Ed Ward

Ed Ward was a music journalist and historian who traced popular music through performers, record labels, and local scenes. The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 1 follows the genre’s foundations from the 1920s through 1963, connecting country, blues, rhythm and blues, gospel, radio, and musicians who carried traditions to mass audiences. Flatiron Books published it as the first half of his two-volume history. Ward treats rock not as a sudden invention, but as the result of overlapping styles, businesses, and communities.