logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2021
49m 5s

The road to rock'n'roll

Bbc World Service
About this episode

In a segregated US, black audiences, entertainers and entrepreneurs established their own network of live performance venues known as the Chitlin’ Circuit. Concentrated primarily in the Deep South, it provided many pioneers of modern music with the platform to hone their craft and perfect their style as they travelled the country. Virtually every notable African-American performer from the '30s to the '60s graced the circuit. From famous urban institutions like The Apollo Theater in New York or The Howard Theatre in Washington D.C, to a run-down barn on a country back-road. It was in these settings, amidst a backdrop of segregation, that the sounds of rhythm and blues and rock’n’roll emerged and evolved, long before they captivated the world. Bobby Rush shines a light on a hugely influential network of venues that paved the way for rock’n’roll and shaped music history.

Up next
Yesterday
Adeju Thompson: Taking fashion label Lagos Space Programme to the world
Adeju Thompson, the founder and creative director behind the Nigerian fashion label Lagos Space Programme, attempts to establish the label on the global fashion scene. Lagos Space Programme blends Yoruba heritage (notably Adire dyeing) with queer and futurist aesthetics, taking i ... Show More
26m 29s
Aug 24
Bonus: Lives Less Ordinary presents, Hold Fast!
The incredible true story of how The Avontuur was locked down at sea for 188 days during the Covid-19 pandemic, with 15 people on board. The journey begins for ship’s cook Giulia Baccosi when she accepts a last-minute job aboard the sailing cargo ship The Avontuur. She tells the ... Show More
24m 55s
Aug 23
Mud wrestling and tent pegging: Africa’s unusual sports
We take a look at some of the more unusual sports practiced on the African continent. Kelvin Kimathi recently travelled to Uganda where a muddy version of entertainment wrestling is becoming increasingly popular. Marcia Veiga discovered Capoeira Angola whilst finding a way to con ... Show More
26m 21s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2024
NOËL - Bob Dylan : "Highway 61 Revisited" ou l'âme de la musique américaine
REDIFF - Pendant les fêtes, retrouvez les Lettres d'Amérique des correspondants de RTL à New York... La "Highway 61" n'est pas seulement une route qui traverse l'Amérique du nord au sud, reliant le Minnesota à la Louisiane, en passant le Missouri, le Tennessee et le Mississipi. C ... Show More
19m 7s
Feb 2024
Rock Firsts By Black Artists
We would not be sitting here talking about rock music if it weren’t for people of African descent…if you start in the present and begin to trace things backward to important innovations and accomplishments, nine times out of ten, you’ll end up exploring something from black cultu ... Show More
36m 12s
Feb 2024
Dance Yourself Free (Throwback)
Beyonce's Renaissance brought house music back to mainstream audiences. But even when it wasn't gracing the Grammys, house never went away. Born from the ashes of disco in the late 1970s and '80s, house was by and for the Black, queer youth DJing and dancing in Chicago's undergro ... Show More
50m 1s
Dec 2016
Bruce Springsteen
Kirsty Young's castaway this week is Bruce Springsteen.His career has brought him 20 Grammys, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award and his albums sell in their millions around the world. He grew up in New Jersey where the Catholic church played a central role in his early life. Th ... Show More
48m 37s
Aug 2020
Blues Rock Blues: Jack White vs. The Black Keys
In the late '90s, The White Stripes came on the scene as a true anomaly: A post-modern blues-rock duo from the Midwest. A few years later, however, another blues-rock duo from the Midwest, the Black Keys, emerged and eventually became one of the most popular rock bands in America ... Show More
46m 21s
Mar 2023
Dance Yourself Free
Ever since Beyonce's Renaissance dropped last summer, house music has found its way back to mainstream audiences, prompting some to ask "Is house back?" But the truth is, it never went away. Born out of the ashes of disco in the underground clubs of Chicago by Black queer youth i ... Show More
50m 18s
Dec 2018
THE BEATLES / BACK IN THE USSR /REAR CHANNELS / FAB WHITE ALBUM 5.1MIXES VOL. ONE
Making innovative use of technology while expanding the possibilities of recorded music, the Beatles urged experimentation by Martin and his recording engineers. Seeking ways to put chance occurrences to creative use, accidental guitar feedback, a resonating glass bottle, a tape ... Show More
2m 42s
Aug 2023
Musique: Horace Andy, le génie septuagénaire jamaïquain
Horace Andy est une légende vivante du reggae depuis les années 1970. Artiste visionnaire venu des sound systems de Kingston en Jamaïque, il est aussi le précurseur et l’instigateur de mouvements musicaux comme le dub et le dancehall. Le chanteur septuagénaire est entré dans l’hi ... Show More
4m 11s
Dec 2018
THE BEATLES / BLACKBIRD / REAR CHANNELS / FAB REMIXED WHITE ALBUM 5.1MIXES VOL. ONE
Last Modified: 10 Dec, 2018 Description: Making innovative use of technology while expanding the possibilities of recorded music, the Beatles urged experimentation by Martin and his recording engineers. Seeking ways to put chance occurrences to creative use, accidental guitar fee ... Show More
2m 20s