The opening hour of Blues Before Sunrise sets a remarkably broad musical foundation for the week’s program. Its playlist moves from blues figures into a sustained vocal section, then through a collaborative Wild Bill Davis and Johnny Hodges sequence before reaching Cats & the Fiddle, Meade Lux Lewis, Bert Williams, and Eddie Lockjaw Davis. The result is an hour that introduces the show’s expansive outlook without losing its sense of order.
Winehead Willie begins with “Put the Bottle Down,” followed by Elder Charles Beck’s “Out in the Cold Again.” These first two selections establish a blues-oriented opening, but the hour quickly shifts to Billy Eckstine. Eckstine’s four-song passage—“Room with a View,” “A Sure Thing,” “Fool That I Am,” and “But Not for Me”—gives the hour its first major artist focus. Rather than moving rapidly from one singer to another, the program lets Eckstine’s recordings form a complete early section.
Ella Fitzgerald follows with “You Got What Egts Me,” “It Was Written in the Stars,” and “Now It Can Be Told.” Her three selections continue the hour’s concentration on vocal performance while changing the artist at the center of the programming. The transition from Eckstine to Fitzgerald is one of the hour’s strongest organizing decisions: it maintains the vocal emphasis but refreshes the sequence through a new set of titles and a new artist presence.
Wild Bill Davis and Johnny Hodges then bring a different kind of recurring partnership to the program. “Green Dolphin Street,” “Lil’Darlin’,” and “Rockville” appear together, creating a three-record segment that adds instrumental and ensemble-oriented contrast to the preceding vocal selections. The hour does not abandon its earlier polish; instead, it broadens the musical conversation. The Davis and Hodges sequence feels like a natural continuation because it preserves the program’s preference for sustained attention, even as the sound world changes.
The final portion of the hour becomes increasingly varied. Cats & the Fiddle contribute “When I Grow Too Old to Dream,” followed by Meade Lux Lewis with “Bear Cat Crawl.” Bert Williams appears with “I’ll Lend You Anything,” and Eddie Lockjaw Davis closes with “The Way You Look Tonight.” These selections keep the hour from ending in one fixed mode. Vocal-group material, individual performers, and jazz-associated artists all appear in close succession, giving the final stretch a lively and flexible character.
What holds the hour together is its balance of grouped material and individual turns. The Billy Eckstine set is long enough to establish a center; Ella Fitzgerald receives a similarly focused three-record presence; and Wild Bill Davis and Johnny Hodges form another compact feature. Those extended passages give the playlist an internal architecture. The shorter appearances by Winehead Willie, Elder Charles Beck, Cats & the Fiddle, Meade Lux Lewis, Bert Williams, and Eddie Lockjaw Davis then supply contrast around that architecture.
This opening also introduces themes that return throughout the five-hour broadcast. Blues Before Sunrise is not confined to one format or one era in its programming. It can place blues beside vocal standards, move from singers to instrumental figures, and build sections around either a single artist or a collaboration. Hour 1 demonstrates that range with confidence. It begins in blues territory, moves through a substantial vocal center, and closes with a diverse set of performers whose placement points forward to the stylistic variety of the hours that follow.
Hour 1 Playlist
Put the Bottle Down — Winehead Willie
Out in the Cold Again — Elder Charles Beck
Room with a View — Billy Eckstine
A Sure Thing — Billy Eckstine
Fool That I Am — Billy Eckstine
But Not for Me — Ella Fitzgerald
You Got What Egts Me — Ella Fitzgerald
It Was Written in the Stars — Ella Fitzgerald
Now It Can Be Told — Ella Fitzgerald
Green Dolphin Street — Wild Bill Davis & Johnny Hodges
Lil’Darlin’ — Wild Bill Davis & Johnny Hodges
Rockville — Wild Bill Davis & Johnny Hodges
When I Grow Too Old to Dream — Cats & the Fiddle
Bear Cat Crawl — Meade Lux Lewis
I’ll Lend You Anything — Bert Williams
The Way You Look Tonight — Eddie Lockjaw Davis