Wynonie Harris was born in Omaha, Nebraska on August 24, 1915 and started to gain popularity there twenty years later in the midst of the Great Depression, playing with a group. After failing to make things work with a band, he went off on his own and recorded “Good Rocking Tonight” in 1948—his first song to make #1 in the US R&B/Race charts. The majority of his songs were upbeat and funny, featuring dirty lyrics about women, alcohol, rockin', and love, such as “Bloodshot Eyes,” “All She Wants to Do Is Rock,” and “Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee;” some songs took on a more sadder tone typical of the blues, such as “I Don’t Know Where to Go” and “Drinking Blues.”

Harris passed away on June 14, 1969, at age 53.