It is generally assumed that American popular music comes from the coastal regions of Africa; that the slaves brought drums to the United States; that jazz originated, somehow, in New Orleans; that the blues developed in the Mississippi Delta, and later became the cornerstone of everything from rock n roll to ragtime. All of these assumptions are untrue, and this episode with seek to uncover the real story – in Africa, on the edge of the Sahara; in Austria and the Salzkammergut; in the Ozark mountains of Arkansas; in New Orleans and in Texas.

featuring

Duke Ellington

Ginger Baker

James Brown

LeRoi Jones

Lightnin' Hopkins

Rufus Thomas

The Platters

Tina Turner