There were only a handful of “bucket list” items that were on the “make it happen, even if you have to go out of your way” list. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was on that list.  It’s not so much that Cleveland is off the beaten path on the way to New Jersey, it’s more that it was going to be a push to get there after driving from Libertyville/Chicago area, and still have enough time to take it in before it closed.

Math…6 hours of driving, minimum… and then park, get tickets, and fly through what could/should have taken at least 4 hours to take it all in. But, then we hit the endless construction zones that seem to be I-90 in the Spring and Summer months. At least half of the trip 400 mile trip was delayed by single-lane, 45 MPH travel…crammed between loads of people who were in a hurry, and driving like dillweeds (that is the most PG term I could come up with).

It was complicated by a “Siri mishap” with a detour through Cleveland that could have been avoided…but, we got there at just past 4PM…giving us 1.5 hours to “see it all.”

We did. I can’t say we had the luxury of actually appreciating everything we saw…but damn it…we SAW it.

Anyone who knows me…knows that music is at the core of who I am. I have been influenced by so many great players/writers/performers…I couldn’t begin to make a list.

And for the most part…the RRHOF had a piece of everyone I revered.

I can’t/won’t take the time to post every pic here…or try to lay out why each was so significant…but, suffice it to say, there was a lot of “Holyfreakinshirt! Come Look at THIS!” going in between Deb and I.

Music for me is more of a touchstone to my life’s history than even food (which is supposed to be one of the strongest triggers for memory).  I can tell you where I was when I first heard almost every major influential artist/song for the first time. I can certainly tell you why they changed my purview of music at any time in my life.

But, there is something that only a musician can appreciate when viewing some of the historical artifacts in this place.  It is the amazing commonality of the instruments (often far less flashy, glitzy, or magic than one would expect), and the unique way in which their talents were used. Their clothes look like…well…clothes. Normal, “I could wear that” clothes…(except for Lady GaGa’s meat dress).  But, then you stop to think of the music, lyrics, performance, and dedication to their art, that these people shared with us, and you are humbled by the gifts that seemed to flow from their hands in ways that should amaze everyone.

I know what it is like to play…and write…and channel a new composition.  But, I’ll never know what it is like to write a GREAT song…that changes lives…and alters the course of popular music forever.

It’s best that I only had an hour and a half there. I would likely have been an emotional wreck if we’d stayed longer.

Pics/Thoughts from the RRHOF. Stuff that really stood out…

Artifacts of the San Francisco sound…

   
Little Feat was one of those bands that upon first listening…shook me to the core. “Waiting for Columbus” in my opinion, is still one of the best live concert albums of all time.

It was amazing to see one of Lowell George’s primary strats, along with his favorite slides (a Sears 3/16th socket) and a sheet of set list variations, that was clearly in the period just prior to recording “Waiting for Columbus” in Lowell’s handwriting.

My theme song…”Fat Man in the Bathtub” is there… amazing…and too cool.

The British Invasion hit me hard. REALLY hard. First (and always) the Beatles…and then the raucous sound of the Who…followed in the early 70s by Zepplin.  I absorbed it all…and my family had to endure it at all hours/volumes almost 24/7

It turns out that Jimmie was a DUCKS fan when he was a kid… amazing slice of life picture. Too cool…

And finally…the art rock band that changed my view of what music could be…Genesis…and Peter Gabriel.

PInk Floyd anyone?? 

The Recording Studio that Started it All…

One of the most underrated, and most influential people in the history of rock and roll…Les Paul was an innovator of the first electric guitars…and a pioneer of multi-track recording.

There is reams more I could/should/will write about this place…and the influence these amazing people have had in my life…

But, now, it’s time to pack…and head off to Rhinebeck…and World War I…