Deep Tracks

At long last, we tackle Chuck Berry! In this episode we focus on his life story and on his lyrics. You also get to experience my new segue music. That alone is worth the listen...

In this episode we focus primarily on the life and career of Fats Domino, but of course meander through the stories of several other interesting musical figures such as B.B. King and Ike Turner, not to mention we look at what is considered by most to be the first rock 'n' roll song: "Rocket 88." We also talk about boogie-woogie, jump blues, and an ant crawling across a piano keyboard during my youth...

The title says it all: this episode is about sex, record charts, and early rock music. More specifically, we're going to be talking about sexual innuendo within hokum blues and other forms of music, how this impacted people's perception of black music in general, how that would carry over into perceptions surrounding rock's birth, and finally about record charts, crossovers, and covers. There are also a couple of really bad puns in this episode. I regret nothing.

Rock was born alongside youth culture in the U.S. and the two of them informed and fueled each other. The invention of the American teenager and the national anxiety over juvenile delinquency would impact how the first generation of rockers would make their decisions, how they would be viewed and treated, and in some cases even define their legacies. This episode focuses in on that one factor surrounding rock's birth: the rise of youth culture. And we do this by analyzing three movies that came out in the 1950s: "The Wild One," "Rebel Without a Cause," and "Blackboard Jungle."

We take a deep dive into the business side of music! I speak with the genius behind Green Room Strategy, John Lucchetti! We talk about things like talent management, promotion, branding, Alan Parsons and the Alan Parsons Project, plus tons of other stuff! There's lots of great info in here for aspiring musicians, up-and-coming bands, or even just folks who are curious about the "man behind the curtain" in the music industry.

An overview of our timeline so far, focusing on the connective tissue between styles/genres/musical cultures, and what elements are there in the music that would contribute to rock's birth. To prevent it from getting too dry, I invited my clone back into Deep Tracks Studio to cover the material with me. A surprise guest shows up at the very end.

We explore two rhythm & blues icons who had a huge impact on early rock: Elmore James and Bo Diddley! Both men were fantastic craftsmen with not only their music but even their instruments, both of them being famous tinkerers who developed new designs for guitars and louder amps. We also spend a little time on Ike and Tina Turner, plus I've included some great bloopers at the very end (for those who listen to the whole episode ;)

Here is the second half--the thrilling conclusion--to Episode 7 (which, you might remember, I decided to split into two parts because it was getting to be so long). In this Part 2, we finish off Muddy Waters' story and examine Howlin' Wolf's. We also talk briefly about Mad Max and Tina Turner...

I couldn't contain everything about Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Chess Records in just one episode.  So, while editing this episode, I decided to divide it into two parts.  Part one deals with the beginnings of Chess Records as well as Muddy Waters.  Part two will pick up where we leave off with Muddy's story and then tell Howlin' Wolf's story.  It's a lot of great music and great stories, so it's guaranteed to also be great listening!

In this episode, I interview Ma and Pa Deep Tracks!  They were teens/young adults during the time of rock's birth, so they saw firsthand many of the events and cultural changes we're examining in this show.  There's a lot to unpack in this episode that I left untouched for now, but rest assured I will certainly be tackling many of the things we discussed in future episodes.