Al Benson

Critic and historian Nelson George called Al Benson, who worked at several Chicago radio stations beginning in the mid-1940s, one of the most influential black deejays of all time. While many of his African-American peers were indistinguishable from white deejays over the airwaves, Benson, who was nicknamed “Yo’ Ol’ Swingmaster,” never tried to mask what he called “native talk.” By most accounts, however, Benson—who was known to drink while on the air—was often unintelligible. Yet...