Hour 4 is this week’s dedicated Shakey Jake Harris feature, giving the bluesman a full hour rather than a brief appearance among a larger assortment of artists. The show notes describe Harris as born in Earle, Arkansas, in 1921, moving to Chicago at the age of seven, and balancing music with work as a professional gambler and part-time auto mechanic. Those details place the hour’s programming in the context of a life with more than one occupation, while the music itself remains the central concern throughout the hour.
The playlist opens with “Let Me Be Your Lover Man,” followed by “Have You Seen My Mother,” “A Hard Road,” and “Leaving This Morning.” This opening run quickly establishes the value of the hour-long format. Rather than hearing one Shakey Jake Harris side as an isolated example, listeners encounter a sustained succession of titles that brings different parts of his recorded work into view. The program stays with Harris long enough for the sequence itself to become the story.
“Sweet Home Chicago,” “Do the Boogie with You,” and “Juke” continue the early section. Their placement between the preceding titles and the next set of selections keeps the hour moving while preserving its single-artist focus. The show notes indicate that some material comes from the two LPs or CDs originally issued on Prestige/Bluesville and reissued by Jasmine, while most of the hour is drawn from other sources. That approach matters: the feature is not restricted to one release or one period of Harris’s catalog, but gathers recordings from across the available material.
The middle of the hour is especially substantial. “Dirty Work Is Goin’ On,” “Rock Me,” “Scratch My Back,” “Sawed of Shotgun,” and a second appearance of “Scratch My Back” form a dense sequence before “19 Years Old” and “Hey Baby.” Repeating “Scratch My Back” on the playlist is part of the supplied programming, and its return gives the hour a visible point of recurrence amid the wide selection of titles. With only one artist on the bill, the differences among the songs become the hour’s main source of movement.
“Love My Baby,” “Easy Baby,” and “Never Leave You” follow, then “It Won’t Happen Again,” “My Broken Heart,” and “Call Me When You Need Me” bring the feature toward its final section. These titles reinforce the breadth of the set without requiring the hour to leave Harris behind for contrast. The programming instead finds contrast within the artist’s own recordings, allowing one side to answer another through placement and pacing.
The closing pair, “Further on Up the Road” after “Call Me When You Need Me,” completes the hour’s progression. It is a fitting final stretch for a feature designed as an act of attention. The show notes say that Blues Before Sunrise does not get around to Harris as often as it should and seeks to atone in Hour 4. That statement gives the hour a clear purpose: this is not simply a themed block, but a generous corrective, an extended invitation to hear Harris across more than twenty selections.
The hour’s strength lies in that generosity. It does not use Shakey Jake Harris as a bridge between unrelated material or reduce him to a handful of recognizable titles. Instead, it makes room for a broad, uninterrupted survey that includes recordings associated with the Prestige/Bluesville material as well as selections from other sources. Within the five-hour program, this is the clearest statement of focus: one artist, one complete hour, and a playlist arranged to demonstrate why a larger listening space was warranted.
Hour 4 Playlist
Let Me Be Your Lover Man — Shakey Jake Harris
Have You Seen My Mother — Shakey Jake Harris
A Hard Road — Shakey Jake Harris
Leaving This Morning — Shakey Jake Harris
Sweet Home Chicago — Shakey Jake Harris
Do the Boogie with You — Shakey Jake Harris
Juke — Shakey Jake Harris
Dirty Work Is Goin’ On — Shakey Jake Harris
Rock Me — Shakey Jake Harris
Scratch My Back — Shakey Jake Harris
Sawed of Shotgun — Shakey Jake Harris
Scratch My Back — Shakey Jake Harris
19 Years Old — Shakey Jake Harris
Hey Baby — Shakey Jake Harris
Love My Baby — Shakey Jake Harris
Easy Baby — Shakey Jake Harris
Never Leave You — Shakey Jake Harris
It Won’t Happen Again — Shakey Jake Harris
My Broken Heart — Shakey Jake Harris
Call Me When You Need Me — Shakey Jake Harris
Further on Up the Road — Shakey Jake Harris