I've just been tipped to this interesting article on Craig Moerer's Records By Mail site:Al Benson - The Godfather of Black Radio in Chicago by Charles Walton, Jazz Institute of Chicago
Radio Personality, Al Benson The year is 1950 – the time 4:00 pm... Most radios in Bronzville are tuned to station WGES, where the voice of the most popular Black radio personality of the time entered the homes and cars of Black Chicago. The record "9 O'clock Beer" performed by the Barney Bigard Quintet begins. This was the musical sound that introduced the Godfather of Chicago Black Radio, Al Benson. Read more
Ours was one of those radios in Bronzeville listening to "the Old Swingmaster's" theme song. My grandfather returned from the steel mills in Indiana every day at 5:00pm and my grandmother would be cooking and have dinner on the table at that time. Does any body out there remember his long time sponsor, "Italian Swiss Colony Wine, Asti, California"?
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