Accessibility links
Ed Ward Ed Ward is the rock-and-roll historian on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
thumbnail
Stories By

Ed Ward

Roy Orbison: A 'Monument' To A Pop Legend

Roy Orbison. Sony Music hide caption

toggle caption
Sony Music

Review

Music Reviews

Roy Orbison: A 'Monument' To A Pop Legend

Fresh Air

Roy Orbison didn't really find his identity until he signed with a small Nashville label, Monument, in 1959. Ed Ward looks at the 17 singles that put him, and the Monument label, on the map.

Roy Orbison: A 'Monument' To A Pop Legend

Listen · 8:03
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/135811750/135811802" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
How The Bristol Sessions Changed Country Music

The Stoneman Group Bear Family Records hide caption

toggle caption
Bear Family Records

Review

Music Reviews

How The Bristol Sessions Changed Country Music

Fresh Air

In 1927 and '28, Ralph Peer, a talent scout for the Victor Talking Machine Company, set up recording sessions in a town straddling the Tennessee-Virginia border. The resulting sessions, rock critic Ed Ward says, laid the framework for all of country music.

How The Bristol Sessions Changed Country Music

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/134173199/135540454" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
The Vagrants: A Hot '60s Band, For Exactly Four Years
Tiny Human

Review

Music Reviews

The Vagrants: A Hot '60s Band, For Exactly Four Years

Fresh Air

The Vagrants, one of New York City's most popular bands in the 1960s, recorded only 30 minutes' worth of music. Rock historian Ed Ward explains what happened to the band and why its music is worth hearing today.

The Vagrants: A Hot '60s Band, For Exactly Four Years

Listen · 7:10
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/134174281/134923887" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
A Reissue Of Nick Lowe's 'Labour Of Lust' Is 'So Fine'

Nick Lowe Dan Burn-Forti/Shore Fire hide caption

toggle caption
Dan Burn-Forti/Shore Fire

Review

Music Reviews

A Reissue Of Nick Lowe's 'Labour Of Lust' Is 'So Fine'

Fresh Air

It's hard to believe that Nick Lowe's second album, Labour of Lust, was out of of print for over 20 years. But a new reissue by Yep Roc has remedied that situation. Rock historian Ed Ward says that it's good to have the album — featuring the tracks "Without Love" and "Cruel to Be Kind" — back on shelves.

A Reissue Of Nick Lowe's 'Labour Of Lust' Is 'So Fine'

Listen · 7:31
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/134731264/134731311" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
When A Rock Historian Loves Soul Singer Percy Sledge

Percy Sledge Atlantic Records hide caption

toggle caption
Atlantic Records

Review

Music Reviews

When A Rock Historian Loves Soul Singer Percy Sledge

Fresh Air

The master of country soul, Percy Sledge crooned some of the genre's greatest hits, like "When a Man Loves a Woman." Rock historian Ed Ward says a new box set featuring all of Sledge's Atlantic recordings is certainly worth a listen.

When A Rock Historian Loves Soul Singer Percy Sledge

Listen · 8:28
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/134172710/134592210" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Ella Mae Morse: The Voice Of Capitol's First Hits

Ella Mae Morse. courtesy of Bear Family Records hide caption

toggle caption
courtesy of Bear Family Records

Review

Music Reviews

Ella Mae Morse: The Voice Of Capitol's First Hits

Fresh Air

In 1942, the founders of Capitol Records were in urgent need of a hit. It came from a most unlikely place: a young woman named Ella Mae Morse, whose place in pop-music history has never really been given its due. Rock historian Ed Ward shares her story.

Ella Mae Morse: The Voice Of Capitol's First Hits

Listen · 6:36
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/132051999/133784088" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'Next Stop Is Vietnam': The War In Music

Country Joe at Woodstock. Bear Family Records hide caption

toggle caption
Bear Family Records

Review

Music Reviews

'Next Stop Is Vietnam': The War In Music

Fresh Air

A recent 13-CD box set called Next Stop Is Vietnam: The War on Record 1961-2008 documents the music that dominated the airwaves during the Vietnam War. Rock historian Ed Ward says the compilation could have used some "conscientious curation."

'Next Stop Is Vietnam': The War In Music

Listen · 6:29
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/132054287/133219131" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Goldwax Records: A History Of '60s Memphis Soul

James Carr. Courtesy of Ace Records hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of Ace Records

Review

Music Reviews

Goldwax Records: A History Of '60s Memphis Soul

Fresh Air

Goldwax, a label which issued some of the greatest soul records ever made in Memphis, is almost completely unknown. Given the quality of what it released, it had very few hits, but its legend has lived on. Ed Ward reports on the label's impressive run from 1963 to '70.

Goldwax Records: A History Of '60s Memphis Soul

Listen · 10:13
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/130596359/133179591" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Jimi Hendrix, Before He Was Famous

Jimi Hendrix. Sony Music hide caption

toggle caption
Sony Music

Review

Music Reviews

Jimi Hendrix, Before He Was Famous

Fresh Air

Hendrix spent years recording with whomever he could before being discovered and whisked off to London. A new Legacy box set, West Coast Seattle Boy, showcases Jimi Hendrix as sideman to a number of musician. Rock historian Ed Ward takes a look at it today.

Jimi Hendrix, Before He Was Famous

Listen · 8:45
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/132231192/132231193" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Praise For Songwriters P.F. Sloan And Steve Barri

P.F Sloan on the cover of Here's Where I Belong. hide caption

toggle caption

Review

Music Reviews

Praise For Songwriters P.F. Sloan And Steve Barri

Fresh Air

Sloan and Barri were the songwriters behind "Eve of Destruction" and wrote hits for Herman's Hermits, The Mamas and the Papas and The Turtles. Critic Ed Ward examines their career and their many successful songs.

Praise For Songwriters P.F. Sloan And Steve Barri

Listen · 7:24
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/130594067/131268648" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
The Best Of Apple Records' Albums: Beyond The Beatles

Apple Records was founded by The Beatles in 1968. The label's artists included the Modern Jazz Quartet, Ravi Shankar and Doris Troy. hide caption

toggle caption

Review

Music Reviews

The Best Of Apple Records' Albums: Beyond The Beatles

Fresh Air

The Beatles' Apple Records put out the Fab Four's own singles and albums, as well as music by other performers the individual Beatles liked. Critic Ed Ward takes a look behind the scenes at Apple Records, and at the full albums the label released.

The Best Of Apple Records' Albums: Beyond The Beatles

Listen · 7:46
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/130838132/130998991" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Finding The Best Of The Bands On The Beatles' Label

The Beatles' Apple label, as seen on a copy of Abbey Road. Apple not only released The Beatles' own records, but also looked for younger acts the band hoped would flourish. Don Ryan/AP Photo hide caption

toggle caption
Don Ryan/AP Photo

Review

Music Reviews

Finding The Best Of The Bands On The Beatles' Label

Fresh Air

Apple Records released 31 albums and 52 singles from younger acts it hoped would flourish. Ed Ward reviews Come And Get It: The Best of Apple Records, a collection of the label's remastered and re-released tracks.

Finding The Best Of The Bands On The Beatles' Label

Listen · 8:10
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/130836815/130859448" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Patsy Cline: A Country Career Cut Short

The album Sweet Dreams: Her Complete Decca Masters contains all of Cline's recordings on the label. Hip-O-Select hide caption

toggle caption
Hip-O-Select

Review

Music Reviews

Patsy Cline: A Country Career Cut Short

Fresh Air

One of American popular music's great enigmas, says critic Ed Ward, is what would have happened to Patsy Cline's career if it had lasted longer. She was poised to revolutionize the role of the solo female singer, as well as Nashville's place in the music business, when she was killed in a plane crash. Decca has just released her complete recordings on an album called Sweet Dreams.

Patsy Cline: A Country Career Cut Short

Listen · 7:50
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/129526320/129529849" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Sugar Pie DeSanto: After 50 Years, 'Go Going' Strong

Sugar Pie DeSanto's complete Chess singles from 1961 to 1966 are available on her album Go Go Power. Ace Records hide caption

toggle caption
Ace Records

Review

Music Reviews

Sugar Pie DeSanto: After 50 Years, 'Go Going' Strong

Fresh Air

Critic Ed Ward tells the story of one of the most unusual female soul singers to come out of the early 1960s. Sugar Pie DeSanto, who grew up with Etta James, rose to national prominence when her single "I Want to Know" reached the Billboard charts. Fifty years later, she continues to perform and do her signature move, a back flip, on stage.

Sugar Pie DeSanto: After 50 Years, 'Go Going' Strong

Listen · 7:45
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/128845529/128851975" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Freddie King And The Harsh 'Business' Of The Blues

Taking Care of Business spans most of Freddie King's career. Bear Family Records hide caption

toggle caption
Bear Family Records

Review

Music Reviews

Freddie King And The Harsh 'Business' Of The Blues

Fresh Air

Of the three great blues guitarists named King -- B.B., Albert and Freddie -- arguably the most influential was also the least well-known: Freddie. But his most important work has been unavailable until recently. Critic Ed Ward reviews a recent release, Taking Care of Business, which spans much of King's career.

Freddie King And The Harsh 'Business' Of The Blues

Listen · 9:05
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/128496104/128512247" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript