Influence and Related Projects
The popularity of the program made Helena a major blues center. Helena became a stopping place for blues musicians on their way from the Delta region to the Chicago blues nightclubs and was also convenient to Memphis, Tennessee and its lively blues culture. Several blues musicians came to Helena and made it their home, such as Little Walter Jacobs and Jimmy Rogers.
King Biscuit Time was also a major breakthrough for African-American music in general. The popularity of the program and its reach into the untapped African-American demographic gained notice and spawned a host of imitators. By 1947 the first black disc jockey in the South, Early Wright, had been signed at WROX across the river. WDIA in Memphis soon became the first radio station in the South with an all black staff (including deejay B.B. King) and musical format based on the success of King Biscuit Time.
The King Biscuit Flower Hour is a one hour syndicated rock and roll radio program the name of which was derived from King Biscuit Time. Levon Helm, drummer for The Band, has credited King Biscuit Time, and in particular James Peck Curtis, for inspiring his musical career. In 1986 the first annual King Biscuit Blues Festival (later renamed to Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival and returned to King Biscuit Blues Festival in 2011) was held in Helena, attracting thousands of blues aficionados from around the world. A magazine spin-off, King Biscuit Time edited by Donald Wilcock, has won several awards from the Blues Foundation, including the "Keeping the Blues Alive Award", and features interviews and biographies of major blues personalities.
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