Let It Roll
Pantheon Media
"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
Mentioned books
Dec 10, 2025 • 45min
Rock Pre-History the 1920s & 30s: Ed Ward's History of Rock & Roll
This episode is a prequel to recent episodes that covers the period from 1920 to 1945. It’s a fun one as Ed Ward and Nate Wilcox talk rock and roll’s prehistory in the era of Victrolas, live radio, and swing bands. We talk about the first hit blues record, the first superstars of country music, and much more.
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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.
Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more.
Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support the show. Thanks!
Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.com
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Dec 8, 2025 • 44min
1963 The British Invasion is Coming!: Ed Ward's History of Rock & Roll
Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward conclude their discussion of Ed's "History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963 " with part two of 1963.
We'll hear about about the Lebanese Restaurant that birthed surf music and saved Fender guitars, how Murray Wilson’s failed musical career laid the groundwork for his sons’ amazing success, how Columbia buried Bob Dylan’s first attempt to go rock, and the split between kids singing “My Boyfriend’s Back” and those singing “Blowing in the Wind.” We talk about Stevie Wonder’s first hit and why you can hear someone shouting “what key? What key?” in the background, the mystery of Smokey Robinson’s failure to get a hit with the Supremes and we finally get to England and talk about the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and the revolution they triggered and would bring to America in 1964.
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.
Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more.
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
Dec 5, 2025 • 32min
1963 Brill Building pop is perfected: Ed Ward's History of Rock & Roll
Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed's "History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963 " with the first of two shows discussing 1963. This week we’ll be talking about how Berry Gordy perfected his Motown assembly line, Phil Spector and the wrecking crew, Roy Orbison’s operatic dramas, Patsy Cline’s final year, and how James Brown finally seized control of his career and became the Godfather of Soul.
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.
Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more.
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
Dec 3, 2025 • 54min
1961-1962 The Quiet Years: Ed Ward's History of Rock & Roll
Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed's "History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963 " with a look at 1961 and 1962, years that are often written off as “the dark ages” of the first rock and roll era. But, as Ed Ward points out, “any time you’re a teenager is the best time for rock and roll!”
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.
Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more.
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
Dec 1, 2025 • 60min
1960 The Fire of Rebellion Has Been Snuffed: Ed Ward's History of Rock & Roll
Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed's "History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963 " with a look at 1960, a year when the American corporate brass thought they had tamed the rock and roll rebels of the 1950s.
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.
Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more.
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
Nov 28, 2025 • 57min
1959 Death and Soul: Ed Ward's History of Rock & Roll
Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed's "History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963 " with a look at 1959, a year that started with tragedy for rock n’ roll and went on to see the first flowerings of soul music and the Brill Building pop that would dominate the early 60s.
It was also the year that the music business figured out how to package pretty faces with rocking beats and foisted Fabian and Frankie Avalon on the world. We’ll also be hearing a lot about “the wild anarchic spirit” that Sam Phillips and Elvis had unleashed, the reinvention of Johnny Cash, the Million Dollar Quartet, the mini-dramas Lieber & Stoller made with the Coasters, the dance craze called the stroll, and much more.
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.
Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more.
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
Nov 26, 2025 • 51min
1958 The Year the Music Didn't Quite Die: Ed Ward's History of Rock & Roll
Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed's "History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963 " with a look at 1958, the backlash year. This was the year that Elvis got drafted and Jerry Lee Lewis ruined his career with a bigamous marriage to his 13-year-old cousin.
It was also the year that the music business figured out how to package pretty faces with rocking beats and foisted Fabian and Frankie Avalon on the world. We’ll also be hearing a lot about “the wild anarchic spirit” that Sam Phillips and Elvis had unleashed, the reinvention of Johnny Cash, the Million Dollar Quartet, the mini-dramas Lieber & Stoller made with the Coasters, the dance craze called the stroll and much more.
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.
Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more.
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
Nov 24, 2025 • 1h 6min
1957 The Miracle Year of Rock & Roll: Ed Ward's History of Rock & Roll
Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed's "History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963 " with a look at what Ed calls the “Miracle Year” of rock and roll. The year when Elvis, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and others were at the peak of their powers and dominated the charts.
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.
Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more.
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
Nov 21, 2025 • 31min
1956 Rock & Roll in Full Flower: Ed Ward's History of Rock & Roll
Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed's "History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963 " with a look at rock and roll in 1956, focusing on the rocky yet productive relationships between African-American recording artists and the Jewish entrepreneurs who brought their work to market. We discuss the relationship between James Brown and Syd Nathan of King Records, the tragic relationship between the gifted 13-year-old Frankie Lymon and his gambling-addicted record mogul, George Goldner, Lieber & Stoller and the songs they wrote and produced, and much more.
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.
Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more.
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
Nov 19, 2025 • 47min
1955 Rock & Roll is Born....Maybe: Ed Ward's History of Rock & Roll
Nate Wilcox and Ed Ward continue their discussion of Ed's History of Rock & Roll 1920-1963 with a look at 1955 and 1956.
These are the years when the “American Prometheus” brought forth Elvis Presley, when Chuck Berry culturally appropriated Western Swing for his first hit and Hollywood shocked the masses with the first rock and roll movies. As always we’ll touch on the non-musical factors that made all this possible -- changing demographics and new musical formats -- as well as a few outside factors that slowed down, but couldn’t stop, this musical revolution.
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.
Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more.
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
