WRFG’s Route 66 celebrates a time when blues, jazz, and R&B blended
together, often in the same song. The focus is on the the Jump Blues and
Early Rock’n’Roll Eras (1940s to mid-1950s) and on how those styles
and artists have evolved over the years.
Sunday from 7:00 to 9:00 A.M. Eastern (U.S.) on Atlanta’s
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Wynonie Harris is today’s featured artist.
Born in Omaha, Nebraska on August 24, 1915, Wynonie Harris was a blues shouter
best remembered as a singer of upbeat songs, featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics.
He had fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952. Harris is attributed by many
music scholars to be one of the founding fathers of rock and roll.
WYNONIE HARRIS RESOURCES
Biography @ wikipedia.org
Discography @ discogs.com
ARTICLES
Central High School Hall of Fame
Encyclopedia of the Great Plains
Harlem World
Rubber City Review
Spontaneous Lunacy
WRFG ROUTE 66 PLAYLIST FOR SUNDAY, AUGUST 27, 2023
Song
Artist
Original Album or Label & Date
Sportree’s Jump Todd Rhodes & His Orchestra Sensation Records 1948
Barnyard Boogie Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five Decca Records 1948
Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens James Brown Showtime 1964
Who Threw The Whiskey In the Well
Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra w/ Wynonie Harris
Decca Records 1945
On May 26, 1944, Wynonnie Harris made his recording debut as a member
of Lucky Millinder’s Orchestera. Harris sang on two of the five cuts recorded
that day, “Hurry, Hurry” and “Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well”,
for Decca Records.
“Who Threw the Whiskey In the Well,” was Harris’s second national hit,
but because the wartime embargo on shellac, the record was not released until
a few months after Harris left the Millinder Orchestra in late 1945.
Route 66 The Brian Setzer Orchestra Next Generation Swing 1998
Crazy He Calls Me Billie Holiday Decca Records 1949
Sure Thing Count Basie & His Orchestra Mercury Records 1952
Lady Be Good Joe Carrol & Dizzy Gillespie Dee Gee Records 1951
Nostalgia (The Day I Knew) Samara Joy Linger Awhile 2022
Back Biting Woman Billy Wright Savoy Records 1949
Hide Away Blues Fats Domino Imperial Records 1949
Don’t Say You’re Sorry Again Dinah Washington Mercury Records 1950
Shanghai Billy Williams Quartet MGM Records 1951
I Lost My Love In Salt Lake City “Frantic” Fay Thomas Exclusive Records 1949
I Thought About You
Southside Johnny
Detour Ahead the Music of Billie Holiday 2018
Love Is Just A Gamble T-Bone Walker Imperial Records 1954
Grandma Plays the Numbers Wynonie Harris King Records 1949
Harris’s seventh song to chart on the National R&B Chart,
peaking in lucky seventh place in early 1949.
Wynonie’s Blues Wynonie “Blues” Harris Apollo Records 1945
Harris’s first charting single as a solo artist. He was backed up on the session
by Illinios Jacquet and His All-Stars with Bill Doggett on piano.
Hurry Hurry Savannah Churchill Capitol Records 1943
Savannah Churchill recorded the original version of “Hurry Hurry” with the Benny
Carter Orchestra. It was one of two songs Harris sang with the Lucky Millinder
Orchestra during his first recording session in 1944. It was the first of his two jukebox
hits with Millindar, peaking at number 24 on the national Pop Chart in 1944.
Good Rockin’ Tonight Roy Brown Deluxe Records 1947
Written by Roy Brown and later covered by Elvis Presley, Harris’s version of
“Good Rockin’ Tonight” made it to number one on the National R&B Chart
in 1948 and remained on the chart for over a year.
Freight Train Boogie Johnny Otis Orchestra Regent Records 1950
Cryin’ Won’t Help You Paul Carrack Don’t Wait Too Long 2023
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop
Wynonie Harris w/ The Hamptone All-Stars
Hamp-Tone Records 1946
Several months after Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra scored a massive hit
with “Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop,” Hampton produced a new version with Harris
on vocals backed up by members of Hampton’s band.
Hampton did not play on the session.
Bartender’s Blues Roy Milton & His Solid Senders Speciality Records 1950
Way Back Home Big Maybelle Okeh Records 1953
I Cried Last Night Charles Brown One More For The Road 1986
Jack, You’re Dead!
B.B. King
Let The Good Times Roll: The Music Of Louis Jordan 1999
I Want You To Be My Baby Dana Gillespie As Blue As I Can Be: Live 2020
Wait A Minute, Baby Eddie Vinson & Jay McShann Jumpin’ The Blues 1969
Playful Baby Duke Robillard Stomp The Blues Tonight 2009
Written by Wynonie Harris, Henry Glover, and Lou Mann, “Plasyful Baby”
was the B-side of “Wynonnie’s Blues,” Harris’s first solo hit in 1945.
Quiet Whiskey Jimmy Sutton & The Four Charms Triskaidekaphobia 2005
Harris’s 1953 recording of “Quiet Whiskey” failed to chart, but more than a
dozen artists have recorded versions of his song over the years.
Good Morning Judge Wynonie Harris King Records 1950
Harris’s tenth R&B hit, “…Judge” peaked at number six in early 1950.
(sign off)
Tag (You’re It) Little Charlie & The Nightcats Nine Lives 2005
WRFG Route 66 