Wednesday, March 03, 2021

King Biscuit Time

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The first broadcast of King Biscuit Time was on November 21, 1941 on KFFA in Helena, and featured blues artists Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller) and Robert Lockwood, Jr. Williamson and Lockwood played live in the studio and were the key musicians in the original studio band, the 'King Biscuit Entertainers.' Other musicians who joined the original band were Pinetop Perkins on piano and James Peck Curtis on drums. Williamson left the program in 1947, but returned for a stint in 1965 just prior to his death.

The 30-minute-long live radio program is broadcast at 12:15 pm every weekday and was named after the local brand of flour, King Biscuit Flour, distributed by the Interstate Grocer Company. The distributor financed the show at the behest of Williamson in exchange for endorsements and naming rights. KFFA was the only station that would play music by African-Americans, and it reached an audience throughout the Mississippi Delta region. It inspired blues musicians including B.B. KingRobert NighthawkJames Cotton, and Ike Turner. The show's 12:15 pm time slot was chosen to match the lunch break of workers in the Delta