So we’ve done stuff like that, and the first major big exhibit we did was called “I Want to Take You Higher” and it was about kind of the psychedelic era. So we do those, and then we do smaller special exhibits too. Like actually one opened today that you’ll be able to see; it’s called “Elvis 1956”. It’s basically this photographer Alfred Wertheimer, RCA Records (after Elvis signed with them) hired him to do a photo shoot, and this is before Elvis was as famous as he got to be. So basically unprecedented access, he ended up hanging out with Elvis for a few weeks. So there’s pictures of him on stage, and there’s also pictures of him with girlfriends; there’s one where he’s tongue kissing a girl [chuckles].
Give me a little walk-through of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, through your eyes.
Basically there’s the main exhibit hall, and that’s on the lowest level. That starts the movie called Mystery Train and that’s about the roots of rock and roll up to Elvis. And then there’s’ the Elvis exhibit, [the regular Elvis artifacts] and then sort of next to that there is the gallery where the Elvis photo exhibit is. Then there’s a corridor you go down and one side of it is the roots of rock and roll stuff, and then the other side of it is different cities. It starts with Memphis in the ‘50s and Detroit during the Motown period, and then it goes up to Seattle for grunge.
Then we also on that level have a Beatles exhibit, a Rolling Stone exhibit, a Jimi Hendrix exhibit, Jim Morrison exhibit… Morrison’s stuff is cool because his parents basically kept everything related to him, so it goes to the hospital bill when his mother gave birth to him, and all of his school report cards. Notes he wrote his parents when he was a little kid, and actually in a Rolling Stone interview he had, they asked him, what was the first poem he ever wrote, and it was called “The Pony Express”; and they actually have the manuscript of that. So we actually have all this very early Jim Morrison stuff that’s excellent. Then there is a central section out there where we focus on different bands; U2’s out there, and David Bowie, and The Allman Brothers, Parliament Funkadelic, Zz Top.
Article comments
1 - Scott M. Deitche
Great piece.
I would have asked him, though, if he knew who supplied the crack to the nominating committee, causing them to induct popsters ABBA, yet neglect rock icons like Rush.
2 - Cindal Heart
Jim is one of the voices on the committee, I am actually pretty sure he has a pretty high vote as to whom gets selected for nomination. But there are something like 25 (total) people on the committee. Who knows what they're personalities, likes/dislikes, backgrounds are that succumb to the decision making process.
But, although I agree with you (I am not much of a fan of ABBA) - I can say this, their decisions are based widely on "Impact". Which artist/band has contributed the most amount of impact to our music society.
I mean I am sure there must be some amount of bias's mounted up in the process, and Rush certainly deserves at least a nomination, I agree. But also, give it time. There are so many legends, there are so many great influences in music over such an immense period of time.
The Hall of Fame has only been inducting for 25 years, and we have to at least understand that there is a paramount of time left to vote in the superior rockers, ie: Rush.