This week Nate is joined by author Joe Nick Patoski for the final of three episodes discussing his biography of Willie Nelson: An Epic Life In this episode, Joe Nick tells us about the years when Willie, Waylon and the boys became the biggest stars in American pop music, Willie’s triumphant 80’s doing duets with everyone from Merle Haggard and Ray Price to Julio Iglesias, his battles with the IRS, touring with the Highwaymen and playing at the wedding of Bill and Melinda Gates and Ray Charles’ funeral. Thanks for listening. Next week, Nate will be back with author Robert Gordon to discuss his new book: Memphis Rent Party.

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You can read all about this 3 part series in Joe Nick Patoski's "Willie Nelson: An Epic Life". In this episode, Joe Nick tells us why Willie wasn’t satisfied as one of Nashville’s top songwriters and about his long struggle with the country music establishment.

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You can read all about this 3 part series in Joe Nick Patoski's "Willie Nelson: An Epic Life". In this episode, Joe Nick tells us how a country boy from Abbott, Texas grew into a hard-core honky tonk hero, playing gigs from San Antonio to Portland, Oregon. Honing his skills as a singing radio DJ and selling everything from encyclopedias to classic songs for as little as $50 a pop.

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This week author Paul Trynka returns to discuss his first book, “Portrait of the Blues” a classic that’s unfortunately out of print but widely available online for a slight premium. In this episode Nate chats with Paul about the time he spent connecting with legendary bluesmen like John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin and the stories they told about their lives and adventures playing the blues from Mississippi to Chicago and all over the world.

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This week special guest Dr. Cam Cobb returns to finish the story of Moby Grape. Cam’s the author of “What’s Big and Purple and lives in the Ocean - The Moby Grape story” This week, Cam and I conclude the tale of Moby Grape and their journey from being the “Next Big Thing” of 1967 to madness, drugs, mental institutions and utter creative and personal dissolution. We’ll talk about Skip Spence’s infamous axe-wielding breakdown at Columbia Records headquarters and how the rest of the Grape managed to cut some great music amidst the ruin.

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Host Nate Wilcox is joined by author James Burns to discuss his book “Let’s Go to Hell: Scattered Memories of the Butthole Surfers.” This week, James and I talk about the unique circumstances of the 1980s that allowed a band as outre as the Butthole Surfers to reach a large international audience, the research involved in compiling a hardcore oral history, many staggering scatalogical anecdotes and the cosmo-historic importance of Gibby Haynes, Paul Leary and company.

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Ed Ward is back for a discussion of Bob Wills and Western Swing. This week, Ed and I pick up the history of country music where we left off after the Carter Family & Jimmie Rodgers episode and carry on to the 1930s emergence of a distinctive genre in Texas: Western Swing and the man, Bob Wills, who led it to the top of the pop charts, packed dance halls, TV and movies.

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This week I’ve got a special guest: Dr. Cam Cobb author of “What’s Big and Purple and lives in the Ocean - The Moby Grape story.” This week, Cam and I begin the amazing and tragic story of Moby Grape -- the Next Big Thing of 1967, how they were caught up in one of the first rock record company feeding frenzies and had their classic debut album swamped by a wave of overhype.

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Today Ed Ward and I will be filling in a gap in our discussion of his epic History of Rock & Roll Part 1, 1920-1963 by discussing the evolution of African-American music from blues & jazz thru swing to Rhythm and Blues with a focus on great performers from Bessie Smith to Louis Jordan. This week, Ed and I talk about the how African-American pop music transformed itself thru the swing era, the rise & fall of the blues queens, the thin line between jazz and blues, the first guitar heroes and the greatest American musical superstar you’ve probably barely heard of, Louis Jordan.

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Ed Ward and host Nate Wilcox fill in a gap in our discussion of his epic History of Rock & Roll Part 1, 1920-1963 by discussing the foundation of commercial country music and its first superstars, Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family. This week, Ed and I talk about the 1927 Bristol Virginia sessions where A&R man Ralph Peer discovered both Rodgers and the Carters, their different career arcs and musical styles and their incredible impact on American popular music.

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