Hour 2 begins with a run of artists whose selections place blues beside rhythm and blues, then gradually turns toward gospel. Calvin Boze’s “Beale Street on Saturday Night” opens the hour. Amos Milburn follows with “Tell Me How Long Has the Train Been Gone,” Charles Brown with “Tell Me You’ll Wait for Me,” Larry Darnell with “Pack Your Rag & Go,” and Helen Humes with “I Ain’t in the Mood.” The opening does not announce a single theme, but its succession of individual vocal performances gives the hour a grounded, song-centered character.
Marie Adams’s “A Fool in Love” and Pigmeat Markham’s “Save Your Soul Baby” extend that first movement. Christine Kittrell’s “Every Night in the Week,” Jimmy McCracklin’s “He Knows the Rules,” and Sidney Williams’s “Rag Doll” complete a ten-recording passage that moves quickly from performer to performer. The program does not supply recording dates, labels, personnel, or other production details, so the important connection is audible in the construction of the hour: a parade of distinct artists, each given one selection before the programming begins to linger longer with a few names.
Ma Rainey provides that change of focus. “Lawd Send Me a Man” is followed by “Southern Blues,” then “Southern Blues” appears again in the supplied playlist. The repetition must remain as listed. Its placement creates the hour’s most concentrated Ma Rainey segment, after a first half built largely from single-track appearances. Rather than explaining the duplicate, the editorial record should preserve it. The playlist identifies both entries as “Southern Blues” by Ma Rainey, and the broadcast sequence is the source authority.
From Ma Rainey, the hour turns toward gospel. The Original Kings of Harmony perform “He Knows How Much We Can Bear,” Rev Sundown Jesse McBride follows with “Touched the Hem of His Garment,” Dorothy Love Coates performs “99 1/2,” and the Soul Stirrers close with “Christ Is All.” This final group gives the hour a clear spiritual direction, yet it arrives as part of a continuous program rather than a separate format break. The first portion’s blues and R&B performers lead naturally into the closing gospel selections through their shared emphasis on singers, songs, and concise performance slots.
The hour’s structure is particularly effective because it does not rush to a conclusion. Boze through Williams establish a broad opening field. The three Ma Rainey listings create a central point of return. The Original Kings of Harmony, Rev Sundown Jesse McBride, Dorothy Love Coates, and the Soul Stirrers then carry the final portion with material explicitly identified by its artists and song titles. The result is an hour that changes genre emphasis while maintaining a clear flow.
Listeners also hear a useful contrast between the hour’s early individual spotlights and its closing sense of collective or devotional presence. That contrast comes from the artists named in the playlist and the order in which the program presents them, not from assumptions about arrangements or lyrical subjects. Blues Before Sunrise gives room to Calvin Boze, Amos Milburn, Charles Brown, Larry Darnell, Helen Humes, Marie Adams, and others, then lets Ma Rainey become the hinge between the rhythm-and-blues opening and the gospel close. It is a carefully sequenced hour that ends with the Soul Stirrers’ “Christ Is All,” a fitting final title for its spiritual last stretch.
Hour 2 Playlist
Beale Street on Saturday Night — Calvin Boze
Tell Me How Long Has the Train Been Gone — Amos Milburn
Tell Me You’ll Wait for Me — Charles Brown
Pack Your Rag & Go — Larry Darnell
I Ain’t in the Mood — Helen Humes
A Fool in Love — Marie Adams
Save Your Soul Baby — Pigmeat Markham
Every Night in the Week — Christine Kittrell
He Knows the Rules — Jimmy McCracklin
Rag Doll — Sidney Williams
Lawd Send Me a Man — Ma Rainey
Southern Blues — Ma Rainey
Southern Blues — Ma Rainey
He Knows How Much We Can Bear — Original Kings of Harmony
Touched the Hem of His Garment — Rev Sundown Jesse McBride
99 1/2 — Dorothy Love Coates
Christ Is All — Soul Stirrers