Ed Ward

Ed Ward is the rock-and-roll historian on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

A co-author of Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll, Ward has also contributed to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and countless music magazines.

Ward lives in Montpellier, France. He blogs at Ward in France.

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Music Reviews
12:42 pm
Mon September 10, 2012

The Forgotten Story Of Memphis' American Studios

Credit Stan Meagher / Getty Images
"Son of a Preacher Man" was Dusty Springfield's debut on Atlantic. The entire album that spawned it, Dusty in Memphis, was recorded at American Studios.

Originally published on Mon September 10, 2012 1:41 pm

Memphis has been a music town since anyone can remember, and it's had places to record that music since there have been records. Some of its studios — Sun, Stax and Hi — are well-known, but American Studios produced its share of hits, and yet it remains obscure. But that's all likely to change with Memphis Boys: The Story of American Studios, both a book and a CD out now.

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Music Reviews
12:14 pm
Thu September 6, 2012

Harmony, Teenagers And 'The Complete Story Of Doo-Wop'

Originally published on Thu September 6, 2012 3:45 pm

Music Reviews
12:19 pm
Thu August 16, 2012

Autosalvage: The Psychedelic Band That Vanished

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Autosalvage, a New York quartet, made one album and then stopped playing.

Originally published on Fri August 17, 2012 3:14 pm

A little over 10 years ago, a friend with a small record company in England called me and asked if I wanted to do liner notes for an album he was re-releasing. When he told me it was the Autosalvage album, I flipped. Of course I did!

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