Ed Ward

Rufus Thomas was a Memphis-based disc jockey who helped promote black music throughout the south. He also became a recording artist and producer who wrote dozens of dance hits. Rock historian Ed Ward has this profile.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles singer-songwriter Alex Chilton, an American musician whose career began when he was still a teenager. His band Big Star was critically-lauded but short-lived.

Rock historian Ed Ward says "scrunch" is that romantic longing you feel as summer races toward its end. He talks about the songs that typified this phenomenon for him over the decades.

Rock historian Ed Ward tells the story of how Ray Robinson--an obscure emerging R & B singer--broke away from his image as a Nat King Cole imitator, changed his name, his record label, and established his identity as Ray Charles.

The record label, led by producer Sam Phillips, launched the careers of legends like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. Rock historian Ed Ward remembers several of the other, lesser-known acts Phillips signed during Sun's heyday.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the 1950s singer and guitarist, who was best known for his hit "Summertime Blues." Cochran died of injuries sustained during a limo accident while touring in England.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the band Mott the Hoople, whose weird and "wildly inconsistent" albums typified the sound of the 70s.

The band's frontman Mick Jagger turns 45 this year. Ed Ward celebrates by looking at some of the music that shaped the Stones' sound.

Rock historian Ed Ward looks at the history of Jamaican reggae music, which he says began as a reinterpretation of 1950s American rock and roll before becoming a style uniquely its own.

Rock historian Ed Ward remembers The Dominoes, an early rock group led by pianist Billy Ward. The band helped launch the careers of Clyde McPhatter and Jackie Wilson.