Johnson's Improbable History of Pop
Saturdays 7:00-8:00 p.m. on SPR News
John Johnson conducts a tour of the obscure world of early rock and pop music. The 95% of records that never got commercial airtime have a home, Johnson’s Improbable History of Pop features those artists who fell through the commercial cracks.
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First of a two part survey of the British R & B boom circa 1963-1965. This week we focus on early efforts from well known performers. -
Vintage samples from Magic Sam, J.B. Hutto, Big Mama Thornton, and Junior Wells highlight this survey of American blues performers who only got to record an album after young British musicians of the 1960's touted their skills. -
Samples from A Teenage Opera created by Tomorrow, Keith West, and Mark Wirtz in 1967, two years before Tommy. Paul McCartney was a big fan. -
Guest Bob Gallagher samples the two Beach Boys albums issued just prior to their classic Pet Sounds. -
We'll feature Inland Northwest artists on this sampling of Christmas Holiday sounds including two different church bell choir recordings from the 1970's. -
We'll hear samples from the era of Black America's reaction to the Vietnam War. Inspired by Wallace Terry's influential book Bloods. -
SPR's Brian Flick shares memories and sounds from his time in Spokane's Minstrel String Guild alongside Daryl and Renee Redeker. -
Guest Tim Hein returns with a selection of 1920's 78 rpm's played for us on his century old Victor gramophone. -
An eclectic sampling of local performers from 1960 to 2025 recorded for small labels. -
