Jimmy Lawson, Oral History

Title

Jimmy Lawson, Oral History

Description

Jimmy Lawson, announcer broadcasting from 1963 – present (WEUP Huntsville, WJLD and WENN, Birmingham, current owner WWPG AM-FM, Tuscaloosa)

Creator

Jimmy Lawson
Bob Friedman

Publisher

Birmingham Black Radio Museum

Date

May 5, 1995

Contributor

Yadira Murguia
Emily Bibb

Format

JPG
MP3
PDF

Language

English

Identifier

LawsonOH

Interviewer

Bob Friedman

Interviewee

Jimmy Lawson

Transcription

Transcript of audio snippet:

Jimmy Lawson: ...when 104.7, you do know that that was really the audio for a T.V. station don’t you?
Bob Friedman: That was the audio for t, you mean the intended audio for T.V. station.
JL: Yes, yes.
BF: The intended audio for JLN T.V.
JL: That’s correct.
BF: MHHM
JL: And hold on one second,
BF: Sure
JL: I’m back.
BF: Yeah, I I understood that uh at night JLD broadcast on it.
JL: That’s correct.
BF: Yeah
JL: JLD, we were switched to JLD and uh JLN and that’s why people all out in the country.
BF: Right.
JL: Back then this is no joke, back then well before it became this powerhouse of ZZK.
BF: Right.
JL: That it is now, it, people listened to that station in Tennessee.
BF: Right
JL: And it was not uncommon at all for people to hear that station below Montgomery.
BF: Uh huh
JL: And it was amazing.
BF: I heard
JL: People out in the country they had FM, so they, that’s the only thing they use to pick up.

Duration

Full Interview: 6 minutes
Audio Snippet: 2 minutes

Files

Citation

Jimmy Lawson and Bob Friedman, “Jimmy Lawson, Oral History,” The Birmingham Black Radio Museum, accessed September 7, 2026, https://www.thebbrm.org/item/75.

Output Formats

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Tony Jackson

During the late 1960's or early 1970's, Jimmy Lawson did what would now be called a "remix" of the Ohio Players' song called "I Want To Be Free". He mixed it with some of the words of MLK's "I Have A Dream" speech. Is there a way to get a copy of that remix? 

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