
Chances are that if you’ve ever driven in the
Memphis area, your radio tuner has passed across WDIA at 1070 on the AM
dial. B. B. King recorded his first single in the station’s studio and
promoted Pepticon on the station.
Few people may realize that in 1948, WDIA was the first all-black programmed radio station in the country
and, at its peak 50,000 watts, once reached over 10% of the
African-American population in the United States.
In addition to
reaching such a large audience, WDIA was heavily involved in community
improvements, giving food and money to needy families, setting up the
Goodwill Home for Black Children, and sponsoring the annual Goodwill
Revue, which featured many of the top soul, blues, R&B, and gospel
performers in the country.
Known for years as the Goodwill Station, WDIA
celebrates nearly 60 years of providing community service and
entertainment by releasing the two-disc set, WDIA AM 1070: The
History, The Music, The Legend.
Disc one, narrated by current WDIA
on-air personality James Davis, consists of various comedy skits, public
service announcements, radio spots, jingles, some great vintage
commercials (a Martha White flour spot with DJ Theo “Bless My Bones”
Wade encouraging listeners to “baptize their biscuits in butter“ and a
tongue-twisting King Cotton frankfurters ad are the highlights), and
excerpts from various talk shows and even one of the Goodwill
Revues.
Some names you may recognize on this disc include Rufus Thomas
(plugging “Pink Pussy Cat Wine”), Nat D. Williams (noted Memphis
columnist and the first African-American DJ in the Bluff City), and Pigmeat Markham, who appears in one of the Goodwill Revue
excerpts).
Many of these recordings were discovered last year when WDIA
relocated to new studios and they’re wonderful to hear.
Disc two
consists of 13 tracks of R&B/soul tracks performed by mostly local acts,
old and new, such as Thomas, William Bell, Johnny Taylor, the Barkays,
Teenie Hodges, Lynn White, J. Blackfoot, Preston Shannon, The Mad Lads,
Ben Cauley, and Wise Williams (Disc two producer and compiler Carl
“Blue“ Wise and Ronnie Williams of the Bo-Keys). It’s an entertaining
set of tracks that might be unfamiliar to some listeners, but it’s a
great representation of what has gone out over the WDIA airwaves over
the years.
Today, WDIA is still a vital part of the social and cultural
scene in Memphis and shows no signs of slowing down. For fans of soul,
blues, and R&B and the history behind the music, WDIA AM 1070: The
History, The Music, The Legend is an absolutely essential purpose.