WRFG Route 66

05/08/2022

WRFG Route 66 Playlist and Podcast May 8, 2022

Today, we jumped back 70 years to countdown the Top 10 juke box songs in Harlem, New York on Mother's Day 1952.

Listen to Route 66 Sunday from 7:00 to 9:00 AM Eastern on WRFG 89.3 FM Atlanta. Your independent station for progressive information and handpicked quality music is streaming worldwide over our free mobile app and WRFG.ORG.

WRFG Route 66 celebrates a bygone time when blues, jazz, and R&B blendedtogether, often in the same song. The focus is on the music of the Jump Bluesand Early Rock’n’Roll Eras (1940s to mid-195…

05/07/2022

Just for mom, we're counting down the Top 10 juke box songs in Harlem for Mother's Day weekend 1952. Tune in!

Playlists & Podcasts: route66wrfg.org

To learn how you can support Atlanta's WRFG 89.3 FM, your independent station, please go to WRFG.ORG.

05/01/2022

WRFG Route 66 Playlist and Podcast May 1, 2022

This week we celebrate Big Jay McNeely, the King of the Honkers.

Please join us Sunday from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern on Atlanta's WRFG 89.3 FM. Your independent station is streaming worldwide over the free mobile app and WRFG.ORG.

WRFG Route 66 celebrates a bygone time when blues, jazz, and R&B blendedtogether, often in the same song. The focus is on the music of the Jump Bluesand Early Rock’n’Roll Eras (1940s to mid-195…

04/30/2022

with Big Jay McNeely - the King of the Honkers! Please join us tomorrow, May 1 from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. on Atlanta's WRFG 89.3 FM, your independent station for progressive information and handpicked quality music.

Playlists & Podcasts: route66wrfg.org

04/24/2022

WRFG Playlist and Podcast April 24, 2022

This week, we pay tribute to Art Rupe who died on April 15 at the age of 104. Rupe was an American music executive and record producer. He founded Specialty Records, known for its rhythm and blues, blues, gospel and early rock and roll music recordings, in Los Angeles in 1946. - Wikipedia

WRFG Route 66 celebrates a bygone time when blues, jazz, and R&B were all on the same page and often in the same song. The focus is on the music of the and Early Rock’n’Roll Eras (1940s to mid-1950s) and on how those styles have evolved over the years.

Listen to WRFG Route 66 Sunday from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern on WRFG 89.3 FM Atlanta. Your independent station for progressive information and handpicked, quality music is streaming worldwide over the free WRFG mobile app and WRFG.ORG.

You can support and Route 66 by making a contribution at https://wrfg.org/

Thanks for listening! Stay tuned.

WRFG Route 66 celebrates a bygone time when blues, jazz, and R&B blendedtogether, often in the same song. The focus is on the music of the Jump Bluesand Early Rock’n’Roll Eras (1940s to mid-195…

04/22/2022

Join us this Sunday, April 24 as we honor Art Rupe, the founder of Specialty Records who passed earlier this month at the age of 104. During the 1940s and 1950s Rupe's labels featured some of the biggest names in west coast and R&B including Roy Milton, Joe Liggins, and Little Richard.

Atlanta, your independent station is streaming worldwide over the free mobile app and WRFG.ORG.

Route 66 playlists and podcasts: route66wrfg.org

04/19/2022

The Girl Can’t Help It! Here is a movie that helped to introduce rock ‘n’ roll to the masses!

04/17/2022

WRFG Route 66 Playlist and Podcast Sunday, April 17, 2022

Today, we paid tribute to Bessie Smith to mark the 129th anniversary of her birth. Some purists may ask why we play the Empress of the Blues on a show that focuses on the era of the 1940s and early 50s. Here's my answer: If Sister Rosetta Tharpe is the "grandmother of rock & roll" then Bessie Smith is the "godmother of jump blues." That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

Listen to Route 66 every Sunday from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. on Atlanta's WRFG 89.3 FM. Your independent station is heard worldwide over our free mobile app and WRFG.ORG.

WRFG Route 66 celebrates a bygone time when blues, jazz, and R&B blendedtogether, often in the same song. The focus is on the music of the Jump Bluesand Early Rock’n’Roll Eras (1940s to mid-195…

04/17/2022

Art Rupe, pioneering record executive, dead at 104

Specialty Records founder Art Rupe passed this week at the age of 104. Specialty Records was the home to many R&B and blues greats in the 1940s and 1950s including John Lee Ho**er Jimmy Liggins, Sister Wynonie Carr, Roy Milton, Lloyd Price, Percy Mayfield, and - of course - Little Richard.

We'll pay a musical tribute to Art Rupe and his label next Sunday, April 24 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Listen to Route 66 on Atlanta's WRFG 89.3 FM. Your independent station is streaming worldwide over our free mobile app and WRFG.ORG.

Playlists & Podcasts: route66wrfg.org

Music executive Art Rupe, whose Specialty Records was a premier label during the formative years of rock 'n roll and helped launch the careers of Little Richard, Sam Cooke and many others, has died. He was 104.

04/10/2022

WRFG Route 66 Playlist and Podcast April 10, 2022

Hope you enjoyed our nusical celebration of Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. This month marks the 98th annversary of his birth.

Today, April 10, is the final day of the 2022 Spring Fund Drive. For a list of giving options, please go to WRFG.ORG.

Listen to WRFG Route 66 Sunday from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern on Atlanta's WRFG 89.3 FM. Your independent station is streaming worldwide over our free mobile app and WRFG.ORG.

WRFG Route 66 celebrates a bygone time when blues, jazz, and R&B blendedtogether, often in the same song. The focus is on the music of the Jump Bluesand Early Rock’n’Roll Eras (1940s to mid-195…

04/09/2022

Sunday after fun

Make sure your calendars are blocked! Blind Willie's Blues Club & Little 5 Points Center for Arts & Community present a Fund Raiser for the Restoration of the Blind Willie McTell Mosaic featuring Jontavious Willis and Mudcat!

Sunday, April 10, 2022 at Blind Willie's,
4-8pm, $12 Donation at the door

Engraved Bricks for the Patio are also being sold to raise funds.

As many of you already know a beautiful mosaic based on a famous picture of Blind Willie McTell was reassembled and installed on the grounds of the Little 5 Points Center for Arts and Community, the home of WRFG 89.3 FM, Horizon Theatre, and other non-profits. The restoration project includes a japanese style garden and funding projects have already been underway to pay for these improvements, including selling engraved bricks.

Blind Willie's has graciously lent their club so a special fund raising show can happen on Sunday, April 10, 2022 and will feature 2 musicians who were heavily influenced by, and continue to carry on the legacy of the great Willie McTell - Jontavious Willis and Mudcat, both performing solo. A small donation of $12 at the door will be appreciated.

Engraved bricks are still being sold to raise money for this restoration and the first 100 bricks have already been laid. The next phase will include 5 special bricks purchased by the ABS as well as bricks purchased by ABS members. They hope to sell at least 100 more bricks before commencing the expansion of the patio. The bricks can be purchased for $100 a piece and orders will be taken at the show. To purchase your brick online, visit the Little 5 Points Center for Arts and Community’s website.

04/09/2022

I hope you can join us this Sunday, April 10 for a musical celebration of Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown to mark the 98th anniversary of his birth.

This is the final weekend of the 2022 Spring Fund Drive. You'll find a complete list of giving options at WRFG.ORG.

Playlists & Podcasts: route66wrfg.org

WRFG 89.3 FM

04/08/2022

Route 66 New Album Plays for March 2022

Ben Levin - Still Here

Beverly “Guitar” Watkins - In Paris

Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne - Blues From Chicago To Paris

Sax Gordon - Extreme Sax!

The Duke Robillard Band - They Called It Rhythm & Blues

The Love Light Orchestra - Leave The Light On

To learn how you can support Route 66 and your independent station during the 2022 Spring Fund Drive, please go to WRFG.ORG.

Listen to Route 66 Sunday from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. on Atlanta's . We're streaming around the world over the free WRFG mobile app and WRFG.ORG.



Ben Levin Piano

04/08/2022

Happy heavenly birthday to the great Billie Holiday! R.I.P. ஆܔ
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan: April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. She was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Holiday had mainstream success on labels such as Columbia and Decca. By the late 1940s, however, she was beset with legal troubles and drug abuse. After a short prison sentence, she performed at a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. She was a successful concert performer throughout the 1950s with two further sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall. Because of personal struggles and an altered voice, her final recordings were met with mixed reaction but were mild commercial successes. Her final album, Lady in Satin, was released in 1958. Holiday died of cirrhosis on July 17, 1959, at age 44.

Holiday won four Grammy Awards, all of them posthumously, for Best Historical Album. She was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. She was also inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, though not in that genre; the website states that "Billie Holiday changed jazz forever". Several films about her life have been released, most recently The United States vs. Billie Holiday.

Billie Holiday at the Olympia Theatre, Paris, November 1958.
Photo © Jean-Pierre Biot / Colorized by Jazz Improvisers

facebook.com/JazzImprovisers

04/03/2022

WRFG Route 66 Playlist April 3, 2022

This month marks the 107th anniversary of Billie Holiday's birth. Due to licensing restrictions, there is no podcast for today's show (thank you, MixCloud), but you may be able to find it later via the archives page on WRFG.ORG.

This is the second Sunday of the 2022 Spring Fund Drive. Please consider making a contribution to keep your independent station alive and well. You can find a complete list of giving options near the top of today's playlist page or at WRFG.ORG. Thanks!

Listen to WRFG Route 66 Sunday from 7:00 to 9:00 AM Eastern on WRFG 89.3 FM Atlanta. We're streaming worldwide over our free mobile app and WRFG.ORG.

WRFG Route 66 celebrates a bygone time when blues, jazz, and R&B blendedtogether, often in the same song. The focus is on the music of the Jump Bluesand Early Rock’n’Roll Eras (1940s to mid-195…

04/02/2022

April marks the 107th anniversary of Billie Holiday's birth. Please join us tomorrow, April 3 for a celebration of Lady Day.

The 2022 Spring Fund Drive is moving into the final stretch! Please show your support for WRFG Route 66, your independent station by making a contribution. You'll find a list of giving options at WRFG.ORG. Thanks!

Playlists & Podcasts: route66wrfg.org

04/01/2022

Tom Waits and Rickie Lee Jones’s long lost collaboration…

03/30/2022

After two long years in COVID induced excile, we are slowly making our way back into the WRFG studio. I'm sorry to say WRFG Route 66 WON'T be one of the shows broadcasting live during the Spring Fund Drive, but our friend Marion will be on the air tomorrow (Thursday) from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m.

Please give her a call and make a contribution to your independent station... and tell her John says hi.

03/27/2022

WRFG Route 66 Playlist and Podcast March 27, 2022

This week the spotlight is on Amos Milburn. The & R&B superstar was born Joseph Amos Milburn in Houston, Texas on April 1, 1927.

Listen to WRFG Route 66 - your weekly cruise through the blues, jump, R&B, boogie-woogie, early rock'n'roll, and juke box jazz - Sunday from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern on WRFG 89.3 FM, Atlanta. Your independent station for progressive information and handpicked, quality music is streaming worldwide over the free WRFG mobile app and WRFG.ORG.

You can support Route 66 and by making a contribution to our Spring Fund Drive. You can give at WRFG.ORG or via our mobile app. If you use CashApp, you'll find us at $WRFG893.

Thanks for listening! Stay tuned.

WRFG Route 66 celebrates a bygone time when blues, jazz, and R&B blendedtogether, often in the same song. The focus is on the music of the Jump Bluesand Early Rock’n’Roll Eras (1940s to mid-195…

03/26/2022

Join us this Sunday for a goodtime birthday tribute to Amos Milburn!

This is the first week of the WRFG 89.3 FM Spring Fund Drive. We can really use your support. Giving is easy. You can make a contribution at WRFG,ORG, or via the free mobile app. If you use CashApp, you'll find us at $WRFG893.

Anyway you choose, you're dollars help keep the progressive information flowing and the handpicked music playing on your indepenent station. Thanks!