guitarist :: Blog
Explore the Legacy of Jimi Hendrix at the Rock Hall's Library and Archives
Jimi Hendrix was born 70 years ago today, on November 27, 1942. The Library and Archives’ collections showcase Hendrix as much as – if not more than – most inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His great rock and roll legacy is the basis for expansive collections that include books, magazine and journal articles, commercial and bootleg audio and video recordings; concert handbills, postcards and posters; record executive artist, business and subject files; promotional and concert photographs, and handwritten lyrics – all related to Hendrix’s meteoric career.
Library and Archives collections focused on Hendrix include those donated by Michael Goldstein, Ed Chalpin, and Jeff Gold. Goldstein is a New York City publicist who served as Hendrix's press manager and publicist from 1967 until Hendrix's death in 1970, and his collection contains clippings, printed ephemera, photographs and press releases related to Hendrix and other artists with whom Goldstein worked.
Ed Chalpin, an entrepreneur and record producer, signed a three-year ...
Behind the Scenes: Rage Against the Machine's Tour Van
Recently, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, who are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut self-titled album's release, donated the 1985 Chevy Astro van that he and his bandmates used as a tour vehicle in the earliest days of their career. Set to go on exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, in early 2013, the Rock Hall's curatorial team got a first look at the van and its contents in preparation of it being exhibited.
In a letter to the Rock Hall's curatorial department, Tom Morello wrote:
"Rage toured with this vehicle from 1991-1993, opening for Pearl Jam, Public Enemy and Ice T, and countless shows of our own. From desperate escapes from Tijuana to fomenting riots in Bakersfield, the Astro was always there. The Astro was also my ride at Harvard taking my various cover bands around the campus and the Boston area. And of course it ...
Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll: "Heart of Gold"
Born on November 12, 1945, Neil Young is one of rock and roll’s greatest songwriters and performers. In a career that extends back to his mid-Sixties roots as a coffeehouse folkie in his native Canada, this principled and unpredictable maverick has pursued an often winding course across the rock and roll landscape. He’s been a cult hero, a chart-topping rock star, and all things in-between, remaining true to his restless muse all the while.
Neil Young was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: first as a solo artist in 1995, and again as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997. After being inducted by Eddie Vedder at the 1995 Hall of Fame Induction ceremony, Young performed blistering versions of "Act of Love" and "F*!#in Up." The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's exhibits in Cleveland, Ohio, are home to a number of artifacts from Young's lengthy career, including the earliest ...
Chuck Berry at the Rock Hall's Library and Archives
On Saturday, October 27, we were truly honored when Hall of Fame Inductee and 2012 American Music Masters honoree Chuck Berry – along with his family, band members, and friends – paid a visit to the Rock Hall’s Library and Archives. After I gave them a brief overview of the Library and Archives and a quick tour of our Library Reading Room, Berry and his group spent time viewing the materials in our Chuck Berry archival exhibit, which was curated by our head archivist Jennie Thomas. Next, the Rock Hall's curatorial director Howard Kramer and I led the group into our Archives Reading Room, where I had pulled out a number of materials from our collections in advance of the group’s visit.
These materials included posters from 1950s rock and roll shows featuring Berry himself, as well as legendary performers such as Big Joe Turner, Muddy Waters, and Elmore James; photographs of Louis Jordan from various archival collections; recording session ...
Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll: "Enter Sandman"
Undisputed kings of thrash, 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Metallica streamlined heavy metal. They unplugged the power, doubled the speed and wrapped themselves in a bleak worldview, poles apart from the party-rockers they helped sweep aside. Combining punk energy with progressive rock's intricacy, Metallica gained notice via metal's tape-trading underground in the early Eighties. It took nearly a decade for them to conquer the pop charts without compromising their initial sound with a self-titled album featuring this hit. "Enter Sandman" is a typically nightmarish tale from singer James Hetfield. It's awash in images of doom, darkness and death worthy of the Brothers Grimm, and replete with Lars Ulrich's drum heroics. "Enter Sandman" prompted restitution on the part of NARAS, who awarded Metallica a Grammy for best metal performance after ignoring them previously in favor of, er, Jethro Tull.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, is home to a ...
Interview with Singer-Songwriter JD McPherson
The work of visual artist, singer-songwriter, guitarist and Oklahoma-native JD McPherson channels his eclectic interests and creative gusto in a singular musical collage that takes a reverence for the past and wraps it in a decidedly forward-thinking motif. The art teacher turned rocker writes songs that reference 40s R&B and the sounds of 50s American rock and roll, pulling from the aesthetic of such record labels as Specialty, Vee-Jay and Del-Fi. Having played in a punk outfit and embracing a penchant for hip-hop, McPherson's retro melange bridges the divide among ostensibly disparate artists, from Ruth Brown to the Wu-Tang Clan, Elvis Presley to the Smiths, Jackie Wilson to Stiff Little Fingers. In 2010, McPherson released his solo debut, Signs & Signifiers, produced by Jimmy Sutton. Originally released on indie imprint Hi-Style Records, the album was re-released to a wider audience on Rounder Records in 2012. "Although I grew up wanting to be a visual artist, I'll tell you what ...
Interview with Guitarist Joe Bonamassa
Guitarist Joe Bonamassa is a charismatic blues-rock star and singer-songwriter of stylistic depth and emotional resonance. A child prodigy, Bonamassa caught B.B. King’s ear at the age of 10. After hearing him play for the first time, King said: “This kid's potential is unbelievable. He hasn't even begun to scratch the surface. He's one of a kind.” By age 12, Bonamassa was opening shows for the blues icon and went on to tour with artists such as Buddy Guy, Foreigner, Robert Cray, Stephen Stills, Joe Cocker and Gregg Allman. Bonamassa’s recording career began in the early ’90s with Bloodline, a hard-charging blues-rock group also featuring Robby Krieger’s son, Waylon, and Miles Davis’ son Erin. His 2000 solo debut, A New Day Yesterday, was produced by 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Tom Dowd.
He was named Billboard’s Number One Blues Artist in 2010 based on the charting success of Black Rock ...
Rare Performances: Chuck Berry's 1986 Hall of Fame Induction Jam Session
“To me, Chuck Berry always was the epitome of rhythm and blues playing, rock and roll playing. It was beautiful, effortless, and his timing was perfection. He is rhythm supreme.” – Keith Richards
The very first Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony got under way on January 23, 1986, in New York City, with Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones ripping off his tuxedo jacket, revealing a flashy leopard-print jacket underneath, in true rock and roll style. That inaugural evening, Richards – Chuck Berry’s biggest fan – inducted his long-time idol, noting, “…this is the gentleman who started it all!” The ceremony itself was a melting pot of all that created rock and roll – country, gospel, the blues, rockabilly and rhythm & blues – with several of the initial inductees on stage, including Jerry Lee Lewis, Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers, who stood beside Lewis’ piano bopping and clapping his hands, and Chuck Berry.
With a who's who of rock and ...
