In 1954, Guitar Slim had the number one rhythm and blues record in the country and a sold-out Southern tour when a car accident sidelined him. Promoters turned to a young New Orleans musician who had been imitating Slim at the Dew Drop Inn and sent him on the road to pass as the star. That trial by fire launched the career of Earl Silas Johnson IV, better known as Earl King, and this episode explores how he became both a charting frontman and the invisible foundation of an entire city's sound.

We follow his gospel roots, the pragmatic switch to the blues, his 1955 breakthrough "Those Lonely Lonely Nights" on Ace Records, and the Imperial Records sessions with Dave Bartholomew, James Booker, and arranger Wardell Quezergue that produced "Come On" and "Trick Bag." We look at the lost years after 1963, including shelved Motown recordings, the p ...