Forget the 1950s diner and the jukebox. This deep dive argues the blueprint of rock and roll was laid down in 1929 by a nearly blind teenage guitarist in the Jim Crow South. Lemoyne Roosevelt Graves, born December 9, 1909 in Rose Hill or Summerland, Mississippi, and his younger brother Uaroy, born around 1912, were both nearly blind, and in a rural economy built on field labor, music was one of the only paths away from destitution. Roosevelt sang and played guitar while Uaroy hammered a tambourine with a snare-like backbeat, and together they moved freely between reverent gospel and raucous juke joint blues.

The episode examines their 1929 Paramount session, credited to Blind Roosevelt Graves and Brother, which produced the gospel standout I'll Be Rested, the earliest known recording of Guitar Boogie, and Crazy About My Baby, a track one pr ...