Henry Ford said, ”History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s damn is the history we make today.” This website asks you to spend time living in the past, to embrace traditions, and to think about what was.  But, as the writer of this website, I ask that you remember the importance of living in the present day and I urge you not to embrace what was as if it were better than what you’ve got in your life today. 

When I first took on the task of attempting to write a history of radio station KHJ in Los Angeles during its glory days in the 1960s, I really could not foresee what I was getting myself into.  The biggest lesson I learned from my work on researching this subject dating back to the late 1970s up to today is this:  Writing about the past is dangerous.  Writing about the past pisses people off. 

Ironically, concern over history and specifically “The History of Rock and Roll” (the rock and roll radio documentary) from the 1960s continues to work people up emotionally.  Some people will just not let it be.  The past is behind us.  The people who really are deserving of credit are who they are.  Time has not changed any of that. 

Let’s look back at what was so that we all may understand:

“The History of Rock and Roll” is famous for being the first rockumentary when it was originally produced for and broadcast on 93/KHJ in 1969 as a 48 hour program.  Despite all the rumors and attempts at revisionist history, the truth is this ambitious production was led by Ron Jacobs and was produced by a highly talented and passionate team at KHJ forty years ago.

In the 1970s, Drake-Chenault (the radio programming and syndication company that no longer exists) crafted a derivative and updated 52-hour version that was distributed on tape on a syndicated basis to other radio stations.  The syndicated Drake-Chenault version should not be mistaken, however, with the first and original version from 1969 narrated by Robert W. Morgan. 

You can listen to the opening couple of minutes from the Drake-Chenault syndicated version in 1980 that was narrated by none other than Bill Drake, himself: HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL OPENING (2:29) MP3, 3.43 MB