Hour Five of this week’s Blues Before Sunrise draws the curtain with a sweeping, emotional journey that brings together blues, gospel, and the sanctified soul of Sunday morning. After four hours exploring Sonny Thompson’s work as an accompanist and the sound he helped shape at King Records, this final stretch widens the frame—moving from smooth postwar sophistication through the Delta’s rough-hewn blues, before ascending into a heavenly chorus of gospel jubilation.

The hour opens on a velvet note with the Ravens’ “Fool That I Am,” a masterclass in doo-wop harmony and late-night longing. Johnny Hodges follows with the lush sophistication of “On Green Dolphin Street,” reminding listeners that jazz and blues share the same emotional bloodstream—one dressed in tuxedos, the other in work shirts. The mood deepens with Arthur Prysock’s tender reading of “It’s Too Late Baby” and Georgia Carr’s elegant “Pennies from Heaven,” each dripping with torch-song nostalgia and nightclub grace. Lou Donaldson’s “South of the Border” bridges that sophistication with the pulse of soul jazz, setting the table for a turn toward grittier terrain.

From there, the music digs deep into Chicago’s electric heart. Otis Rush’s “Reap What You Sow” bursts through with searing emotion and high-wire guitar phrasing—a sound that carried the torch lit by artists like Sonny Thompson and the King Records alumni he once accompanied. Junior Wells keeps the groove alive with “Tobacco Road,” his harmonica spitting fire and attitude, while Carey Bell drives home a pure Windy City stomp on “Carey Bell’s Blues Harp.” The baton passes naturally to the hill country and Delta masters—Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “Just a Little More Faith” and “You Got to Move” turn the corner toward gospel transcendence, showing how slide guitar could become a preacher’s pulpit.

Mance Lipscomb adds his conversational storytelling with “’Bout a Spoonful,” a timeless meditation on hunger, need, and human want, followed by R.L. Burnside’s “Meet Me in the Bottom,” a fierce reminder that the Mississippi blues never lost its edge. From there, we dip back into the prewar spirit with Willie Love’s “Shady Lane Blues” and Woodrow Adams’ “Winehead Woman,” each raw and immediate—the kind of music that shaped the emotional backbone of Thompson’s generation.

As night gives way to dawn, Leroy Carr’s “Blues Before Sunrise” appears almost like an anthem, both to the show and the tradition it keeps alive. Then, in a stroke of contrast that defines Steve Cushing’s programming, Fleetwood Mac’s “Albatross” drifts in—a contemplative instrumental that floats like a final exhale, bridging the secular and the sacred.

And that’s exactly where the hour lands: in gospel’s radiant afterglow. From Singing Sammy Lewis’ “I’m Heaven Bound” to the Pilgrim Travelers’ “Jesus Hits Like an Atom Bomb,” the show climbs toward transcendence. The Florida Soul Stirrers, Spirit of Memphis Quartet, and Belmont Silvertone Jubilee Singers carry the flame further, each testifying to music’s redemptive power. The sequence builds into a parade of classic quartets—Thomas A. Dorsey, Brother Willie Eason, the Famous Blue Jays, Sallie Martin Singers, Clara Ward, and Rev. Isiah Shelton—whose songs echo the roots of every blues phrase that came before.

The hour ends with an invocation—The Heavenly Gospel Singers’ “Telephone to Glory” and The Spartanburg Famous Four’s “I Know My Time Ain’t Long” remind us that every blues story eventually points heavenward. It’s fitting that the final voices we hear belong to Rev. Robert Ballenger and The Christland Singers, whose closing message—“Let Me Tell You About Jesus Christ”—seals the set in a spirit of gratitude and grace.

After five hours of exploring Sonny Thompson’s influence and the many artists his playing touched, Hour Five leaves us where Blues Before Sunrise always does: reflecting on how the secular and sacred, the worldly and the divine, all flow from the same river of sound.

Hour 5 Playlist

FOOL THAT I AM – Ravens

ON GREEN DOLPHIN STREET – Johnny Hodges

IT’S TOO LATE BABY – Arthur Prysock

PENNIES FROM HEAVEN – Georgia Carr

SOUTH OF THE BORDER – Lou Donaldson

REAP WHAT YOU SOW – Otis Rush

TOBACCO ROAD – Jr. Wells

CAREY BELL’S BLUES HARP – Carey Bell

JUST A LITTLE MORE FAITH – Mississippi Fred McDowell

YOU GOT TO MOVE – Mississippi Fred McDowell

’BOUT A SPOONFUL – Mance Lipscomb

MEET ME IN THE BOTTOM – R.L. Burnside

SHADY LANE BLUES – Willie Love

WINEHEAD WOMAN – Woodrow Adams

BLUES BEFORE SUNRISE – Leroy Carr

ALBATROSS – Fleetwood Mac

PILGRIM OF SORROW / I’M HEAVEN BOUND – Singing Sammy Lewis

JESUS HITS LIKE AN ATOM BOMB – Pilgrim Travelers

HOLY FATHER – Florida Soul Stirrers

WORLD PRAYER – Spirit of Memphis Quartet

SATURDAY NIGHT BLACK MARIAH RIDERS – Rev. J.M. Gates

LORD I’M TROUBLED – Bessemer Sunset Four

FIRE DOWN YONDER – Belmont Silvertone Jubilee Singers

IF I COULD HEAR MY MOTHER PRAY AGAIN – Thomas A. Dorsey

THERE’LL BE NO GRUMBLERS THERE – Brother Willie Eason

WHILE THE BLOOD RUNS WARM IN THE VEINS – Famous Blue Jays

GREAT DAY – Sallie Martin Singers

KING JESUS IS ALL I NEED – Clara Ward

EAGLE STIRRETH HER NEST – Rev. Isiah Shelton

TELEPHONE TO GLORY – Heavenly Gospel Singers

I KNOW MY TIME AIN’T LONG – Spartanburg Famous Four

DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE – Morehouse College Quartet

NO MORE WEEPING & WAILING – Eagle Jubilee Four

HE RODE – Rev. Robert Ballenger

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT JESUS CHRIST – Christland Singers