Floyd Dixon branded himself Mr. Magnificent, and this episode traces how the Texas-born pianist earned it. Born February 8, 1929 in Marshall, Texas, Dixon absorbed blues, gospel, jazz and country before his family moved to Los Angeles in 1942, where the smooth club style of Charles Brown became his template. After gigging with Eddie Williams and His Brown Buddies, he signed with Modern Records in 1949, charted with Dallas Blues and Mississippi Blues, and stepped into Charles Brown's old seat in Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, scoring a number four R&B hit with Telephone Blues before landing his own number four with Call Operator 210 in 1952.

We follow Dixon through his label-hopping years at Specialty and Cat Records, the era that produced Hole in the Wall and Hey Bartender, later covered by the Blues Brothers. Then comes the great escape ...