The fourth hour of this week’s Blues Before Sunrise settles firmly into electric blues territory, with a powerful lineup that includes B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, Snooky Pryor, Lightning Hopkins, Freddy King, and Jimmy McCracklin. It is a muscular collection of postwar blues recordings, filled with guitar, harmonica, piano, and the kind of direct storytelling that made the music so compelling.

B.B. King gets the hour underway with three selections: “Got a Right to Love My Baby,” “Sweet Sixteen Pts I & II,” and “Gonna Miss You Round Here.” King’s guitar is immediately recognizable, but what makes these recordings especially effective is the balance between his singing and his instrumental responses. His guitar never simply fills space. It answers the vocal, comments on the lyric, and becomes another voice in the conversation.

“Sweet Sixteen” is particularly representative of King’s ability to take a straightforward blues theme and turn it into something emotionally expansive. His controlled vibrato and carefully shaped guitar lines give the performance an intensity that never requires excessive volume or clutter.

Howlin’ Wolf follows with three sides of his own: “Love Me Darling,” “I Walked from Dallas,” and “I Didn’t Know.” Wolf’s enormous voice creates an immediate contrast with King. Where B.B. often sounds conversational and refined, Wolf can sound like the blues itself has taken physical form. His delivery is rough, commanding, and unmistakably his own.

Snooky Pryor keeps the Chicago blues atmosphere alive with “Hold Me in Your Arms.” Pryor was one of the important harmonica players to emerge from the postwar Chicago scene, and his music demonstrates the central role the harmonica played in shaping the sound of electric blues. The harmonica could be mournful, aggressive, rhythmic, or conversational, often within the same performance.

Lee Graves brings us “Papa Says Yes – Mama Says No-No-No,” followed by Luther Stoneham’s “Sittin’ Here Wondering” and L.C. Williams’ “I Don’t Want No Woman.” These selections continue the hour’s exploration of lesser-known artists and recordings. One of the pleasures of Blues Before Sunrise is hearing these names alongside the better-known stars and discovering that the history of the blues is far larger than the standard list of familiar performers.

Elmore Nixon contributes “Million Dollar Blues,” before Lightning Hopkins offers “Sad News from Korea.” Hopkins had an extraordinary ability to turn everyday observations, personal troubles, and larger events into material for the blues. A title such as “Sad News from Korea” places the music directly in the world in which it was recorded, showing how blues musicians responded to contemporary events.

Freddy King changes the mood with “Bossa Nova Watusi Twist” and “Texas Oil.” King’s guitar style had a harder, more driving edge than B.B. King’s, and his recordings demonstrate the increasingly broad musical vocabulary being absorbed by electric blues musicians during the 1960s.

The final three selections belong to Jimmy McCracklin: “The Walk,” “Get Tough,” and “Country Baby.” McCracklin was a master of rhythm & blues whose work frequently blurred the boundaries between blues, R&B, and early rock ’n’ roll. “The Walk” in particular became one of his signature recordings, combining a strong dance rhythm with his unmistakable vocal style.

This fourth hour is ultimately about the electric blues in motion. B.B. King and Howlin’ Wolf represent two very different approaches to commanding a performance, while Pryor, Hopkins, Freddy King, and McCracklin demonstrate how widely the music could travel. Together, they provide another reminder that the blues was never a static musical form. It was constantly changing, absorbing new sounds, and finding new ways to tell old stories.

Playlist

GOT A RIGHT TO LOVE MY BABY — B.B. KING
SWEET SIXTEEN PTS I & II — B.B. KING
GONNA MISS YOU ROUND HERE — B.B. KING
LOVE ME DARLING — HOWLIN’ WOLF
I WALKED FROM DALLAS — HOWLIN’ WOLF
I DIDN’T KNOW — HOWLIN’ WOLF
HOLD ME IN YOUR ARMS — SNOOKY PRYOR
PAPA SAYS YES – MAMA SAYS NO-NO-NO — LEE GRAVES
SITTIN’ HERE WONDERING — LUTHER STONEHAM
I DON’T WANT NO WOMAN — L.C. WILLIAMS
MILLION DOLLAR BLUES — ELMORE NIXON
SAD NEWS FROM KOREA — LIGHTNING HOPKINS
BOSSA NOVA WATUSI TWIST — FREDDY KING
TEXAS OIL — FREDDY KING
THE WALK — JIMMY McCRACKLIN
GET TOUGH — JIMMY McCRACKLIN
COUNTRY BABY — JIMMY McCRACKLIN