The Chitlin' Circuit: Preston Lauterbach on the Road to Rock and Roll

The roots of rock and roll began in the 1930s, when jazz musicians looked for venues to play beyond the reach of mob-controlled clubs in the North. A promoter laundering his numbers-running revenue expanded this network of jook joints, barns, taverns, and luxurious clubs across the South, creating the Chitlin' Circuit that would bring the world Little Richard, Louis Jordan, James Brown, B.B. King and even Jimi Hendrix.

The story is as wild as the music, and no one tells it better than our guest, Preston Lauterbach, author of The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock and Roll.