Juke Joint
Sundays 8pm-11pm
Every Sunday night, the Duke of Juke, Robert Barclay, is in the house spinning a mix of acoustic and electric music from the 1920s to the present, including from the worlds of blues, soul, R&B, gospel and zydeco.
Robert launched "The Juke Joint" broadcast on WCMU in April 1985. It has been a Sunday night fixture from 8:00-11:00 pm ever since. A devoted listener dubbed him the "Duke of Juke." He includes nearly a century's worth of blues history on his program including traditional and contemporary blues along with boogie woogie, soul music, rhythm & blues, zydeco and gospel music.
Latest Episodes
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This week on “The Juke Joint” broadcast Robert Barclay offers a tribute to Joel Whitburn who compiled numerous books about the Billboard charts. Robert focuses on the early years of the R&B charts and the music of Louis Jordan, the Coasters, Charles Brown, the Dominoes, Julia Lee, Nat “King” Cole, the Drifters, Guitar Slim, Ruth Brown and Fats Domino. He also debuts new CDs by Eric Clapton and Robin Trower. -
This week on “The Juke Joint” broadcast Robert Barclay celebrated some history of Houston’s Juneteenth Blues Festival. He included music by Johnny Clyde Copeland, Albert Collins, BB King, Bobby Bland, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Clifton Chenier, Sippie Wallace, Lavelle White, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson and Big Mama Thornton, among others. -
This week on “The Juke Joint” broadcast Robert Barclay features bassist Larry Taylor, an early member of the blues & boogie band, Canned Heat. He also spins Taylor's bass work with Rod Piazza, the Hollywood Fats Band, Kim Wilson, the Hollywood Blue Flames and Tom Waits. Robert also notes the passing of slide guitar master, Kelly Joe Phelps and he debuts new CDs from Big Jack Johnson and Janiva Magness. -
This week on “The Juke Joint” broadcast Robert Barclay features a third helping of blues and R&B from Art Rupe’s Specialty label. He includes works by Percy Mayfield, Little Richard, John Lee Hooker, Sam Cooke, Larry Williams, Frankie Lee Sims, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Dorothy Love Coates & the Gospel Harmonettes, Guitar Slim and Smokey Hogg. Robert will also note the passing of Ronnie Hawkins with his rocking R&B recordings. -
This week on “The Juke Joint” Robert Barclay spins new releases by Charlie Musselwhite, Taj Mahal with Ry Cooder; Delbert McClinton, Planet D Nonet's tribute to Buddy Johnson; Mavis Staples with Levon Helm; Keb’ Mo, Edgar Winter, Son House and Doug MacLeod. -
Sunday night on “The Juke Joint” broadcast Robert Barclay previews the lineup for the 37th annual Chicago Blues Festival, the world’s largest free blues festival. This includes music by Shemekia Copeland, Toronzo Cannon, Billy Branch, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Thornetta Davis, Erwin Helfer, Cedric Burnside, Ivy Ford, Mr. Sipp, Eric Gales, Lurrie Bell and Johnny Rawls. -
This week on "The Juke Joint" broadcast, Robert Barclay has Ed Hickok and Ken Nielson from the Alpena Blues Coalition joining him for a preview of the 18th annual Alpena Blues Festival (coming up on Saturday, June 11th). He plays music by Dave Weld and the Imperial Flames, Motor City Josh & the Big 3, Kathleen and the Bridge Street Band, the Paul Nelson Band (former bandleader for Johnny Winter) and local favorites, Chris Crown Band. -
This week on “The Juke Joint” broadcast Robert Barclay features the 2022 Blues Music Award winners presented by the Blues Foundation in Memphis recently. This includes music by Tommy Castro, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Sue Foley, Eric Bibb, Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’, Curtis Salgado, Zac Harmon, Annika Chambers, Eric Gales and John Nemeth, among others. -
This week on “The Juke Joint” Robert Barclay, the Duke of Juke, plays some more tunes from Art Rupe’s Specialty label by Little Richard, Larry Williams, John Lee Hooker and the Blind Boys of Alabama. He also spins some new releases by Ronnie Earl, the Nighthawks and Doug MacLeod and he notes the passing of Guitar Shorty. -
This week on “The Juke Joint” Robert Barclay salutes the late Art Rupe, the owner of the Specialty record label. He'll spin his releases by Little Richard, Lloyd Price, Guitar Slim, Sam Cooke & the Soul Stirrers, Percy Mayfield, Frankie Lee Sims, Clifton Chenier, Mercy Dee Walton, Joe Liggins and Dorothy Love Coates & the Gospel Harmonettes. He will also play new releases from Doug MacLeod, Jose Ramirez and Larry McCray.
