Hour One of this week’s Blues Before Sunrise eases listeners into the musical world that shaped Sonny Thompson’s piano style—an hour that spans early postwar blues, swing, jazz vocals, and the roots of rhythm and blues. Steve Cushing begins by tracing the path that led Thompson to become one of King Records’ most vital accompanists, exploring the threads of piano blues and big-band polish that defined his foundation.

The hour opens with Cecil Gant’s “Fare Thee Well My Baby,” a smoky, late-night number that bridges wartime blues with the smoother style of the late 1940s. Gant’s relaxed phrasing and rolling piano rhythms anticipate the subtle sophistication that Thompson would later bring to the King label sessions. That mood deepens with three cuts from Jimmy Witherspoon—“Blue Monday Blues,” “Froggy Bottom,” and “It’s All in the Game.” Each one highlights Witherspoon’s command of timing and tone, a skill that demanded equally skillful piano support. While Thompson isn’t behind the keys on these particular tracks, the spirit of his approach—restrained, rhythmic, and blues-drenched—runs through every note.

Cushing transitions from barroom blues to the urbane world of Ray Charles, spinning “Don’t Set Me Free,” “At the Club,” and “You Don’t Know Me.” These selections represent the maturing of the blues idiom into something more refined and emotionally layered. Charles’ mixture of gospel phrasing and jazz structure reflects the kind of musical duality Thompson understood perfectly—rooted in the church, fluent in the club.

Next, the spotlight moves to June Richmond, a vocalist whose vibrant tone and playful phrasing defined the jazz-blues crossover of the 1940s. Her versions of “Darktown Strutter’s Ball” and “After You’ve Gone” shimmer with swing-era sophistication. The hour then dips into the vocal harmony tradition with the Mills Brothers’ “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and Cats & the Fiddle’s “I’m Singing,” both offering snapshots of pre-R&B smoothness and close-harmony precision. These vocal groups were key influences on the sound of early King Records—artists who relied on accompanists like Thompson to hold rhythmic structure beneath intricate vocal lines.

Cushing widens the scope further with Albert Ammons’ “Baltimore Breakdown,” a stride-inflected instrumental that celebrates the barrelhouse roots of urban piano blues. It’s easy to imagine a young Thompson listening and absorbing Ammons’ left-hand drive and right-hand sparkle. That same energy reappears in the early female blues stylings of Lucille Hegamin’s “Sam Jones Blues,” Inez Wallace’s “Kissing Daddy,” and Mamie Smith’s “Keep a Song in Your Soul.” Each of these tracks ties the prewar vaudeville and classic blues traditions to the modern piano-driven sound Thompson would help define in postwar R&B.

The hour closes with Earl Bostic’s “From Russia with Love,” a sleek, saxophone-led number that hints at the crossover between jazz and R&B that became a hallmark of King’s catalog. Bostic, like Thompson, was a consummate craftsman—someone who could straddle multiple genres without losing his musical identity.

By the end of Hour One, listeners have traveled from the smoky clubs of the 1940s to the polished studios where musicians like Sonny Thompson turned rhythm and harmony into art. The groundwork is laid for the deeper exploration to come—a journey through the accompanist’s ear, the subtle architecture of postwar blues, and the Chicago pianist who made the King Records sound swing.

Hour 1 Playlist

FARE THEE WELL MY BABY – Cecil Gant

BLUE MONDAY BLUES – Jimmy Witherspoon

FROGGY BOTTOM – Jimmy Witherspoon

IT’S ALL IN THE GAME – Jimmy Witherspoon

DON’T SET ME FREE – Ray Charles

AT THE CLUB – Ray Charles

YOU DON’T KNOW ME – Ray Charles

DARKTOWN STRUTTER’S BALL – June Richmond

AFTER YOU’VE GONE – June Richmond

AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ – Mills Brothers

I’M SINGING – Cats & The Fiddle

BALTIMORE BREAKDOWN – Albert Ammons

SAM JONES BLUES – Lucille Hegamin

KISSING DADDY – Inez Wallace

KEEP A SONG IN YOUR SOUL – Mamie Smith

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE – Earl Bostic