Rock N Roll Archaeology

Latest Episodes:

Episode 28: Songs From the Fault Line Oct 14, 2025

Show notes

Rock N Roll Archaeology explores the 1970s LA Sound, a world of sun-drenched harmonies and seismic ambition. From a bizarre funeral pact for Gram Parsons at the Troubadour to the rise of the Eagles from Linda Ronstadt's backing band, this is the story of how a community of folk idealists, including Jackson Browne, gave birth to a billion-dollar industry. We chart the collision course between artistic collaboration and corporate rock, right on the fault line. Producer and Host: Christian Swain Head Writer: Richard Evans Sound Designer: Jerry Danielsen

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RNRA Digs Deeper: The USA vs John Lennon Oct 14, 2025

Show notes

Dig into the archives for a conversation about John Lennon's five-year legal battle against the U.S. government's attempt to deport him. This episode explores the politically charged atmosphere of the early 1970s, where the Nixon administration, wary of Lennon’s anti-war stance and influence over a new generation of voters, sought to silence him.We revisit a powerful interview with the late Leon Wildes, the brilliant immigration attorney who represented John and Yoko, along with his son Michael Wildes. They reveal the strategies, pressures, and ultimate triumphs of a historic legal saga that tested the foundations of American justice and established a lasting legal precedent.

Guest

Leon Wildes was the renowned immigration attorney who successfully represented John Lennon and Yoko Ono against the U.S. government's deportation efforts. An adjunct professor of law and a leading expert in the field, he authored the book John Lennon vs. The U.S.A., detailing the landmark case. His son, Michael Wildes, is the managing partner of Wildes & Weinberg P.C. and continues his father's influential work in immigration law.

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Episode 25: I Know What I Like: The Rise and Fall of Prog Oct 07, 2025

Show notes

Progressive Rock reached its zenith during the early 1970s, a period often celebrated as the genre's golden age. This era of Prog Rock has inspired intense opinions—both positive and negative—that rival those of any other rock movement or genre throughout music history.

Fans of Progressive Rock are known for their passionate dedication.

On the flip side, critics, including renowned voices like Lester Bangs, Robert Christgau, and Robert Hilburn, were notoriously dismissive of Progressive Rock. Despite their often harsh criticisms, we believe that time has proven them wrong.

Our perspective has evolved, and we now view the best of 70s Progressive Rock as a genre with substantial depth and intellectual substance. The music from this era isn't just enjoyable; it’s some of the most significant work of the 20th century.

Not all Prog Rock from this period hit the mark—there were certainly moments of excessive self-indulgence. However, the Prog bands and songs that have stood the test of time are truly exceptional and worth celebrating.

Producer and Host: Christian Swain

Head Writer: Richard Evans

Sound Designer: Jerry Danielsen

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(ICYMI) Episode 19: 1969 Part 2 Sep 30, 2025

Show notes

Welcome back to the second half of our big chapter telling the big story of a big year in Rock. If you haven’t done so already, we highly recommend you listen to Episode 18 before you delve into this one!

We tell the story of 1969 by telling the story of four concerts: The Beatles on the Roof, The Rolling Stones in Hyde Park was the first part. Part Two will take us to the peak, to the apotheosis of Woodstock...and to the abyss at Altamont. And we’ll go to some other places in between too.

1969 is the year Rock N Roll goes global, and we’ll get into that a little, and set up later discussions of great topics like Rock behind the Iron Curtain and the growing influence of Reggae and World Beat.

Then we’ll take you to Woodstock, and call off the roster, with lots of great music and commentary.

The first mythical Rock tour--the Rolling Stones ‘69 tour of America, is up next. That will take us to the final show of the tour, on a dark December night in California, where everything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and the consequences will be tragic.

We close out with some thoughts on the year and on the decade we’ve just completed, and on what comes next.

www.rocknrollarchaeology.com

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(ICYMI) Episode 18: 1969 Part 1 Sep 30, 2025

Show notes

We’re putting down a marker with this episode, and the follow-up: the highest highs and the lowest lows of the entire Rock Era occurred in 1969. It’s a year so big, we had to cut it in two, in order to serve it up properly.

We start in January, with The Beatles on The Roof, a 42-minute outdoor concert that definitely warmed up the neighborhood of Mayfair, London, England. Then we catch up with their friends and rivals, The Rolling Stones.

The Stones broke out HUGE in 68 and 69, the beginning of an incredible five-year run: from Beggars Banquet on through to Exile On Main Street. Peak Stones, the sweet spot for the World’s Greatest Rock N Roll Band.

Brian Jones is out, Mick Taylor is in. We talk about how that happened, and how it impacted the Stones’ sound and attitude. Another influence starts seeping in: American Country Music, thanks to Keith’s new best buddy, Gram Parsons.

Brian’s tragic--and still unexplained--demise changes the Hyde Park Concert from a coming-out party into a memorial service. Emotion and conviction carry the day, and Hyde Park sets a very high and hopeful bar; it’s an early example of How To Successfully Pull Off A Really Big Concert.

During that “Moon-Crazy Summer” of 1969, NASA pulls off something really big. It’s the single greatest feat--so far--of human exploration: The Apollo 11 mission to the moon and back. We look at the moon landing through the Rock N Roll lens; we’ll talk about space travel, science fiction, and fantasy...in books, film, television, and most of all, in Rock Music.

Then David Bowie, with his lifelong knack for being ahead of his time, said take your protein pills and put your helmet on.

And we did.

And in just a short time we got used to it, became a little jaded about it.

That comes later. Here and now in the summer of 1969; stardust, golden, billion year old carbon...got to get ourselves back to the garden.

We’ll open Part Two at Yasgur’s Farm in upstate New York, and we’ll light a candle in the rain.

Head over to ⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/RNRAP ⁠for full show notes.

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Shorts: The Three Body Problem Sep 17, 2025

Show notes

In 1985, a group of powerful "Washington Wives" led by Tipper Gore formed the PMRC to clean up rock and roll, sparking a culture war that culminated in a dramatic Senate hearing.

This episode of ⁠Rock N Roll Archaeology⁠, "The Three-Body Problem," performs a forensic autopsy on that manufactured moral panic. We explore how the unlikely, chaotic alliance of John Denver, Dee Snider, and Frank Zappa dismantled the PMRC's case piece by piece.

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RNRA Digs Deeper: Dennis McNally Jul 16, 2025

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Episode Title: The Last Great Dream: Dennis McNally on the 1960s Counterculture, the Grateful Dead, and Its Lasting LegacyEpisode Summary:What if everything you thought you knew about the 1960s hippie movement and the Summer of Love was just scratching the surface? In this deep-dive conversation, acclaimed author and Grateful Dead historian Dennis McNally joins the show to discuss his monumental book, The Last Great Dream. We go beyond the clichés of flowers and tie-dye to uncover the intellectual, political, and artistic currents that fueled the San Francisco counterculture. McNally reveals how the dream of the 60s continues to shape our modern world in surprising ways—from the food we eat to the computers we use—and offers a profound look at its triumphs, its failures, and its unfulfilled promises.

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Shorts: Southern Rock Opera: Ghosts, Myths, and Monsters Jun 17, 2025

Show notes

Explore the power of myth with Drive-By Truckers' landmark album, Southern Rock Opera. This RNRA Short dissects how Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley used the legend of Lynyrd Skynyrd to confront "The Duality of the Southern Thing." Uncover the stories behind this ambitious double album, its challenging creation, and its lasting impact on Southern rock and the band's "golden era" with Jason Isbell. Host and Producer: Christian Swain Head Writer: Richard Evans Sound Designer: Jerry Danielsen

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(ICYMI) Episode 21: Guitarmageddon Jun 11, 2025

Show notes

Synopsis

The fuse was lit in 1966. Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Keith Moon came together to record a proto-metal classic. After the session an offhand quip from Keith Moon sticks with Jimmy Page.

Then we meet The G; the imposing Peter Grant. Led Zeppelin’s fearsome tough-guy manager was a key reason why Zep dominated the rock landscape in the early 70s.

Well away from Swinging London, in the grimy industrial town of Birmingham, Black Sabbath comes together. We’ll also take a look at one of the greatest Jam Bands ever, Deep Purple. Then on to probably the single saddest story in all of Rock History, the final days of Jimi Hendrix.

Jimi towers over all of it, the late, lamented godfather of Heavy Rock--Rock that centers around the guitar and celebrates blazing virtuosity on that instrument. Complete show notes: ⁠⁠file:///C:/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Users/59tel/Downloads/Episode%2021%20Show%20Notes%20(1).pdf

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(ICYMI) Episode 20: Ohio May 30, 2025

Show notes

Rock N Roll as the First Draft Of History. We begin in the midwest college town of Kent, Ohio, in the late spring of 1970. We’ll meet three future rockers--students at Kent State University, barely out of their teens--who will be changed forever by what they witness.

We’ll check in on Motown, where the fluffy pop “Sound of Young America” is still alive, but there's a big change coming, a movement towards a tougher, more topical sound. We’ll foreshadow that just a little--lots more to come in a later chapter.

Rock N Roll is now Rock, and it is mainstreamed now, big and getting bigger. It set out to subvert the dominant paradigm, now it is the dominant paradigm. It can be downright paradoxical at times; defined by its own contradictions.

We come back to the campus for the shattering events of May 4th. They inspire a unique musical response, something we really haven’t seen since then.

Written by Richard Evans and Christian Swain

Hosted and Produced by Christian Swain

Sound Design by Jerry Danielsen

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