This week’s episode of Highway 61 features the early recordings of B.B. King and some of the artists who influenced him during his formative years in Memphis in the late 1940s and early 1950s, including Lowell Fulson, John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson, Tampa Red, Robert Nighthawk, Jimmy Witherspoon, Gatemouth Moore, Dr. Clayton, and Lonnie Johnson.

The John Sinclair Foundation Presents

BOOGIE ROCK

HIGHWAY 61 BLUES 17

Scott Barretta, Mississippi Public Broadcasting, July 15, 2006 [SBHW-0017]

Lowell Fulson: 3 O’Clock Blues

B.B. King: 3 O’Clock Blues

John Lee Williamson: Million Years Blues

B.B. King: When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer

Tampa Red: She’s Dynamite

B.B. King: She’s Dynamite

Robert Nighthawk: Sweet Black Angel

B.B. King: Sweet Little Angel

Robert Nighthawk: Crying Won’t Help You

B.B. King: Crying Won’t Help You

Jimmy Witherspoon: Ain’t Nobody’s Business

B.B. King: Ain’t Nobody’s Business

Gatemouth Moore: Have You Ever Loved a Woman

B.B. King: Have You Ever Loved a Woman

Dr. Clayton: I Need My Baby

B.B. King: Walking Dr. Bill

Lonnie Johnson: Blues Stay Away from Me

B.B. King: Blues Stay Away from Me

B.B. King: Boogie Rock

A JOINT PRODUCTION

Hosted by Scott Barretta for Radio Free Amsterdam

Produced & recorded by Joe Yorke at University of Mississippi for Mississippi Public Broadcasting

Post-production & annotation by John Sinclair

Executive Producer: Steve Pratt

Sponsored by Hempshopper & Ceres Seeds, Amsterdam