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.

Episodes

Pioneering Gospel Composers: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 2.10

September 2, 2026 • 44 mins

Host Nate Wilcox was joined again by Garrett Cash for the second episode of the Holy Roll series which we’re recasting as part of our Let It Roll: From the Beginning… series, this time on the two people who essentially invented gospel composition as a published, professional craft — Charles Albert Tindley and Lucie E. Campbell. The book under discussion is “We’ll Understand It Better By and By: Pione...

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Ted Gioia on The Birth of Jazz in New Orleans: Let It Roll From the Beginning...2.9

August 31, 2026 • 39 mins

We're continuing our recast of all the Let It Roll episodes in chronological order by topic with Ted Gioia on “The History of Jazz,” and host Nate Wilcox takes him all the way back to the start of the book, to the prehistory of the music. There is general agreement that jazz came out of New Orleans; there was a period when people disputed it, and a time when the Soviet Union claimed it started in Siberia. Ted explains ...

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The First Recording Stars: Enrico Caruso, Bert Williams and Al Jolson: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 2.8

August 28, 2026 • 59 mins

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode discusses minstrelsy and blackface and includes a recording of a 1902 ‘coon song,’ presented as historical evidence. Racial slurs occur in the song’s title and in the discussion around it. In this episode, author Peter Doggett and host Nate Wilcox discuss "Electric Shock: From the Gramophone to the iPhone – 125 Years of Pop Music." This one is about the first people the re...

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Edison's Phonograph vs. the Gramophone: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 2.7

August 26, 2026 • 48 mins

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Beginning the Jazz Age: Vaudeville, Minstrelsy, WC Handy's blues and Louis Armstrong's Signifying on the Old Songs: Let It Roll From the Beginning...2.6

August 24, 2026 • 42 mins

We're relaunching Let It Roll by reposting every episode in chronological order by subject matter. In this episode, host Nate Wilcox interviews Gary Giddins to discuss the opening section of his classic book "Visions of Jazz" including discussions of vaudeville greats Al Jolson and Bert Williams, W.C Handy, the man who "discovered" the blues and Louis Armstrong's signifying takes on old time songs of slavery and some of the forgot...

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The Vaudeville Roots of Country Music: Let It Roll From the Beginning...2.5

August 21, 2026 • 48 mins

We're relaunching Let It Roll by reposting every episode in chronological order by subject matter. In this episode, host Nate Wilcox interviews Henry Sapoznik, one of the compilers of "Protobilly: The Minstrel & Tin Pan Alley DNA of Country Music." Nate asks Henry about the genesis of the Protobilly CD compilation and the roots of country music in 19th-century American music. This episode originally dropped in 2022. GO TO TH...

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Jubilee Singers and Barbershop Quartets Continued the Evolution of African-American Music: Let It Roll From the Beginning...2.4

August 19, 2026 • 42 mins

We're relaunching Let It Roll by reposting every episode in chronological order by subject matter. In this episode, host Nate Wilcox is joined by Garrett Cash to continue their discussion of the evolution of American Gospel music with a look at Afro-American music in the late 19th Century. Source materials include ⁠Robert Darden's "People Get Ready!: A New History of Black Gospel Music"⁠ and "⁠Tell Them We Are Singing for Jesu...

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How 19th Century American Music Got Hot: Let It Roll From the Beginning...2.3

August 17, 2026 • 44 mins

We're relaunching Let It Roll by reposting every episode in chronological order by subject matter. In this episode, host Nate Wilcox 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 musi...

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American Music Developed in the 19th Century NYC Underworld: Let It Roll From the Beginning...2.2

August 14, 2026 • 45 mins

We're relaunching Let It Roll by reposting every episode in chronological order by subject matter. In this episode, host Nate Wilcox interviews author Dale Cockrell about the musical ferment bubbling under the New York demimonde in the 1800s as described in his book "Everybody's Doin' It: Sex, Music, and Dance in New York, 1840-1917". This episode originally dropped in 2022. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISO...

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My Old Kentucky Home's Century of Myth: Let It Roll From the Beginning...2.1

August 12, 2026 • 43 mins

We're relaunching Let It Roll by reposting every episode in chronological order by subject matter. In this episode, host Nate Wilcox interviews Emily Bingham, the author of "My Old Kentucky Home: The Astonishing Life and Reckoning of an Iconic American Song." Host Nate Wilcox asks Emily to detail the 150 years of myth-making around Stephen Foster's song. This episode originally dropped in 2022. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK T...

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Francis Child Collected Ballads and Kicked Off a Craze: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 8

August 10, 2026 • 42 mins

We're relaunching Let It Roll by reposting every episode in chronological order by subject matter. In this episode, host Nate Wilcox welcomes back Dave Thompson to continue discussing Dave's book An Evolving Tradition: The Child Ballads in Modern Folk and Rock Music. This episode covers James Francis Child himself, how he came to collect British ballads and how they were published. We also discuss the recording career of Woodrow...

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The most popular American musician of the 19th century connected Cuba and New Orleans: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 1.11

August 7, 2026 • 36 mins

We're relaunching Let It Roll by reposting every episode in chronological order by subject matter. In this episode, host Nate Wilcox welcomes back Ned Sublette to continue the discussion about his book "Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo." Ned and Nate discuss Louis Moreau Gottschalk, the most popular and important 19th Century American composer who connected New Orleans to Havana. This episode originally dr...

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Scott, Pepys, Dickens - The Literary Roots of The Ballads: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 1.10

August 5, 2026 • 41 mins

We're relaunching Let It Roll by reposting every episode in chronological order by subject matter. In this episode, host Nate Wilcox welcomes back Dave Thompson to continue discussing Dave's book An Evolving Tradition: The Child Ballads in Modern Folk and Rock Music. This episode covers the very oldest examples of The Child Ballads, with lyrical themes dating back to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, as well as the contributions...

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Beethoven freed music from the tyranny of patronage: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 1.9

August 3, 2026 • 38 mins

We're relaunching Let It Roll by reposting every episode in chronological order by subject matter. In this episode, host Nate Wilcox welcomes Norman Lebrecht author of "Why Beethoven: A Phenomenon in One Hundred Pieces." Nate asks Norman about Beethoven's innovative business practices, his conflicts with royalty, his opposition to the sexual mores of imperial Vienna and more. This episode originally aired in 2022. GO TO THE LET I...

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In America African Culture Survived as The Spiritual: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 8

July 31, 2026 • 46 mins

We're relaunching Let It Roll by reposting every episode in chronological order by subject matter. In this episode hosts Nate Wilcox and Garrett Cash dive into the roots of African-American spirituals and Gospel's deep roots in African musical practice. Based on Robert Darden's "People Get Ready!: A New History of Black Gospel Music." Buy the book and support the show. This episode originally aired in 2022. GO TO THE LET IT R...

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The Subversive Side of Classical Music: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 7

July 29, 2026 • 46 mins

We're relaunching Let It Roll by reposting every episode in chronological order by subject matter. In this episode, host Nate Wilcox welcomes back Ted Gioia to continue their discussion of his book “Music: A Subversive History.” Nate and Ted talk about the less than perfect realities of the lives of the great composers. From the murderous makers of madrigals to the sometimes sordid antics of J.S. Bach to the very pro...

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Clave and the contradance in the colonial Caribbean: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 6

July 27, 2026 • 39 mins

We're relaunching Let It Roll by reposting every episode in chronological order by subject matter. In this episode, Nate Wilcox and author Ned Sublette have the second of several conversations about Ned's book "⁠Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo⁠." This episode looks at the musical developments in the colonial Caribbean as the Spanish, French and English found their cultures influenced by the African diaspora...

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The musics of Europe and Africa collided in Cuba: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 5

July 24, 2026 • 43 mins

We're relaunching Let It Roll by reposting every episode in chronological order by subject matter. In this episode, Nate Wilcox and author Ned Sublette have the first of several conversations about Ned's book "⁠Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo⁠." This episode focuses on the cultural collisions and cross-pollination triggered when Europeans enslaved Africans and dragged them, and their music, across the Atlan...

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The Ancient Repertoire the Folk Genre Built On: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 4

July 22, 2026 • 44 mins

We're relaunching Let It Roll by reposting every episode in chronological order by subject matter. In this episode,Nate Wilcox and author Dave Thompson discuss the first chapter of Dave's book An Evolving Tradition: The Child Ballads in Modern Folk and Rock Music. This episode originally dropped in 2024. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

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The Cultural Blend That Made New Orleans Music Unique: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 3

July 20, 2026 • 44 mins

We're relaunching Let It Roll by reposting every episode in chronological order by subject matter. In this episode, host Nate Wilcox welcomes Ned Sublette, author of "The Cultural Blend That Made New Orleans Music Unique: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 3." Sublette's book is "a tale of imperial war, religious conflict, the search for treasure, the spread of slavery, the Cuban connection, the cruel aristocracy of sug...

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Let It Roll

Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Pioneering Gospel Composers: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 2.10

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Ted Gioia on The Birth of Jazz in New Orleans: Let It Roll From the Beginning...2.9

The First Recording Stars: Enrico Caruso, Bert Williams and Al Jolson: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 2.8

Edison's Phonograph vs. the Gramophone: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 2.7

Beginning the Jazz Age: Vaudeville, Minstrelsy, WC Handy's blues and Louis Armstrong's Signifying on the Old Songs: Let It Roll From the Beginning...2.6

The Vaudeville Roots of Country Music: Let It Roll From the Beginning...2.5

Jubilee Singers and Barbershop Quartets Continued the Evolution of African-American Music: Let It Roll From the Beginning...2.4

How 19th Century American Music Got Hot: Let It Roll From the Beginning...2.3

American Music Developed in the 19th Century NYC Underworld: Let It Roll From the Beginning...2.2

My Old Kentucky Home's Century of Myth: Let It Roll From the Beginning...2.1

Francis Child Collected Ballads and Kicked Off a Craze: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 8

The most popular American musician of the 19th century connected Cuba and New Orleans: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 1.11

Scott, Pepys, Dickens - The Literary Roots of The Ballads: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 1.10

Beethoven freed music from the tyranny of patronage: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 1.9

In America African Culture Survived as The Spiritual: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 8

The Subversive Side of Classical Music: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 7

Clave and the contradance in the colonial Caribbean: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 6

The musics of Europe and Africa collided in Cuba: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 5

The Ancient Repertoire the Folk Genre Built On: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 4

The Cultural Blend That Made New Orleans Music Unique: Let It Roll From the Beginning...to the End 3

Popular Podcasts

Pioneering Gospel Composers: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 2.10

Ted Gioia on The Birth of Jazz in New Orleans: Let It Roll From the Beginning...2.9