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Date Original
1905-04-25
Description
Black and white photograph from a King Biscuit Time radio show on KFFA radio station in Helena. From left to right: Joe Willie Dudlow, Sonny Boy Williamson, Mr. Langston (announcer), and Willie Love
Biographical/Historical Note
King Biscuit Time was the first radio program devoted to African American Blues music in the State of Arkansas. It began broadcasting at 12:15 each day on KFFA in Helena in 1941. The early shows featured Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Lockwood, Jr., Pinetop Perkins, Peck Curtis, Willie Love Houston Stackhouse and many others who would later travel to Chicago to become world famous recording artists. Many other musicians from the area including Levon Helm, Conway Twitty, and B.B.King would later pay tribute to the radio program for introducing them to professional blues musicians. It continues to be broad cast out of the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, with Sunshine Sonny Payne as its MC.
Physical Description
Photograph, 4" x 5"
Subjects
Music; Singers; Radio broadcasting; Radio industry; Radio photographs; Radio stations; Songs & music; Songs
Geographical Area
Helena, Phillips County (Ark.)
Language
English
Identifier
MS.001003
Resource Type
Image
Collection
Jimmy Driftwood collection, MS.001003
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Arkansas State Archives
Recommended Citation
King Biscuit Time radio show, Jimmy Driftwood collection, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Rights
Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
Disciplines
United States History
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Comments
I was at the AHA meeting in Helena to give a talk on Levon Helm and was invited to sit for an interview on KFFA with Thomas Shell Jacques. I did not know that "Sunshine" Sonny Payne himself would be running the board. So there I was sitting in the place where Elvis Costello and Robert Plant joked with Sonny Payne. And I was telling jokes with Sonny Payne. This was a mark off the bucket list. - Jeff Lewellen