove 11 : Randy Wood

Part V : East coast R & B

Savoy Records of Newark, New Jersey. Herman Lubinsky ; Teddy Reig ; Lee Magid ; Ralph Bass ; Little Esther (Philips) ; Mel Walker ; Johnny Otis ; Big Maybelle ; Varetta Dillard ; Nappy Brown

Groove 12 : Fred Mendelsohn

Groove 13 : Lee Magid

Lenox Avenue and Broadway R & B. Ahmet Ertegun ; Herb Abramson ; Joe Morris ; Stick McGee ; Jerry Wexler ; Ruth Brown ; La Vern Baker ; Joe Turner ; Nugetre ; Ray Charles ; Clyde McPhatter ; The Drifters ; Ben E. King ; Chuck Willis ; The Clovers ; The Coasters ; Leiber and Stroller ; Phil Spector ; Tommy Dowd

Groove 14 : Ahmet Ertegun

Groove 15 : Ruth Brown

Groove 16 : Jerry Wexler

Groove 17 : Lester Sill

Groove 18 : Oscar Cohen

The street-corner groups and the NY "indies". The Cadillacs ; The Majors ; The Four Fellows ; The Harptones ; George Goldner ; The Crows ; Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers ; The Valentines ; Richard Barrett ; The Cleftones ; The Chantels ; The Flamingos ; Little Anthony & The Imperials ; Bobby Robinson ; The Vocaleers ; Wilbert Harrison ; Buster Brown ; Bobby Marchan ; Lee Dorsey ; Gladys Knight & the Pips ; King Curtis ; Screamin' Jay Hawkins ; Jackie Wilson.

Groove 19 : Jackie Wilson

Groove 20 : Danny Kessler and OKeh Records

Groove 21 : Al Silver and Herald Records

Groove 22 : Bob Rolontz and Groove Records

Groove 23 : Sam Weiss and Old Town Records

Groove 24 : Sol Rabinowitz and Baton Records

The Philadelphia scene. Dick Clark ; Charlie Gracie ; The Rays ; Chubby Checker ; Billie & Lillie ; Freddy Cannon ; Duane Eddy

Part VI : Down-south R & B

The black-owned Texas company. Don Robey ; Gatemouth Brown ; The Five Blind Boys ; The Bells of Joy ; Maurie Adams ; Johnny Ace ; Big Mama Thornton ; Bobby "Blue" Bland ; Little Junior Parker ; Jimmy Clanton

From Nashville to New Orleans. Ernie Young ; Arthur Gunter ; Louis Brooks & his Hi-Toppers ; The Marigolds ; The Gladiolas ; The Crescendos ; Lonesome Sundown ; Lightnin' Slim ; Slim Harpo ; Earl King ; Frankie Ford ; Professor Longhair

Sun Records. Sam Phillips ; Col. Tom Parker ; Elvis Presley ; Rufus Thomas

Part VII : The disk jockey scene

"King of the moon doggers". Alan Freed ; Huggie Boy ; Hunter Hancock ; Al Benson

Groove 25 : Hunter Hancock

Coda : The End of an era

The R & B revival.