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Popular R&B Station from Mississippi that reached Memphis in the 1960s?

chuckmcmillan

chuckmcmillan

Seeking Information on a 1960s Mississippi AM Radio Station

Does anyone recall the influential AM radio station that broadcast out of Mississippi during the 1960s?

The station featured Shelly "The Playboy" Stewart, possibly B.B. King, and other notable DJs of the era.
 
Google's AI comes up with WROX in Clarksdale, WOKJ in Jackson, and WGVM in Jackson when asked to list stations in Mississippi that played black music in the '60s. Any of those what you're looking for?
 
Did it mention daytime or nighttime reception? ZZ Top mentioned listening to and being influenced by the music on southern R&B stations in the early 1960s in their 1980s interviews. They always listened at night (or at least until they found "The X".)
 
I sorta recall Shelley The Playboy being on WENN 1320 in Birmingham ... but this was a 5 kw daytimer that didn't come anywhere near reaching Memphis. WDIA 1070 and WLOK 1340, both local in Memphis, were the source of R&B at the time. WOKJ in Jackson, 1590 and later on 1550, didn't come anywhere near Memphis either. The 1550 facility was highly directional with a null toward Senatobia.
 
WQBCVicksburgOne of the earliest to broadcast black music, particularly gospel and blues, fostering local talent.
WGRMGreenwoodKnown for promoting rhythm and blues and supporting local artists, helping bridge the gap between traditional and modern music.
WJPCGreenvilleContributed to the blues programming in the 1950s and 60s, reflecting community interests.
 
J Alex Bowab said:
WOKJ in Jackson, 1590 and later on 1550, didn't come anywhere near Memphis either. The 1550 facility was highly directional with a null toward Senatobia.
Click to expand...
In the late 1960s I recall WOKJ 1550 putting a quite listenable signal into Austin at night, some 470 miles away. Was a very unique example of “Deep South R&B plus Gospel” on the nighttime AM dial.

WOKJ - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
Shelley Stewart is a Birmingham radio legend and did work at WOKJ at one time. WOKJ could be heard in Texas and Oklahoma at night, although not in most of Jackson and was never reliable in Memphis.

I know of no Mississippi AM station that ever had any significant listening in Memphis. As someone said, WDIA and WLOK ruled Memphis R&B and were two of the best stations in the format, so there would have been no room for an out of market station to have any influence.

Of course WLAC in Nashville was the number one station at night for R&B all over the South and Midwest from the 1940s to the early 1970s and that would have to be the station ZZ Top was talking about. WLAC was huge with everyone from Bob Seger listening in Michigan to Bob Marley listening in Jamaica.
 


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