John William ‘Sonny’ Payne was the genial host of the legendary King Biscuit Time program on KFFA radio in Helena, Arkansas, for more decades than most of his listeners have even been alive. Payne, a Helena native born Nov. 29, 1925, joined the station as an errand boy when it went on the air in 1941, just as bluesmen Sonny Boy Williamson and Robert Jr. Lockwood were about to make history with a blues program designed to advertise the local King Biscuit brand of flour. The show not only succeeded in its mission to promote flour sales, but proved to be a hugely influential medium for blues in the Delta at a time when little African American music was heard on the air. Aspiring young bluesmen such as B.B. King, Albert King, and Jimmy Reed recalled hovering around radios at lunchtime to catch the broadcasts. Sonny Payne’s hosting duties were minimal at first, but increased after he served in World War II, stayed a few years in Chicago playing upright bass with various bands, and returned to Helena in 1951. He rejoined the station as an advertising salesman and on-air personality, and eventually became the regular announcer on King Biscuit Time, first when the musicians still played live in the studio and later when the program switched to records after Williamson, James ‘Peck’ Curtis, and other key figures had passed away. The program’s reputation grew to international proportions over the years, enhanced by ‘Sunshine Sonny’ and his entertaining, off-the-cuff patter. Musicians and fans traveling through Helena know they can stop in at the Delta Cultural Center, where the show is now broadcast, and get a few minutes of their own on the air with Sonny Payne, one of the most beloved figures in the history of blues radio.
“Sunshine” Sonny Payne passed away in February 2018.