[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 110 (Wednesday, September 4, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8196-S8197]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      YEAR OF THE BLUES RESOLUTION

  Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, as you may know, I introduced 
legislation (S. Res. 316) on August 1, 2002, designating the year 
beginning February 1, 2003, as the ``Year of the Blues'' and requesting 
that the President issue a proclamation calling on the people of the 
United

[[Page S8197]]

States to observe the ``Year of the Blues'' with appropriate 
ceremonies, activities, and educational programs. I am proud to be 
joined by Senators Cochran, Thompson, and Frist.
  It has been said that ``Blues is more than music; Blues is culture. 
Blues is America.'' As a native of Helena, Arkansas, I could not agree 
more. Growing up in the Delta, I often listened to the blues during the 
famous ``King Biscuit Time'' show on my hometown station, KFFA radio. 
The songs I heard often told stories of both celebration and triumph, 
as well as sorrow and struggle.
  Although its roots are in the tradition of the primitive songs of the 
old Southern sharecroppers, the blues has left an important cultural 
legacy in our country and has documented African-American history in 
the last century. As the blues began to transform in style and content 
throughout the twentieth century, its evolution paralleled the 
migration of American life from a rural, agricultural society to an 
urban industrialized nation. The blues has also left an indelible 
impression on other forms of music with its influence heard in jazz, 
rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country, and even classical music. 
Despite these facts, though, many young people today do not understand 
the rich heritage of the blues or recognize its impact on our nation 
and our world.
  That is why I am delighted to introduce this resolution and 
participate in the Year of the Blues project. Coordinated by The Blues 
Foundation and Experience Music Project, The Year of the Blues is a 
multi-faceted entertainment, education, and outreach program recently 
formed to both celebrate and create greater awareness for the blues and 
its place in the history and evolution of music and culture, both in 
the United States and around the world. The program is anchored by high 
profile events, and beginning next year, it will feature a wide array 
of participants, projects, and components designed to reach a large 
audience, as well as support blues oriented education and outreach 
programs, such as Blues in the Schools.
  This project also takes on a special meaning for me because I am a 
``daughter of the Delta,'' and my hometown of Helena has played a large 
role in the development of the blues. Today, Helena serves as a 
temporary blues Mecca each October when the three day King Biscuit 
Blues Festival takes place. And as I noted earlier, it is also the site 
of one of the longest running daily music shows, ``King Biscuit Time,'' 
which continues to air every weekday at 12:15 pm on KFFA radio from the 
Delta Cultural Center Visitors' Center. As long as I can remember, 
``King Biscuit Time'' originally featured famous harmonica player Sonny 
Boy Williamson, guitarist Robert Junior Lockwood, and the King Biscuit 
Entertainers. When recently noting the uniqueness of the show, long-
time host ``Sunshine'' Sonny Payne recalled that many of the songs 
played on ``King Biscuit Time'' originated during the live broadcasts, 
and in some cases, words to the songs were known to change day to day. 
After becoming involved with this project, I recently came across an 
article ``Pass the biscuits, cause it's King Biscuit Time . . . '' 
written by freelance writer Lex Gillespie. I believe this article 
provides an accurate account of the development of blues in the South.
  I will ask unanimous consent it be printed in the Record following my 
statement.
  So as you can see, Mr. President, the blues has been an important 
part of my life and the life of many others. It's a style of music that 
is, in its essence, truly American. But as we move into a new century 
and embrace new forms and styles of music, we must not allow today's 
youth to forget the legacy of our past. By teaching the blues, 
promoting the blues, and celebrating the blues, we can ensure that the 
rich culture and heritage of our forefathers will always live on. I 
urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
  At this time I ask unanimous consent that the Gillespie article be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

        ``Pass the Biscuits, `Cause It's King Biscuit Time...''

                           (By Lex Gillespie)

       Ever since it hit the airwaves one lunchtime fifty-six 
     years ago this November, ``King Biscuit Time'' has profoundly 
     influenced the development and popularity of the blues. As 
     the oldest and longest-running blues program on the radio, it 
     helped promote the careers of bluesmen who pioneered this 
     musical style and later brought it from street corners and 
     juke joints in the South to an international audience. And 
     today, KFFA and Helena are even ``must see'' stops for 
     Japanese and European tourists who want to learn about the 
     cultural roots of the blues.
       ``First things first,'' recalls Sonny ``Sunshine'' Payne, 
     the program's host for over eleven thousand broadcasts; King 
     Biscuit Time started when guitarist Robert Junior Lockwood 
     and harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson were told they 
     would have to get a sponsor to get on the air.'' That was 
     1941, when Payne was a teenager cleaning 78 rpm's and running 
     errands at KFFA. ``They came to the station one day and I 
     showed them in to station manager Sam Anderson . . . he sent 
     them over to the Interstate Grocery Company and its owner Max 
     Moore who had a flour called ``King Biscuit Flour . . .''
       Lockwood and Williamson became the show's original King 
     Biscuit Entertainers who advertised flour and corn mean in 
     Helena and the surrounding Delta region; and after a lucky 
     break, Sonny Payne took over as program host when the 
     announcer lost his script while on the air. The program was a 
     smash hit, thanks mostly to the playing and on-air presence 
     of harp player Williamson. He became so popular that the 
     sponsor named its product ``Sonny Boy Corn Meal'' and he was, 
     and still is, pictured, smiling and with his harmonica, on a 
     burlap sack of his own brand of meal.
       Williamson was a musical pioneer in his own right. He was 
     one of the first to make the harmonica the centerpiece in a 
     blues band. His unique phrasings, compared by many to the 
     human voice, influenced countless harp players.
       His partner, Robert Junior Lockwood, stepson of the 
     legendary Robert Johnson, also influenced this blues style. A 
     fan of big band jazz, he incorporated jazzier elements into 
     the blues, often playing the guitar with his fingers.
       As years passed, the due expanded into a full band, 
     including piano player ``Pine Top'' Perkins, Houston 
     Stackhouse an ``Peck'' Curtis, and musicians who played on 
     the show also advertised local appearances that gave them 
     more work.
       With the success of ``King Biscuit Time,'' Helena soon 
     became a center for the blues. It was a key stopping off 
     point for black musicians on the trip north to the barrooms 
     and clubs of Chicago's South and West sides. Already, in the 
     thirties, the town had seen the likes of pianist Memphis Slim 
     and Helena native Roosevelt Sykes, as well as guitarists 
     Howlin' Wolf, Honeyboy Edwards, and Elmore James. And when 
     the program went on the air, it helped shape the early 
     careers of many an aspiring musician. ``Little Walter'' 
     Jacobs and Jimmy Rogers, who later played with Muddy Waters, 
     came to live and learn in Helena in the mid-1940's. Muddy 
     Waters also brought his band to Helena to play on KFFA and in 
     bars in the area. Teenager Ike Turner first heard the blues 
     on KFFA around that time, and King Biscuit pianist ``Pine 
     Top'' Perkins gave him lessons in his trademark boogie woogie 
     style.
       The program also influenced other stations to put the blues 
     on the radio. Its initial popularity convinced advertisers 
     that the blues and commercial potential. `It was a major 
     breakthrough,'' explains folklorist Bill Ferris, director of 
     the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at Ole Miss; 
     ``King Biscuit Time was a discovery of an audience and a 
     market...that hitherto radio had not really understood.'' 
     Across the Mississippi River from Helena, radio station WROX 
     put the South's first black deejay, Early Wright, on the air 
     spinning blues and gospel records in 1947. Upriver in 
     Memphis, station WDIA the next year became the first southern 
     station with an all-black staff, including a young musician 
     named Riley ``B.B.'' King, who got an early break as a 
     deejay. And in Nashville in the late forties, station WLAC 
     reached nearly half the country with its late-night blues and 
     R&B shows. All of these programs and stations owe an enormous 
     debt to ``King Biscuit Time.''
       And today, the legacy of the show continues, with blues 
     programs heard on radio stations across the U.S., the 
     recording of the many ``King Biscuit Entertainers,'' and the 
     yearly King Biscuit festival in Helena celebrating the city's 
     cultural heritage and significant role in developing and 
     promoting the blues.

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