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PODCAST

Let It Roll

"Let it Roll" is a podcast about the history of popular music from the 19th Century to the 21st. Proud part of Pantheon - the podcast network for music lovers.

music music history

All Episodes

56:18

Berry Gordy and the Making of Motown

Let It Roll ·

2019/06/03

This week author Andrew Flory joins Nate to talk about his book “I Hear A Symphony: Motown and Crossover R&B.” In this episode, Andrew and Nate talk about the man behind the biggest independent label of all time. Andrew tells us about the method behind Motown's massive success, the songwriters, producers, musicians and singers all led by one genius. We'll take a one week break and then go right into season 5 of Let It Roll with shows on Monday and a special Thursday series focusing on Mike Judge's

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59:42

Managing Led Zeppelin, the Biggest Band on Earth

Let It Roll ·

2019/05/27

This week author Mark Blake joins Nate to talk about his book “Bring It On Home: Peter Grant, Led Zeppelin, and Beyond--The Story of Rock's Greatest Manager.” In this episode, Mark and Nate talk about the man behind the biggest rock band of the 1970s, Peter Grant, manager of Led Zeppelin. Mark goes beyond the legends of money, muscle and drugs and tells us about the real human being who fought for his clients and turned the music industry on its ear. Buy the book and support the podcast. Download

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53:43

Frank Sinatra, Mitch Miller and the Great American Song

Let It Roll ·

2019/05/20

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 Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook. Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts. This week author Ben Yagoda joins Nate to talk about his book “The B Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song.” In this episode, Ben and Nate discuss the golden age of American song when writers like

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54:32

The Weavers: Folk Music vs the Black List

Let It Roll ·

2019/05/13

This week author Jesse Jarnow joins Nate to talk about his book “Wasn’t That a Time: The Weavers, the Blacklist and the Battle for the Soul of America.” In this episode, Jesse tells Nate about one of America’s unlikeliest million selling pop combos -- the folk singing, unabashedly left wing Weavers and their battles with the paranoid American right wing, all in the context of a pre-rock and roll 50’s when pop was at its all-time whitest and blandest. Buy the book and support the podcast. Download

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43:08

Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Frank Sinatra and the...

Let It Roll ·

2019/05/06

This week author Peter Doggett returns to discuss his book “Electric Shock: 125 Years of Pop Music.” In this episode, Peter and Nate discuss the joyous music that dominated the years of World War II including Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra, Count Basie and more. Come back next week when author Jesse Jarnow joins us to discuss the Weaves vs the blacklist. 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

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47:49

Bing Crosby and the Age of the Crooner

Let It Roll ·

2019/04/29

This week author Peter Doggett returns to discuss his book “Electric Shock: 125 Years of Pop Music.” In this episode, Peter and Nate discuss how the invention of electric recording, microphones and radio allowed singers like Bing Crosby and Rudy Vallee to "croon" to their audiences. Come back next week when author Peter Doggett returns to talk about the Swing Era. 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

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60:43

The Entrepreneurs of Early Hip-Hop: Sugar Hill & Def Jam

Let It Roll ·

2019/04/22

This week author Dan Charnas joins Nate for a discussion of his book “The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip Hop.” In this episode, Dan and Nate talk about two of the legendary record companies from Hip Hop’s early years: Sugarhill Records and Def Jam. They discuss Sylvia and Joe Robinson’s background in the world of old school R&B and how those practices carried over into the 1980s. They also dive deep into the unlikely partnership between Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin and the glory

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66:16

Otis Redding: Supernova

Let It Roll ·

2019/04/15

This week Nate and author Jonathan Gould conclude their discussion of Otis Redding. They cover Redding's breakthrough with audiences urban, English and anglo and his tragic death. 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 Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook. Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

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67:06

The Rise of Otis Redding

Let It Roll ·

2019/04/08

This week author Jonathan Gould joins Nate for the first of two episodes discussing his book “Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life.” In this episode, Jonathan and Nate cover the youth of Otis Redding in segregation era Georgia, his beginnings in music, his discovery by Stax Records, his management and an early brush with crime. 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 Follow

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63:45

Stax Records Blows Up in the 1970s

Let It Roll ·

2019/04/01

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 letitrollpodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook. Let It Roll is proud to be part of

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58:24

Stax Records and the Soul Explosion

Let It Roll ·

2019/03/25

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 podcast. Download this episode. Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to

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51:47

Jerry Lee Lewis Starts His Come Back at the Star Club

Let It Roll ·

2019/03/18

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 the German club the Beatles made famous, and the current debate about re-evaluating artists in light of

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67:33

Muddy Waters: The Life and Times

Let It Roll ·

2019/01/14

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 in pioneering electric blues, all the way to his influence on the British blues revival and later years

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58:36

How 19th Century American Music Got Hot

Let It Roll ·

2019/01/07

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 America’s primordial pop phenomenon -- The Minstrel Show, and all the associated racist baggage that

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61:36

The First Recording Stars: Enrico Caruso, Al Jolson...

Let It Roll ·

2018/12/31

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 Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook. Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon

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55:23

Edison's Phonograph vs. the Gramophone

Let It Roll ·

2018/12/24

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 his hit record was made. Buy the book and support the podcast. Download this episode. Have a question or

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67:51

The Death of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain Changed The Music Biz

Let It Roll ·

2018/12/17

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 “grunge”* was codified as a simple to copy formula that was relentlessly promoted by the music

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62:58

How the Beatles Destroyed Rock and Roll

Let It Roll ·

2018/12/10

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 question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview? Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.com Follow

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43:22

Robert Johnson: Escaping the Delta

Let It Roll ·

2018/12/03

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. Download this episode. Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview? Email

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54:38

Legends Of Memphis Music From Charlie Feathers To...

Let It Roll ·

2018/11/26

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 listening. Next time, Nate will be back with author Elijah Wald to discuss the real story of Robert

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548 results

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