Sonny
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"Pass the Biscuits, 'Cause it's King Biscuit Time!"
Male
82 years old
Helena, ARKANSAS
United States
Last Login: 8/15/2008
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| General | History and Accomplishments of Sonny and the Radio show:
King Biscuit Time is the longest running daily radio show in history, and continues to be broadcast daily on Delta Broadcasting's KFFA 1360 AM in Helena, Arkansas. First broadcast on November 21, 1941, King Biscuit Time featured legendary Blues artists Sonny Boy Williamson and Robert Jr. Lockwood playing live in the studio. The show was named after the locally distributed King Biscuit Flour.
The distributor agreed to sponsor a radio production for Sonny Boy and his band if they agreed to endorse the flour. The agreement was made and the show has been broadcast ever since.
The original band, the King Biscuit Entertainers, often included boogie pianist Pinetop Perkins and James Peck Curtis on drums. It was the first regular radio show to feature blues, and influenced four generations of delta Blues artists and three generations of rock artists whose sounds are based on the raw energy of Sonny Boy Williamson's blues. In keeping with its tradition of broadcasting live music from the studio, King Biscuit Time still welcomes artists in the studio almost weekly.
Award-winning Sunshine Sonny Payne has hosted the show since 1951, and has been a presence on the program since its inception in 1941. By continuing to focus on a Delta blues format, King Biscuit Time has become a real anomaly true to its heritage. It has been so recognized with a prestigious George Foster Peabody Award, presented to the station in 1992 for outstanding achievement in the field of radio and broadcast journalism through its continuous support or ‘an original American art form.’ Sonny Payne has received an impressive array of awards and accolades, including the Blues Foundation's Keeping the Blues Alive award for lifetime service and the Arkansas Broadcasters Association's Pioneer Award.
The direct influence of the show can be found throughout the music industry. Examples of this include the syndicated rock show, King Biscuit Flower Hour, and the largest free blues festival in the south, the King Biscuit Blues Festival. First organized in 1986, the festival annually welcomes Blues fans to Helena, AR, from around the world to a three-day event that features several stages and showcases veteran blues performers along with today's rising stars.
The ripple effect of this show broadcast from the banks of the Mississippi in the heart of the Delta can be felt far beyond the radius of its local signal. The hit film "O Brother, Where Art Thou" features a delta deejay who uses the line, "Pass the biscuits," a direct quote from host Sunshine Sonny Payne, who begins each broadcast with those words at 12:15 Monday through Friday.
Before B. B. King became a blues deejay, and long before he became The King of The Blues, he listened to the show. King recalls in the PBS documentary American Roots Music, “Being on a plantation you had an hour off for lunch. So, I would come out of the field at noon. Sonny Boy Williamson would come on about 12:15. So, we had a chance to listen to live music from one of the guys I liked a lot, Sonny Boy Williamson. And KFFA was the only station in the area at that time that played music by black people."
"That was my show," says Levon Helm, legendary rock drummer for The Band, who was inspired to play drums by listening to the program as a child growing up on the Mississippi. "It was on every day at 12:15. I could always find 15 minutes. I had time to get off work, eat lunch and still get to a radio. I could go back to Habi's Cafe and get a box of milk and three donuts for a dime," recalls Helm who would often sit in the studio and watch the show. It was the show's regular drummer James Peck Curtis who inspired Helm to take up the instrument and lent him his drum kit for one of Helm's first gigs. "I would walk down the street to the bank building and ride the only elevator in eastern Arkansas that I knew of, go up to the fifth floor and watch King Biscuit Time live."
Jim Howe, owner of KFFA, sees the show as a feather in the cap for his hometown. "We're pleased we can continue the blues' heritage right here in Helena. It's important that the people who first put blues on the radio continue this tradition."
On May 24, 2002, King Biscuit Time was broadcast for the 14,000th time. This appears to be a record for any radio show ever broadcast.
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Sonny's Details
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| Status: | Single | | Body type: | 0' 0" | | Zodiac Sign: | Sagittarius | | Occupation: | DJ for KFFA |
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Sonny's Latest Blog Entry
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Help get Sonny inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame
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Sonny's Blurbs |
About me:
Please join us in urging the Blues Foundation to induct "Sunshine" Sonny Payne into the Blues Hall of Fame.
Click here to sign the petition and show your support!
http://www.sunshinesonnypayne.com/
WHEREAS, living legends like "Sunshine" Sonny Payne are a rare breed whose
character is as rich as any in folklore; and
WHEREAS, at the age of fourteen, this legend got his start in 1941 working
at an Arkansas radio station, the following year he became a part-time
announcer there, and in December 1942, in the midst of raging war in Europe,
this sixteen year old joined the Army, where he served until 1948; and
WHEREAS, after honorably serving his country, he returned to his hometown
of Helena, to become the full-time announcer at KFFA 1360 AM, and in 1951,
he began hosting the "King Biscuit Time" blues radio show, and the legend of
"Sunshine" Sonny Payne began; and
WHEREAS, today, "King Biscuit Time" is the longest-running daily blues
radio show in the world having aired since 1941, and has aired more times
than the "Grand Ole Opry", and has outlasted "American Bandstand" by at
least a generation; and
WHEREAS, during Sonny's tenure, "King Biscuit Time" has been recognized by
the prestigious "George Foster Peabody Award" for outstanding achievement in
the field of radio and broadcast journalism, and originally featured other
living legends, including Sonny Boy Williamson and Robert Lockwood, Jr.,
playing live in the studio; and
WHEREAS, Sonny, himself, has also won his fair share of awards for his role
in the show and for his other contributions to the blues having been awarded
the Blues Foundation's "Keeping the Blues Alive" award for lifetime service,
the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame, and the Arkansas Broadcasters Association
's "Pioneer" award; and
WHEREAS, the long-running radio show also played a big role in the start of
the King Biscuit Blues Festival, now called the Arkansas Blues and Heritage
Festival, which celebrated its 21st year in October 2006, and during which
big-time blues entertainers and hordes of music fans descend on Helena; and
WHEREAS, Sonny acts as Master of Ceremonies at blues music festivals across
the nation; and
WHEREAS, Sonny's legacy is a cornerstone of the evolution of blues from a
rural subtext of American folk music to the creative evolution of American
pop music; and
WHEREAS, Sonny acts as an ambassador for and teacher of the blues by
appearing with James "Super Chikan" Johnson to greet steamboat travelers at
the historic Helena docks as they visit "The Cradle of the Blues"; and
WHEREAS, Sonny, a musician himself who has played bass with the likes of
Tex Ritter, Ted Williams, Harry James, and others, at 83 young years of age
continues to host the "King Biscuit Time" show from 12:15 to 12:45 Monday
through Friday in the Delta Cultural Center's Visitor's Center in Helena,
Arkansas,
WE THE UNDERSIGNED hereby respectfully petition the Blues Foundation to
induct "Sunshine" Sonny Payne into the Blues Music Hall of Fame.
Click here to show your support! http://www.sunshinesonnypayne.com/
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Who I'd like to meet:
Any one I can share my love for the blues with daily!
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