Rock and Roll Night School

2009 - Season Five

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 7 p.m. - Bruce Springsteen’s Early Years

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum has unveiled From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen, the first major artifact-driven exhibit about Springsteen’s legendary career. It is a comprehensive look at his music, from such early bands as Child, the Castiles and Steel Mill through his work with the E Street Band and as a solo artist. As part of the exhibit, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Education Department will offer a series of special Rock and Roll Night School classes focusing on Springsteen’s work.

The first class will explore Springsteen’s roots in garage bands and soul music, his early bands, and his first three albums, Greetings From Asbury Park New Jersey, The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, and Born to Run, all featured prominently in the first half of the exhibit. The class will offer an in-depth look at what brought Springsteen to prominence.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 7pm Inductee Spotlight:  Metallica

Black Sabbath invented heavy metal in the Seventies, and Metallica redefined it in the Eighties. Since erupting on the scene with their debut album, Kill ‘Em All, in 1983, Metallica has been a cutting-edge band – the standard by which metal’s vitality and virtuosity are measured.  This class will take a sonic journey from the early thrash metal albums to the band’s mega-successful 1991 album Metallica [the Black Album] and beyond into the more recent musical explorations on Death Magnetic.  Come join us and delve into a musical history that spans 10 albums, 3 bass players, and more metal than you can shake a stick at!

Wednesday February 25, 7pm, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Foster Theater
Rock and Roll Night School:  The History of King Records

Rock and Roll Night School is a monthly series of educational, discussion-based night classes offered free of charge from 7 pm – 8:30 pm in the Museum’s Foster theater located on the 4th floor.  Lauren Onkey, Vice President of Education and Public Programming, and Jason Hanley, musicologist and Director of Education at the Rock Hall, will lead this month’s class, which will focus on the legendary recordings on King Records.

Between 1943 and 1971, the address of 1540 Brewster Avenue in Cincinnati was home to some of the most vibrant and eclectic music making in America.  King brought together the most diverse range of American voices that reflect Cincinnati’s unique geographical position as a crossroads of American culture: rhythm and blues, country, bluegrass, rockabilly, pop and blues records all poured out of King’s studios. 

Join us as we examine Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees like Hank Ballard, James Brown, and label founder Syd Nathan, while also looking at the contributions of artists such as Otis William & the Charms, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, and the Stanley Brothers.  This class will also draw on interview footage recently conducted by Rock Hall staff and featuring Otis Williams (of the Charms), Bootsy Collins, and Ralph Stanley. 

Rock and Roll Night School Public Archive