Let It Roll

Nate and author Robert Gordon finish their discussion of Robert's "Respect Yourself" with a focus on Al Bell's years at the helm of Stax. From the dizzying highs of Shaft and WattStax to the sad end of Memphis' greatest record company in the 1970s. Buy the book and support the podcast. Download this episode. Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview? Email letitro...

This week Nate is joined by author Robert Gordon to discuss his book “Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion.” In this episode, Robert and Nate talk about the birth and rapid rise of Stax Records, the early hits of Booker T & the MGs, Otis Redding, and Carla Thomas, as well as the political, social and racial context of Memphis, Tennessee in the 1960s. Buy the book and support the p...

This week Nate is joined by Author, Joe Bonomo, to discuss his book, “Jerry Lee Lewis: Lost and Found.” In this episode, Joe and Nate discuss the rise, fall and comeback of rockabilly icon Jerry Lee Lewis with a particular focus on his album “Live at the Star-Club.” They’ll cover Jerry’s amazing early hits, his fall from grace, long years in the wilderness, how he came to record a live album at th...

This week, Nate is joined by author Robert Gordon, to discuss his book "I Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters". In this episode, Robert and Nate discuss the epic life story of perhaps the most iconic American bluesman of all, from Muddy's beginnings at the Stovall Plantation in the Mississippi Delta, his first recordings for the Library of Congress, his move to Chicago and role...

This week Nate is joined by Author, David Wondrich, to discuss his overlooked classic: “Stomp and Swerve: How American Music Got Hot 1843-1924.” In this episode, David takes Nate way way back into the history of American music, long before the invention of recording, to discuss how African-derived music in North America differs from its sister music in South America and the Caribbean, as well as A...

In this episode, Peter continues the tale of the first format wars with radio’s sudden mass market emergence in the 1920s and discusses three of the early superstars of recorded music: Enrico Caruso, Bert Williams and Al Jolson. Buy the book and support the podcast. Download this episode. Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview? Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.com...

In this episode, Peter explains how he came to take on such an ambitious project, why he started with the advent of recorded music rather than the advent of sheet music, the first format wars between Thomas Edison’s phonograph and Emile Berliner’s gramophone, the first recorded music superstars, and one unfortunate early hitmaker who found himself having to do a new recording every time a copy of...

This week Nate is joined by Author, Adam Caress, to discuss his book, “The Day Alternative Music Died: the Struggle between Art and Money for the Soul of Rock”. In this episode, Adam makes the case that the death of Kurt Cobain led to an instant revision of music history, and attempts to remind us of what the actual state of “alternative”* music was in the halcyon days of the early 1990s before “g...

In this episode, Elijah elaborates on the claim of his book of the same title and makes his best case for the role of the Beatles (and other leading musicians of their generation like Bob Dylan and the Beach Boys) inadvertently ending the process of synthesis and cross-pollination that led to the evolution of rock and roll. Buy the book and support the podcast. Download this episode. Have a questi...

This week, Nate is joined by author Elijah Wald for a discussion of his book “Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues” In this episode, Elijah explains his ground-breaking revisionist history of the blues, why Robert Johnson was virtually ignored by blues fans of his own era and how he emerged as a legend in the 1960's and beyond. Buy the book and support the podcast. Dow...

In this episode, Robert tells Nate some of his favorite stories about the undersung musical legends of his home town of Memphis, including chewing tobacco with rockabilly legend Charlie Feathers, soul legend James Carr’s tragic tale of mental transubstantiation, the singer more frightening than Jerry Lee Lewis, the Lead Belly album that changed his life, and Jeff Buckley’s final days. Thanks for l...

This week Nate is joined by author Joe Nick Patoski for the final of three episodes discussing his biography of Willie Nelson: An Epic Life In this episode, Joe Nick tells us about the years when Willie, Waylon and the boys became the biggest stars in American pop music, Willie’s triumphant 80’s doing duets with everyone from Merle Haggard and Ray Price to Julio Iglesias, his battles with the IRS,...

You can read all about this 3 part series in Joe Nick Patoski's "Willie Nelson: An Epic Life". In this episode, Joe Nick tells us why Willie wasn’t satisfied as one of Nashville’s top songwriters and about his long struggle with the country music establishment. Buy the book and support the podcast. Download this episode. Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview?...

You can read all about this 3 part series in Joe Nick Patoski's "Willie Nelson: An Epic Life". In this episode, Joe Nick tells us how a country boy from Abbott, Texas grew into a hard-core honky tonk hero, playing gigs from San Antonio to Portland, Oregon. Honing his skills as a singing radio DJ and selling everything from encyclopedias to classic songs for as little as $50 a pop. Buy the book and...

This week author Paul Trynka returns to discuss his first book, “Portrait of the Blues” a classic that’s unfortunately out of print but widely available online for a slight premium. In this episode Nate chats with Paul about the time he spent connecting with legendary bluesmen like John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin and the stories they told about their lives and adventures playing the blue...

This week special guest Dr. Cam Cobb returns to finish the story of Moby Grape. Cam’s the author of “What’s Big and Purple and lives in the Ocean - The Moby Grape story” This week, Cam and I conclude the tale of Moby Grape and their journey from being the “Next Big Thing” of 1967 to madness, drugs, mental institutions and utter creative and personal dissolution. We’ll talk about Skip Spence’s infa...

Host Nate Wilcox is joined by author James Burns to discuss his book “Let’s Go to Hell: Scattered Memories of the Butthole Surfers.” This week, James and I talk about the unique circumstances of the 1980s that allowed a band as outre as the Butthole Surfers to reach a large international audience, the research involved in compiling a hardcore oral history, many staggering scatalogical anecdotes an...

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 distinctive genre in Texas: Western Swing and the man, Bob Wills, who led it to the top of th...

This week I’ve got a special guest: Dr. Cam Cobb author of “What’s Big and Purple and lives in the Ocean - The Moby Grape story.” This week, Cam and I begin the amazing and tragic story of Moby Grape -- the Next Big Thing of 1967, how they were caught up in one of the first rock record company feeding frenzies and had their classic debut album swamped by a wave of overhype. Learn more about your a...

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 greatest American musical superstar you’ve probably barely heard of, Louis Jordan. ⁠GO TO THE...

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. ⁠GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- The final 15 minut...

Today features the conclusion of our discussion of Ed Ward’s book Michael Bloomfield: The Rise and Fall of an American Guitar Hero. Bob Dylan listed the book as one of his favorites in a recent web post. This week, Ed and I talk about the fall of Michael Bloomfield, his dream band Electric Flag and why it became a nightmare for him, the difficulties Al Kooper had in birthing their massively succes...

Today features the return of Ed Ward to discuss his book Michael Bloomfield: The Rise and Fall of an American Guitar Hero which is coming out in paperback this summer. This week, Ed and I talk about the rise of Michael Bloomfield, his legend, his unique role as a Jewish bluesman who learned at the feet of Muddy Waters and other African-American players in Chicago, his role in helping Bob Dylan bir...

Today we’re bringing back biographer Paul Trynka to talk about Starman, his biography of the late, great David Bowie. This week, Paul and I talk about Bowie's amazing career and surprisingly sympathetic personal life of Davy Jones aka David Bowie aka Major Tom, aka Ziggy Stardust, aka the Thin White Duke etc etc. We discuss the many transformations and amazing accomplishments of the last great Eng...

This week host Nate Wilcox is joined by Paul Trynka, author of Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed. Paul and Nate discuss the dichotomy between the erudite and charming Jim Osterberg and his wild man stage persona Iggy Pop, Iggy’s troubled relationships with his various sidemen and writing partners and the multiple times David Bowie stepped in and saved Jim’s life and Iggy’s career. Buy the book and suppo...