Geography is important. As Jimmy Buffet said, “Changes in latitude, changes in attitude, nothing remains quite the same.”
This year, Louise and I have had the opportunity to visit some landmarks important to musicians. In January we went to Memphis – the birthplace of rock & roll. We hung out on Beale Street, went to Sun Studios, The Rock & Soul Museum, the Gibson guitar factory, and of course, Graceland, home of Elvis Presley.
In July on a trip to Los Angeles, we not only hit some Beach Boys sights, but drove up Laurel Canyon where in the 1970’s a lot of musicians lived and jammed. Out of Laurel Canyon, home to Joni Mitchell, Jackie DeShannon, Frank Zappa, David Crosby, and many more, came the Eagles, the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Poco, Flying Burrito Brothers, Crosby Stills and Nash, among others.
We’ve been to Nashville many times to see the Ryman and the Country Music Hall of Fame. So this week we went to Cleveland to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. This was actually my birthday trip to celebrate my sixtieth birthday.
The term “Rock & Roll” was coined by Cleveland disc-jockey, Alan Freed who also promoted what would be become the world’s first rock concert.
The rock hall contains thousands of artifacts such as Janis Joplin’s Porsche and the tape recorder used to record Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Clothes, guitars, hand written songs, and thousands of other pieces of history are enshrined in this museum to American culture.
Since I have lived every minute of the history of rock and roll, this was a significant place for me. I was born the same year that the LP was invented and I was two when the first rock song was recorded. I got my driver’s license the year that the Beatles had their first hit. I worked my way through college playing rock and roll music and am still playing every chance I get.
If you can relate to any of these things, you need to go to Cleveland to see all the stuff that made us what we are today.
This year, Louise and I have had the opportunity to visit some landmarks important to musicians. In January we went to Memphis – the birthplace of rock & roll. We hung out on Beale Street, went to Sun Studios, The Rock & Soul Museum, the Gibson guitar factory, and of course, Graceland, home of Elvis Presley.
In July on a trip to Los Angeles, we not only hit some Beach Boys sights, but drove up Laurel Canyon where in the 1970’s a lot of musicians lived and jammed. Out of Laurel Canyon, home to Joni Mitchell, Jackie DeShannon, Frank Zappa, David Crosby, and many more, came the Eagles, the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Poco, Flying Burrito Brothers, Crosby Stills and Nash, among others.
We’ve been to Nashville many times to see the Ryman and the Country Music Hall of Fame. So this week we went to Cleveland to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. This was actually my birthday trip to celebrate my sixtieth birthday.
The term “Rock & Roll” was coined by Cleveland disc-jockey, Alan Freed who also promoted what would be become the world’s first rock concert.
The rock hall contains thousands of artifacts such as Janis Joplin’s Porsche and the tape recorder used to record Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Clothes, guitars, hand written songs, and thousands of other pieces of history are enshrined in this museum to American culture.
Since I have lived every minute of the history of rock and roll, this was a significant place for me. I was born the same year that the LP was invented and I was two when the first rock song was recorded. I got my driver’s license the year that the Beatles had their first hit. I worked my way through college playing rock and roll music and am still playing every chance I get.
If you can relate to any of these things, you need to go to Cleveland to see all the stuff that made us what we are today.
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