Let It Roll EXTRA

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Hosts Nate Wilcox and James Porter kick off their discussion of Ken Burns' "Country Music" documentary series with a look at episode one, “The Rub.” They talk about the musical sources of country music, Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family. There’s also a little meta discussion about the series and their th...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Today special guest scholar and musician Yuri Campbell returns to review the key lessons we learned from Nate’s discussions with Ed Ward about his book “ ⁠The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2: 1964-1977 The Beatles, The Stones and the Rise of Classic Rock⁠ ” and the Let It Roll series covering it. We talk a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Nate Wilcox and guest Yuri Campbell look back on Ed Ward's book ⁠"History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963⁠⁠⁠⁠ "⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and the Let It Roll series covering it. We talk about Ward's cultural scholarship and what lessons we can learn from his method of studying music history.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Ed Ward and Nate Wilcox conclude their discussion of Ed's book " ⁠⁠The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2: 1964–1977: The Beatles, the Stones, and the Rise of Classic Rock⁠⁠ " with a look at the bloating of the music biz in the early 70s and the feeling that everyone was waiting on something to happen, Bob Dy...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Ed Ward and Nate Wilcox continue their discussion of Ed's book " ⁠⁠The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2: 1964–1977: The Beatles, the Stones, and the Rise of Classic Rock⁠⁠ " with a look at the splits between AM and FM, hard rock and soft rock and John, Paul, George and Ringo.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Ed Ward and Nate Wilcox continue their discussion of Ed's book " ⁠⁠The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2: 1964–1977: The Beatles, the Stones, and the Rise of Classic Rock⁠⁠ " with a look at the origins of reggae in Jamaica and a survey of the funk scene as it stood when James Brown was king and Sly Stone was...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Ed Ward and Nate Wilcox continue their discussion of Ed's book " ⁠⁠The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2: 1964–1977: The Beatles, the Stones, and the Rise of Classic Rock⁠⁠ " with a look at 1969, Woodstock, and the invention of “the sixties.”

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Ed Ward and Nate Wilcox continue their discussion of Ed's book " ⁠⁠The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2: 1964–1977: The Beatles, the Stones, and the Rise of Classic Rock⁠⁠ " with a look at 1968: the year of riots and revolution, the year of newcomers like Led Zeppelin and Sly & the Family Stone and The Band...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Ed Ward and Nate Wilcox continue their discussion of Ed's book " ⁠The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2: 1964–1977: The Beatles, the Stones, and the Rise of Classic Rock⁠ " with a look at 1967, the year of Monterey Pop, when the Beatles lost Brian Epstein and gained the Maharishi, Brian Wilson blew it and Ot...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Ed Ward and Nate Wilcox continue their discussion of Ed's book " ⁠The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2: 1964–1977: The Beatles, the Stones, and the Rise of Classic Rock⁠ " with a look at rock & roll's second miracle year when America responded to the Beatles by blending folk and blues with rock & roll. They...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Ed Ward and Nate Wilcox kick off their discussion of Ed's book " ⁠The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2: 1964–1977: The Beatles, the Stones, and the Rise of Classic Rock⁠ " with a look at The Beatles' conquest of America, the other British bands that followed in their wake and the American response headed up...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Ed Ward and host Nate Wilcox fill in a gap in our discussion of his epic ⁠History of Rock & Roll Part 1, 1920-1963,⁠ with a look at Bob Wills and Western Swing. We pick up the history of country music where we left off after the Carter Family & Jimmie Rodgers episode and carry on to the 1930s emergence of a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Ed Ward and host Nate Wilcox fill in a gap in our discussion of his epic ⁠History of Rock & Roll Part 1, 1920-1963⁠ with a look at how African-American pop music transformed itself thru the swing era, the rise & fall of the blues queens, the thin line between jazz and blues, the first guitar heroes and the...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Ed Ward and host Nate Wilcox fill in a gap in our discussion of his epic ⁠History of Rock & Roll Part 1, 1920-1963⁠ by discussing the foundation of commercial country music and its first superstars, Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com This episode is a prequel to last season that covers the period from 1920 to 1945. It’s a fun one as Ed Ward and Nate Wilcox talk rock and roll’s prehistory in the era of Victrolas, live radio, and swing bands. We talk about the first hit blues record, the first superstars of country music, and much more.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward conclude their discussion of Ed’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠”History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963⁠⁠⁠⁠ “⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with part two of 1963. We’ll hear about about the Lebanese Restaurant that birthed surf music and saved Fender guitars, how Murray Wilson’s failed musical career laid the groundwork for his sons’...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠”History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963⁠⁠⁠⁠ “⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with the first of two shows discussing 1963. This week we’ll be talking about how Berry Gordy perfected his Motown assembly line, Phil Spector and the wrecking crew, Roy Orbison’s operatic dramas,...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠”History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963⁠⁠⁠⁠ “⁠⁠⁠⁠ with a look at 1961 and 1962, years that are often written off as “the dark ages” of the first rock and roll era. As Ed Ward points out, “any time you’re a teenager is the best time for rock and roll...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠”History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963⁠⁠⁠⁠ “⁠⁠⁠ with a look at 1960, a year when the American corporate brass thought they had tamed the rock and roll rebels of the 1950s.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠”History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963⁠⁠⁠⁠ “⁠⁠⁠ with a look at 1959, a year that started with tragedy for rock n’ roll and went on to see the first flowerings of soul music and the Brill Building pop that would dominate the early 60s. It was also th...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠”History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963⁠⁠⁠⁠ “⁠⁠⁠ with a look at 1958, the backlash year. This was the year that Elvis got drafted and Jerry Lee Lewis ruined his career with a bigamous marriage to his 13-year-old cousin. It was also the year that the...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠”History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963⁠⁠⁠⁠ “⁠⁠ with a look at what Ed calls the “Miracle Year” of rock and roll. The year when Elvis, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and others were at the peak of their powers and dominated the charts.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠”History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963⁠⁠⁠⁠ “⁠ with a look at rock and roll in 1956, focusing on the rocky yet productive relationships between African-American recording artists and the Jewish entrepreneurs who brought their work to market. We discuss...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed’s ⁠⁠⁠History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963⁠⁠⁠ with a look at 1955 and 1956. These are the years when the “American Prometheus” brought forth Elvis Presley, when Chuck Berry culturally appropriated Western Swing for his first hit and Hollywood shocked the ma...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letitrollpodcast.substack.com Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed’s ⁠⁠History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963⁠⁠ with a look at the period when Rock and Roll really got started. We’ll hear about the woman who discovered Elvis Presley, a pair of Jewish music fans who become legit R&B legends, how a Turkish record mogul wrote...