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

Robert Johnson: Escaping the Delta: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.10

October 28, 2026 • 40 mins

Host Nate Wilcox talks with Elijah Wald, author of “Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues,” in a conversation first released in 2018 and returning now as part of Let It Roll From the Beginning. Elijah explains why Johnson was a minor figure in his own day: the stars in his world were Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Lonnie Johnson, Leroy Carr and Peetie Wheatstraw, and what was exotic about Johnson...

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Devil at the Confluence: The Pre-War Blues of St. Louis: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.9

October 26, 2026 • 51 mins

Host Nate Wilcox talks with Kevin Belford, artist, illustrator and author of “Devil at the Confluence: The Pre-War Blues Music of St. Louis, Missouri,” in a brand-new conversation recorded in October 2026. Belford makes the case for St. Louis as a blues capital the history books skipped - from Tom Turpin's ragtime to Lonnie Johnson, Peetie Wheatstraw and the original Sonny Boy Williamson. CHECK OUT THE LET IT ROLL WEB ...

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Chick Webb's Big Beat Style of Swing Led Directly to Rock 'n' Roll: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.8

October 23, 2026 • 43 mins

Host Nate Wilcox talks with Stephanie Stein Crease, author of “Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat That Changed America,” in a conversation first released in 2023 and returning now as part of Let It Roll From the Beginning..., in which the whole Let It Roll archive is being re-cast in chronological order by topic. It follows straight on from Jeff Kaufman’s Savoy King episode, going deeper into Baltimore, the Harle...

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Swing King Chick Webb Brought Ella Fitzgerald to the World: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.7

October 21, 2026 • 52 mins

Host Nate Wilcox talks with Jeff Kaufman, director, writer and producer of the documentary film “The Savoy King: Chick Webb and the Music That Changed America,” in a conversation first released in 2022 and returning now as part of Let It Roll From the Beginning..., in which the whole Let It Roll archive is being re-cast in chronological order by topic. This is Harlem’s swing era at its peak, and the bandleader at ...

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How Kansas City Vice Birthed Kansas City Jazz: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.6

October 19, 2026 • 46 mins

Host Nate Wilcox talks with Chuck Haddix, co-author with Frank Driggs of “Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop - A History,” in a conversation first released in 2020 and returning now as part of Let It Roll From the Beginning..., in which the whole Let It Roll archive is being re-cast in chronological order by topic. This is the story of how one wide-open Midwestern town got from ragtime to bebop in twenty years, and...

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Alan Lomax, Pete Seeger, Josh White & Jean Ritchie and the first Folk Revival: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.5

October 16, 2026 • 50 mins

Host Nate Wilcox talks with Dave Thompson, author of “An Evolving Tradition: The Child Ballads in Modern Folk and Rock Music,” in a conversation first released in 2025 and returning now as part of Let It Roll From the Beginning..., in which the whole Let It Roll archive is being re-cast in chronological order by subject matter. This is the moment the old ballads stopped passing from grandparent to grandchild and started...

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Rhythm & Blues from Bessie Smith to Louis Jordan: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.4

October 14, 2026 • 56 mins

Host Nate Wilcox and the late Ed Ward, author of “The History of Rock & Roll, Volume One: 1920-1963,” close Season 3 of Let It Roll From the Beginning... with a conversation first recorded in 2018. This is the gap between the 1920s and the birth of rock and roll: how African American pop music went from the blues queens through the swing era to rhythm and blues. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISO...

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Ted Gioia Talks the Songs Jazz is Built On: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.3

October 13, 2026 • 39 mins

Host Nate Wilcox is joined again by Ted Gioia, author of “The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire,” in a conversation first recorded in 2019 and returning now as part of Let It Roll From the Beginning..., in which the whole Let It Roll archive is being re-cast in chronological order by topic - the story of the music told forward, in the order it actually happened. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL E...

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Record Men From Thomas Edison to John Hammond & Chris Blackwell: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.2

October 9, 2026 • 50 mins

Gareth Murphy set out to write an obituary for the record man. A French label boss had told him over lunch that the record producer was a dying breed, and in the 2010s, with the industry shrinking every year since 1999, it looked like he was right. Then Murphy went back to the beginning, found the same collapse in the 1920s and again in the Depression, and came out the other side with the opposite conclusion: the record business is...

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Bing Crosby's Swing Brought Him Superstardom: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.1

October 7, 2026 • 44 mins

GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE -- The final 15 minutes of this episode are exclusively for paying subscribers to the Let It Roll Substack. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support the show. Thanks! Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter. Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The Jazz Age of Pop From the ODJB to Bing Crosby: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.12

October 5, 2026 • 38 mins

Host Nate Wilcox is joined again by Peter Doggett, author of “Electric Shock: From the Gramophone to the iPhone - 125 Years of Pop Music,” in a conversation first recorded in 2019 and returning now to conclude season 3 of Let It Roll From the Beginning..., in which the whole Let It Roll archive is being re-cast in chronological order by topic. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE -- The final 15 minu...

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Thomas A. Dorsey Went From 'It's Tight Like That' to 'Precious Lord': Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.11

October 2, 2026 • 46 mins

The same man wrote “It’s Tight Like That” and “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.” As Georgia Tom, Thomas A. Dorsey cut it with Tampa Red in 1928 - one of the dirtiest hits of the decade, and the record that set off the hokum craze. As Thomas A. Dorsey, he wrote the song Mahalia Jackson sang at Martin Luther King’s funeral. And the order is not the one you would guess: “It’s Tight Like That...

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Ralph Peer Brought Blues, Jazz, Country, and Latin Music to Record: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.10

September 30, 2026 • 41 mins

Before OKeh would bet on records made by Black artists for Black buyers, somebody had to go and find out whether that market existed. The company sent Ralph Peer. He went into barbershops and pool halls and asked people whether they would buy records made by their own artists, and came back with the answer: yes, they will. That is Barry Mazor’s account of how Mamie Smith’s “Crazy Blues” got made in 1920 - no...

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The Beginnings of Country Music According to Ken Burns: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.9

September 28, 2026 • 50 mins

Host Nate Wilcox is joined by James Porter - Chicago writer, DJ and musician - to open CountryRoll, their run through Ken Burns’s “Country Music” series, in a conversation first recorded in 2021 and returning now as part of Let It Roll From the Beginning..., in which the whole Let It Roll archive is being re-cast in chronological order by topic - the story of the music told forward, in the order it actually happen...

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Ed Ward on The Bristol Explosion: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.8

September 25, 2026 • 35 mins

Host Nate Wilcox is joined by Ed Ward, his original co-host and the author of “The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 1: 1920-1963,” for a conversation first recorded in 2018 and returning now as part of Let It Roll From the Beginning..., in which the whole Let It Roll archive is being re-cast in chronological order by topic. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE -- The final 15 minutes of this episo...

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The Carter Family popularized the Child Ballads and Burl Ives built a new tradition: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.7

September 23, 2026 • 52 mins

Host Nate Wilcox is joined again by Dave Thompson, author of “An Evolving Tradition: The Child Ballads in Modern Folk and Rock,” for the next installment of Let It Roll From the Beginning..., in which the whole Let It Roll archive is being recast in chronological order by topic. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE -- The final 15 minutes of this episode are exclusively for paying subscribers to the ...

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Paul Whiteman Was the King of Jazz in 1925, to Music Critics: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.6

September 21, 2026 • 60 mins

In this episode, host Nate Wilcox welcomes Elijah Wald to discuss his controversial but informative book "How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'N' Roll" which actually has a lot more to say about Paul Whiteman and why white America considered him the King of Jazz in the 1920s. This episode originally dropped in 2018. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE -- The final 15 minutes of this episode are exclusively for pay...

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Vernon Dalhart: The forgotten first superstar of country music: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.5

September 18, 2026 • 31 mins

Host Nate Wilcox tells this one alone, as a Let It Roll seance - the guest is the late Jack Palmer, author of “Vernon Dalhart: First Star of Country Music,” who died before Nate could ever interview him. The episode returns now as part of Let It Roll From the Beginning to the End, in which the whole Let It Roll archive is being re-cast in chronological order by topic. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPI...

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Ed Ward on Rock Pre-History the 1920s & 30s: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.4

September 16, 2026 • 43 mins

Host Nate Wilcox and the late Ed Ward, the rock historian of NPR’s Fresh Air kicked off their discussions of Ed’s History of Rock and Roll, Volume 1 1920-1963 with a discussion of the 1920s, when the record industry, reeling from the disruption of radio, accidentally discovered that recordings by Black and “hillbilly” artists moved units. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE -- The final ...

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The Holy Trinity of Texas Gospel and a Devilish Businessman: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.3

September 14, 2026 • 51 mins

Host Nate Wilcox asks Michael Corcoran to share the stories of Texas gospel greats Arizona Dranes, Blind Willie Johnson and Washington Phillips as well as the notorious Don Robey, owner of the Duke and Peacock labels. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE -- The final 15 minutes of this episode are exclusively for paying subscribers to the Let It Roll Substack. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to suppo...

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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;}Robert Johnson: Escaping the Delta: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.10

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Devil at the Confluence: The Pre-War Blues of St. Louis: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.9

Chick Webb's Big Beat Style of Swing Led Directly to Rock 'n' Roll: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.8

Swing King Chick Webb Brought Ella Fitzgerald to the World: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.7

How Kansas City Vice Birthed Kansas City Jazz: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.6

Alan Lomax, Pete Seeger, Josh White & Jean Ritchie and the first Folk Revival: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.5

Rhythm & Blues from Bessie Smith to Louis Jordan: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.4

Ted Gioia Talks the Songs Jazz is Built On: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.3

Record Men From Thomas Edison to John Hammond & Chris Blackwell: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.2

Bing Crosby's Swing Brought Him Superstardom: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.1

The Jazz Age of Pop From the ODJB to Bing Crosby: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.12

Thomas A. Dorsey Went From 'It's Tight Like That' to 'Precious Lord': Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.11

Ralph Peer Brought Blues, Jazz, Country, and Latin Music to Record: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.10

The Beginnings of Country Music According to Ken Burns: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.9

Ed Ward on The Bristol Explosion: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.8

The Carter Family popularized the Child Ballads and Burl Ives built a new tradition: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.7

Paul Whiteman Was the King of Jazz in 1925, to Music Critics: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.6

Vernon Dalhart: The forgotten first superstar of country music: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.5

Ed Ward on Rock Pre-History the 1920s & 30s: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.4

The Holy Trinity of Texas Gospel and a Devilish Businessman: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 3.3

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Robert Johnson: Escaping the Delta: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.10

Devil at the Confluence: The Pre-War Blues of St. Louis: Let It Roll From the Beginning... 4.9