Soul, Funk, & Jazz

All Let It Roll episodes covering the Soul, Funk, Jazz, Ska and Gospel genres.

Let It Roll Originals

• Beginning the Jazz Age: Vaudeville, Minstrelsy, Spirituals and Louis Armstrong’s Signifying on the Old Songs

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

• Bettye LaVette Took Her Time to Get to the Top

• Doc Pomus Wrote Classic Songs for Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, The Drifters, Dion & the Belmonts and Many More

• Jamaican Ska Evolved Directly From American R&B

• Eddie Floyd Epitomized the Stax Records Approach to Soul

• Swing King Chick Webb Brought Ella Fitzgerald to the World

• BB King's Beginnings in Memphis & the Mississippi Delta

• The Evolution of American Ska: The Untouchables, Fishbone & The Toasters Led the Way

• What Have We Learned? The Birth & Death of the Cool

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

• Ralph Peer Brought Blues, Jazz, Country, and Latin Music to Record

• From Louis Armstrong to the White Stripes, 'St James Infirmary’ Connects Folk Traditions to Jazz and Rock

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

• Why Does Some Old Music Still Sound Contemporary and Some Sounds Very Dated?

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

• The Cultural Blend That Made New Orleans Music Unique

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

• The Birth of Jazz in New Orleans: Buddy Bolden & Jellyroll Morton and Others Combined Brass Bands with Ragtime and Blues

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

• Frank Sinatra Ruled Post-War America, Until He Didn't

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

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

• Ray Charles Combined R&B with Gospel to Invent Soul Music

• Rhythm and Blues Exploded Out of 1940s Los Angeles Led by Nat “King” Cole & Big Jay McNeely

• Motown's Power Came From the Funk Brothers

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

• Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Big Joe Turner: How Kansas City Vice Birthed Kansas City Jazz

• The Women Who Built Berry Gordy's Motown Empire

• Bing Crosby's Swing Brought Him Superstardom

• The Songs Jazz is Built On

• The Cool: A 20th Century Phenomenon

• 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

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

• Berry Gordy and the Making of Motown

• Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Frank Sinatra and the Swing Era

• Bing Crosby and the Age of the Crooner

• Otis Redding: Supernova

• The Rise of Otis Redding

• Stax Records Blows Up in the 1970s

• Stax Records and the Soul Explosion

• Legends Of Memphis Music From Charlie Feathers To Jeff Buckley

‘80s Roll

• 80s Roll 14: The Olympics, Lionel Richie, Etta James, Marvin Gaye and R&B Radio

HolyRoll

• Holy Roll 6: Mahalia Jackson and the Black Gospel Field

• HolyRoll 5: Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel and Mainstream American Star

• HolyRoll 4: Thomas A. Dorsey Went From 'It's Tight Like That’ to ‘Precious Lord’

• HolyRoll 3: Charles Tindley & Lucie Campbell Pioneered Gospel Composition

• HolyRoll 2: Jubilee Singers and Barbershop Quartets Continued the Evolution of African-American Music

• HolyRoll 1: In America African Culture Survived as The Spiritual

We Dig Mike Judge’s Tales from the Tour Bus

• Betty Davis

• Morris Day

• James Brown

• Bootsy Collins

• Rick James

• George Clinton