Ed Ward began writing about music in Broadside magazine in 1965, and has been on the staffs of Rolling Stone and Creem, as well as contributing to dozens of other newspapers and magazines. He’s been Fresh Air’s rock historian for 24 years on NPR and currently lives in France, where he’s writing a book of cultural history.
It was 1965, and Little Richard had screwed up. Quitting rock and roll at… more »
John Lee Hooker wasn't from Chicago; he was from its bitterest rival,… more »
The Impressions had kind of a rocky time at Vee-Jay, in part because the … more »
The Dells were, along with the Impressions, one of the most spectacular v… more »
Never heard of alto saxophonist Frank Strozier? You're not alone. Des… more »
Unless they sought to carve out careers as soloists, piano players were o… more »
In 1955, Vivian Carter held a "beat the Spaniels" contest to tr… more »
Sam Phillips famously described Howlin 'Wolf's voice as "whe… more »
Not only were the Blind Boys, fronted by the great Archie Brownlee, not i… more »
Soul music, we are constantly reminded, is the melding of the vocal techn… more »
Vee-Jay's jazz catalogue was never taken as seriously by the white ja… more »
There was a time during the great folk scare of the early 1960s when if y… more »
The world of Cajun and Creole music is one of constant back-and-forth bor… more »
Uncle Dave was a born entertainer, and one of the first country superstar… more »
Holcomb never recorded in the old days, but made up for it after his redi… more »
Dock Boggs, bootlegger, farmer and banjo player, recorded during the … more »
Virtuosity counted for a lot in early country, and Tom Darby and Jimmie T… more »
Great things happened with the arrival of western swing, a marvelous hybr… more »
Here is the archetypal western group, all sweet harmonies, sentimental de… more »
: Naked ladies. A huge fad for Hawaiian music spread through the United S… more »
If you're looking for a first serious jazz album to listen to, this m… more »
The second, and final, album Charles Mingus recorded for Columbia in 1959… more »
The best-selling jazz album of all time, the album that blew jazz up and … more »
By the time Thelonious Monk signed with Columbia in the mid '60s, he … more »
At eMusic, we take pride in being the place you hear about artists first. Whether it's through our eMusic Selects program - which brought you the first releases by Best Coast, Crystal Stilts, Strand of… more »
