Robert Barclay
Host, The Juke JointContact Robert Barclay:
📧 barcl1ra@cmich.edu 📞 989-774-3105
Robert Barclay launched "The Juke Joint" broadcast on WCMU in April 1985. It has been a Sunday night fixture from 8:00-11:00 pm ever since. A devoted listener dubbed him the "Duke of Juke." He includes nearly a century's worth of blues history on his program including traditional and contemporary blues along with boogie woogie, soul music, rhythm & blues, zydeco and gospel music.
In 2004, the Blues Foundation in Memphis, Tennessee honored him with the "Keeping the Blues Alive Award" in the radio category. The ceremony was hosted by Bob Porter, a noted blues producer and author. The Blues Foundation is an international organization that promotes blues music and maintains the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis.
In 2015, the Michigan Association of Public Broadcasters presented him with the Public Media Impact Award for "outstanding contributions to Public Broadcasting."
Since 1988 he has been a contributing photographer to Living Blues magazine, published by the University of Mississippi, and his work has been published on CD covers for a variety of blues artists.
He was the Director of Photography in the University Communications office at CMU where he was employed since 1980. He retired in 2013 and was granted emeritus status.
He and his wife, Peggy Brisbane, photographically documented the history of WCMU's "Our Front Porch" concert series for several decades and continue to document the Wheatland Music Festival.
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This week on “The Juke Joint” broadcast, it's another of the Duke's favorites from our archive. Robert Barclay celebrated some history of Houston’s Juneteenth Blues Festival. He included music by Johnny Clyde Copeland, Albert Collins, BB King, Bobby Bland, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Clifton Chenier, Sippie Wallace, Lavelle White, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson and Big Mama Thornton, among others. -
This week on The Juke Joint is one of The Duke's Favorites, originally aired on August 25th, 2019. Robert Barclay shared the music of blues shouters Wynonie Harris and Jimmy Rushing, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Dinah Washington, and Odie Payne. -
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This week on The Juke Joint is one of The Duke's Favorites, originally aired on April 14, 2019. Robert Barclay shared some more music and stories about Son Seals, Albert Collins, Gatemouth Brown, Etta James, John Mayall, Earl Hooker and Tom Waits. He also celebrated the centennial of the birth of singer Jimmy "T-99" Nelson and celebrated the successful heart surgery on Mick Jagger. -
This week on The Juke Joint is one of The Duke's Favorites, originally aired on November 18, 2018. Robert Barclay, the Duke of Juke, featured post-war Texas blues recordings by T-Bone Walker, Gatemouth Brown, Pee Wee Crayton, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Amos Milburn, Smokey Hogg, Frankie Lee Sims, Lightnin' Hopkins and Mercy Dee Walton. -
This week on The Juke Joint is one of The Duke's Favorites, originally aired on September 2, 2018. In this episode, Robert offered a tribute to Louisiana swamp blues singer and harp player Lazy Lester, who had passed away on August 22, 2018. -
This week on The Juke Joint is one of The Duke's Favorites, originally aired on August 12, 2018. Robert Barclay offered a tribute to Stan "The Record Man" Lewis who opened a record store in an African-American neighborhood in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1948, and offered a big selection of blues records to his customers. -
This week on The Juke Joint is one of The Duke's Favorites, originally aired on December 2, 2018. Robert Barclay, played tunes by artists known for their nicknames such as the Texas Nightingale, Curly, Furry and Cleanhead, a couple of professors, a few doctors, Cow Cow and Bumble Bee, the Black Ace, the Blues Boss, the Chief, Bon Ton, a Papa and a Mama and others known by their instrument: guitar, harmonica and piano. -
This week on The Juke Joint is one of The Duke's Favorites, originally aired on February 25, 2018. Robert Barclay featured a variety of recordings dealing with the telephone including work by Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Fenton Robinson, Wilson Pickett and Robert Cray. He also played CDs by John Mayall, Nick Moss & Dennis Gruenling.
