1960-1969

All the Let It Roll episodes covering music of the 1960s. (Hold on to your hats!)

Let It Roll Originals

• Peter Asher scored in the British Invasion and ruled in the Singer-Songwriter era

• Steppenwolf's John Kay Came to Hard Rock from the Toronto Folk Scene

• The Beatles vs. James Bond: Two Very Different Versions of Britain

• Surf Rock, Motown, Girl Groups and a Second Wave of Doo-Wop Were on the Rock and Roll Vanguard in JFK’s America

• John Lennon's Political Activism Got Him Targeted By the U.S Government

• David Crosby, Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman on Founding the Byrds

• Jamaican Ska Evolved Directly From American R&B

• Buffalo Springfield Couldn't Contain Neil Young, Steve Stills and Richie Furay

• Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys and Creating The California Myth

• Rick James Took 15 Years to Become an Overnight Success

• Paul Simon's Brill Building Years Laid the Ground for Folk-Rock Success

• Gene Clark's Songwriting Lifted the Byrds

• Eddie Floyd Epitomized the Stax Records Approach to Soul

• The Velvet Underground Brought the Avant-Garde to Rock and Presaged Punk

• The Band That Broke Czechoslovakian Communism: Plastic People of the Universe

• Arthur Lee and Love Ruled LA's Sunset Strip Between The Byrds and The Doors

• Atlantic Records' Jerry Wexler Produced Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and More

• The Outlaw Country of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings was the Second Wave of Progressive Country to Come out of Austin

• The Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead and the Hell's Angels All Faced a Reckoning at Altamont

• Smokey Robinson Was Berry Gordy's Right-Hand Man at Motown

• John Entwistle's Bass Anchored The Who and His Rockstar Life Dragged Him Down

• From Jimi Hendrix to R.E.M., Warner Brothers Records Provided Artists a Rock Era Oasis

• The Secrets Behind Elvis Presley's Relationship with Col. Tom Parker

• Cream Combined Heavy Blues Rock With Jazz Improv and Psychedelic Pop

• Etta James Was a First Wave Rock N Roller and Later Led Chess Records’ Soul Music Charge

• Rod McKuen's Songs Sold Millions of Records but Triggered a Critical Backlash

• Nicky Hopkins' Piano Graced Classic Rock by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, and Many More

• The A Team Created The Nashville Sound Behind Stars Like George Jones, Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan

• The Dixie Cups Were the Girl Group That Brought New Orleans R&B to the Brill Building

• How Jazz and Rock and Roll Came to Be Seen As Completely Separate Genres

• Rock's Back Pages Makes Historic Rock Writing Available

• The Kinks' Class-Consciousness Made Them Wary of the Promises of Swinging London

• Bert Berns' Songs Were Immortalized by The Beatles, The Isley Brothers, Janis Joplin, Van Morrison and More

• Aretha Franklin Brought Gospel Fervor to the Top of the Charts

• The Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, Phil Spector, Nancy Sinatra and Kim Fowley Exploded out of Early ‘60s Hollywood

• The Kingsmen's 'Louie Louie' and The Rolling Stones' 'Satisfaction’ were built on Cuban Mambo & Cha-cha-cha

• The Triumphs & Tragedy of Marvin Gaye, Motown's Greatest Male Solo Singer and First Album Artist

• Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart & Ron Wood Nearly Perfected Hard Rock Before Led Zeppelin Even Formed

• From The Supremes to The Four Tops, Holland-Dozier-Holland Made Motown’s Biggest Hits

• Easy Listening Absorbed Psychedelia in the Late 1960's

• Introducing David Bowie to Stardust, Choosing Between Hendrix and The Who

• From Surf Rock to Folk Rock to Freak Out, the Studio Scene in 1960s Los Angeles Captured the Moment

• The Bee Gees Rose, Fell, Rose Again, Fell Again Then Helped Invent Modern Pop

• Jimmy Page Before Led Zeppelin: Session Man & Yardbird

• Chess Records Brought Chicago Blues, Rock & Roll and Soul to

• Gram Parsons' Disastrous Career Made Him a Legend

• The Beatles' Story Changes With The Teller

• Dolly Parton Had A Vision Of Superstardom Beyond Nashville

• Elvis Presley: Decline And Fall

• Glen Campbell, Jimmy Webb And The Greatness Of Wichita Lineman

• London Nurtured Classic Rock, Prog Rock, Blues Rock And Folk

• The Beatles As The End Of Rock & Roll: What Have We Learned From Elijah Wald’s “Alternative History of American Popular Music?”

• How The Beatles Got Signed

• The Women Who Built Berry Gordy's Motown Empire

• The Jim Morrison Biography That Kicked Off The Doors Revival

• Politics Boxed Merle Haggard Out Of Crossover Superstardom

• Buck Owens Conquered the Country Music Business

• America Awaited the Beatles

• The Rise & Fall of Phil Spector

• Rod Stewart & the Faces: A Complicated Alliance

• The Rolling Stones Road to Altamont

• Robert Christgau on the Role of the Rock Critic

• House of the Rising Sun Before Bob Dylan And After The Animals

• Writing the Life Stories of Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin

• Barney Ales Helped Berry Gordy Build the Motown Empire

• James Brown Hits The One

• John, Paul, George & Ringo Couldn't Escape The Beatles

• Dewey Phillips, Elvis Presley, Otis Redding and Memphis music

• CSNY Tried to Have It All

• Berry Gordy and the Making of Motown

• Managing Led Zeppelin, the Biggest Band on Earth

• Otis Redding: Supernova

• The Rise of Otis Redding

• Stax Records and the Soul Explosion

• How the Beatles Destroyed Rock and Roll

• Legends Of Memphis Music From Charlie Feathers To Jeff Buckley

• Willie Nelson: Nashville's Not Enough

• Willie Nelson's Honky Tonk Wilderness Years

• The Moby Grape Story Part 2

• The Moby Grape Story Part 1

• The Fall of Michael Bloomfield

• The Rise of Michael Bloomfield

• Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed

• Brian Jones The Making of the Rolling Stones

Let It Roll Telepathy

• Mick Jagger on Brian Jones and forming the Rolling Stones

• In the end the Rolling Stones chewed up and and spat out Andrew Loog Oldham

• Andrew Loog Oldham broke The Rolling Stones in the USA

• Andrew Loog Oldham made The Rolling Stones the band Britain loved to hate

• Marianne Faithfull got too close to the fire with the Rolling Stones

• Marianne Faithfull abandoned her pop career to be Mick Jagger’s muse

• Living with the Rolling Stones in 1963

Let It Roll Nightmares

• The Grateful Dead were the pied pipers of psychedelics

• Phil Spector's rise and fall was a rock 'n' roll nightmare

• Why Altamont went so wrong for the Rolling Stones and everyone else

• The Rolling Stones’ journey to Altamont

• Brian Jones got everything he asked for when he formed the Rolling Stones

• Jerry Lee Lewis bounced back at the Star Club

Let Motown Roll

• Let Motown Roll 8: Smokey Robinson fulfilled Berry Gordy’s vision

• Let Motown Roll 7: The epic tragedy of Marvin Gaye

• Let Motown Roll 6: Holland-Dozier-Holland perfected the Motown approach

• Let Motown Roll 5: The Funk Brothers rocked in the shadows of Motown

• Let Motown Roll 4: The women of Motown

• Let Motown Roll 3: The man who sold Motown's records

• Let Motown Roll 2: Berry Gordy's mastery at Motown

• Let Motown Roll 1: Florence Ballard formed the Supremes and paid the ultimate price

3 Kings of American Pop

• The Unmaking of Elvis Presley

We Dig VH1’s Metal Evolution

• Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple Were the Big Three of British Heavy Music

• Blue Cheer, Steppenwolf, the Stooges and MC5 Invent American Hard Rock

• Heavy Metal Emerged When Blues Rockers Added Elements of Classical Music and Opera

We Dig Rock Docs

• Chula Fronteras Documented Tejano Legends Like Lydia Mendoza, Narciso Martinez and Flaco Jimenez

• The MC5's Combination of Hard Rock and Radical Politics Was Too Volatile to Last

CountryRoll (Ken Burns’ Country Music)

• CountryRoll 6: George Jones & Tammy Wynette Were Mr. & Mrs. Country Music

• CountryRoll 5: Charley Pride Integrates Nashville, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard Bring the Bakersfield Sound

We Dig Mike Judge’s Tales from the Tour Bus

• James Brown

• George Clinton

• Waylon Jennings

• George Jones & Tammy Wynette

• Johnny Paycheck

Ed Ward’s “History of Rock and Roll”

• Hard Rock Vs. Soft Rock, AM Vs. FM

• The Birth Of Reggae & The Funk Revolution

• The Invention of 'The Sixties'

• 1968 Rock, Riot, Revolution

• Otis Redding Meets The Love Crowd

• Bob Dylan Rocks Folk

• The Beatles Invade And The Rolling Stones Follow

• What Have We Learned From Ed Ward's History of Rock and Roll [Volume 1]?

• 1963 The British Invasion is Coming!

• 1963 Brill Building pop is perfected

• 1961-1962 The Quiet Years

• 1960 The Fire of Rebellion Has Been Snuffed