ROOTS Music History Podcast

🎵Dolly Parton's father couldn't read or write, but he had the best business sense out of anyone she knew. It's evident that his good business sense rubbed off on Dolly. The first time she showed her good business sense she was just 10 years old as she networked her way into the Cas Walker Radio Show after her Uncle Bill got her a chance to go backstage. This developed into the Grand O...

🎵The Cranberries are known for their song Linger and Zombie, but more infamously known for their lead singer, Dolores O'Riordan's incredibly tragic death and even more tragic life story. Join me on this episode of Roots as we dig up the Roots of her sad, yet inspiring life.🎵 #TheCranberries #thecranberrieszombie #rootsmusichistory #documentary #podcast 🎶 Roots Music History | Music Jour...

The plane crash that changed the course, not just of Music History but arguably of the United States of America. The Day the Music Died is about so much more than just Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP Richardson (aka the "Big Bopper"). In a lot of ways, it's about the loss of innocence in America as the nation would soon be faced with a Presidential Assassination, a Vietnam War, an...

🎵This week a BOMBSHELL lawsuit was dropped by Elvis Presley's granddaughter, Danielle Riley Keough. She is claiming an investment company: Naussany Investments FORGED and FALSIFIED documents claiming they had lent Lisa Marie $3.8MILLION and had a legal claim to Graceland. This is absolutely insane and I'm sitting on the edge of my seat to see how this plays out. On this short history in t...

🎵Like it or not, Pete Townshend has been an undeniable staple in music history. The Who dominated the rock scene longer than any other British rock band of that time. Much of the Who's success rests with Pete Townshend, legendary rock and roller known for smashing guitars and being a major writer of over 100 of the Who's songs AND both Rock Operas. From MY GENERATION to BABA O'RILEY t...

🎵Donald Trump recently came out with a statement saying Taylor Swift should THANK HIM for MAKING HER SO MUCH MONEY. Taylor Swift has been overly vocal about her negative opinions towards Donald Trump and republicans. There have even been *rumors* that she said she'd "never do another tour" if Donald Trump were re-elected. In early 2024, it was looking like Taylor Swift may have been...

🎵Don Henley has recently been in the news for an Eagles lawsuit involving stealing lyrics. But Don Henley has been coming after up and coming artists (and existing artists) for recent years on YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram, etc. trying to prevent his music from being covered. Where is all of this coming from, though? Did Don Henley just wake up one day and decide to be this driving force? The truth...

🎵🎵Rock and Roll Legend Alice Cooper is known for his twisted and deranged theatrical performance in combination with his hard rock and roll. Originally rejected in LA by record label after record label....he eventually lived up to (and far exceeded) his high school year book's "aspiration" of one day selling a million dollar record. Raised by a preacher, and the grandson of an evan...

🎵Before John Wines, aka The Old Grey Guitarist, auditioned for the TV Show America's Got Talent he had unintentionally gone viral on Tik Tok playing guitar covers of famous rock and roll guitarists. While many recognize him from Simon Cowell's show, over 1.4 million people around the world tune into his Tik Tok, Instagram, and YouTube every week to be hypnotized by his flawless playing. I...

🎵This week's episode hasn't gone through the typical script-writing/editing process. This morning, I saw on Instagram a bass player I know posting about a curveball in his personal life. This bass player, named Steve Cook, was on a Roots Music History episode last year where we talked about a 619 year-old tree that stood on George Washington's property (and Betsy Ross, by the way, is...

🎵Kurt Cobain, famous rock and roller from NIRVANA, was found on April 8th, 1994 of what was immediately deemed a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Immediately after his discovery, a young medical examiner signed a certificate of death before the toxicology report was released. Upon the release of the toxicology report - questions started to swarm the nation and Nirvana fans everywhere. For one thing,...

🎵Toby Keith is not just a Country Music Legend, He is an American Legend. Many may not know that his father, Hubert, inspired a large portion of his number one hit single 'Courtesy of the Red White and Blue'. His father died just months before the September 11, 2001 Attacks that rocked the United States of America. Hubert was the first person Toby thought of watching the news on that deva...

🎵In the early 2000s, Fender Guitar released a limited number of Number One Stratocaster Replicas - built to the exact specifications as Stevie Ray Vaughan's cherished 'first wife' guitar. However, while I was deep diving into Stevie Ray Vaughan's life and guitars for my channel, I came across what I believe is a fatal flaw in the reissues. The number one reissues have no sign of a...

🎵The only thing more fascinating than Stevie Ray Vaughan himself is his guitars. SRV's guitars have become a few of America's most famous guitars in music history. With that, has come a lot of misinformation, myths, and downright confusion! In today's episode of Roots Music History, we are doing a complete analysis of the full history of Stevie Ray Vaughan's most cherished girls A...

🎵The story of Jimi Hendrix's Death has been told countless times, but each time (and every documentary) fails to bring together every daunting detail in chronological order. Not only do we discuss the chaos of Jimi's early life and interpersonal relationships, we also deep dive into the conspiracy theories that have surrounded his death for decades in an attempt to answer the infamous que...

🎵The Helicopter Crash that killed Rock 'n' Roll and Blues Guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan changed the course of music forever. On this episode of the Roots Music History Podcast, we discuss the events that led up to this crash as well as the devastating death and aftermath. This is PART TWO of the Stevie Ray Vaughan Series on my podcast. If you have not watched Part One Please click here to...

*Part 1 of SRV Roots Series* 🎵Stevie Ray Vaughan was arguably the greatest blues guitarist of all time. With that, comes lots and lots of stories. Told and Untold - I've compiled all the best stories of SRV in one podcast episode. Of course I must add the disclaimer: It was impossible to put all of them in one episode! That's where the Roots Music History Podcast Family comes into play! I...

🎵Rock and Roll Icon Bob Seger's Story is inspiring to say the least. For decades, he (along with everyone else!) thought he would be a one-hit wonder with his hit song "Ramblin Gamblin Man". After being released from his contract with Capitol Records in 1971, Bob quit music and decided to go back to school. It wasn't long into this musical hiatus, though, Bob quickly realized mu...

🎵Most of us know that Guy Lombardo was the first person to give auld Lang Syne it's New Years Eve Debut and that the song was rooted in Scottish culture. But few know the full history behind a 1600s poet named Robert Aytoun who (arguably) wrote the very first rendition in his piece of work called "Old Long Syne". In this episode of the Roots Music History Podcast, we dig up the root...

🎵The song White Christmas has a fascinating story. It is the all-time best selling single...EVER according to the Guiness Book of World Records. This captivating song sung by Bing Crosby was originally written by an even more captivating man named Irving Berlin. White Christmas is recognized as the 'Song that Helped America Fight Fascism' in WWII, but the initial meaning behind the song w...

🎵The story of Jimi Hendrix's Death has been told countless times, but each time (and every documentary) fails to bring together every daunting detail in chronological order. Not only do we discuss the chaos of Jimi's early life and interpersonal relationships, we also deep dive into the conspiracy theories that have surrounded his death for decades in an attempt to answer the infamous que...

🎵The song 'Hallelujah' by Leonard Cohen | Jeff Buckley has brought audiences to tears for generations. While it seems as though every musician knows the cords and the lyrics, many don't know the frustrations Leonard Cohen and composer John Lissauer went through to create the song in the first place. In today's episode of the Roots Music History Podcast, we dig up the roots that gr...

So many people peg Alice Cooper as the Father of Shock Rock or Creator of Shock Rock. Nay Nay! Thanks to a man named Alan Freed (famous radio DJ who pegged the slogan 'Rock n Roll' and a man named Screamin' Jay Hawkins - the original shock rock performance was Screamin' Jay singing I Put a Spell On You as he came out of a coffin. This famous performance deserves all the credit, and...

RANDY RHOADS: The Untold Story

A key detail of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash that's been debated by Skynyrd fans everywhere: Was Drummer Artimus Pyle Shot by the farmer, Johnny Mote, when he and two others walked away from the plane crash to get help, or not? In my last video where I deep dived (no pun intended) into the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash, I mentioned that Artimus was shot. In today's episode, we dig even deep...