#13 The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

#13  The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

We came to Cleveland to see the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

From the sky, the building resembles an old phonograph.  The beige circle of brick represents a record.

The building has 5 floors with the displays on Levels, 0, 3, 4, and 5.  Plans for Level 2 are a work in progress called the Garage which opens in July. 

Level 1 ………includes the entry stations, the gift shop, and the All-Access Café.  Plenty of seating allowed us to eat and put our left legs up.  You could also just sit here while waiting for others. Lynn and I ate lunch at the café and really enjoyed our Cubano sandwiches and fruit. Of course we visited the gift shop and left a donation.

Level 0 …….. takes most of the time as you visit Rock & Rock from its beginning right up to artists of today and their impact on this genre of music.

 You enter through a tribute to Woodstock which is now 50 years old. Jim Marshall, a photographer, not a musician,  seemed to be everywhere the culture and counter-culture music existed. He is credited with a multitude of photos from this era.

This section features guitars and write ups of some artists. After going to the Museum of Musical Instruments I have a greater appreciation of all guitars.

  The Roots of Rock displays include Gospel, Blues, Country Folk Bluegrass, and Rhythm and Blues

The early influences display began this section.

And the Beat Goes On allows visitors to step inside these carrels and listen to a variety of music.

Don’t Knock the Rock told of the protests against Rock &Roll music.  The monitors showed film clips of people denouncing Rock & Roll as evil and satanic. I wonder what those groups would think of today’s rap music.

Being an Elvis fan, I really enjoyed this exhibit. The film clips ran continuously and seating was provided. Yea!  I think Elvis and Bill Haley are here for their roles in the beginning of Rock & Roll.

Bill Haley’s guitar

Cities and Sounds told the story of how Rock & Roll began in Memphis, L.A., San Francisco, London, Motown Detroit, Seattle etc.

 Memphis.  This is Dion’s guitar.

Motown out of Detroit.

London, Liverpool

San Francisco

Los Angeles ......   The pink gown belonged to Mama Cass.

London, New York and LA

These two displays include the role of Soul music and Heavy Metal.

Seattle    Can you believe I forgot to get the Seattle Display?  I think I was busy reading and so excited to see Seattle in this collection.

Legends of Rock and Roll

The space jacket was worn by Tom Petty, the top by Madonna.

This outfit that caught our eye was worn by John Paul Jones .  The guitar

 is his Led Zeppelin Bass Guitar.

In honor of the Who a whole room of pinball machines occupied this room.  Hurray for the Pinball Wizard!   The KISS drum set is displayed here too.

A tribute to Alice Cooper.

This area of the Hall showcased, Heart, Metallica, and Bruce Springsteen.

Did you know ZZ Top had fuzzy drums and neon green guitars, as well as the weird ones shown here.

The Beach Boys, The Who, Guns and Roses, David Bowie, The Supremes and James Brown.
As a side note feathers were "in" in the 60's.  Derrille and I had feather bouquets and head pieces for our bridesmaids, orange....just like the Supremes' dresses. LOL

Next came Michael Jackson.  Check out that belt!  It looked so heavy!

A display on Blondie, Deborah Harry and one on Arrowsmith

The Rapper display is totally foreign to me.

The Beatles commanded a very large exhibit space.

The Rolling Stones did too.  Notice how young the band is in the photo and think about them still touring!   Several stations were set up so you could listen to your favorite tunes.  Derrille rates as a big Rolling Stones fan.  He really enjoyed listening to the kiosk and getting information about the sound.

Jimi Hendrix also occupied a large space.

U2 and the Doors had single exhibits.  I chuckled at Jim Morrison’s  Boy Scout uniform from Mir Mar, San Diego.

Right Here, Right Now tells of new millennium singers and writers have made an impact.

Beyonce, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga etc.  I don't know many of the new artists.

A smaller circular room focused on the contributions to Rock & Roll from the Midwest on one side of the room, and Cleveland Rocks on the other.

Level 3 contains the Hall of Fame plaques with each artist’s name and the year of their induction to the Hall of Fame.

 The displays here were too dark to photograph. But I did enjoy reading about who influenced them, and then who did they influence. I found that data interesting.

The Power of Rock Experience in the Conner Theater left us scratching our heads. It was shorter than we expected and it gave very short snippets of singers and songs.  It did use IMAX technology with bright flashing lights and booming sound that moved your bench.  The best part was a long performance by Prince showing off his fantastic guitar skills.

Level 4………Stay Tuned takes a look at how Rock & Roll started on TV with American Bandstand and the Ed Sullivan show. The display included interesting things, but people were so busy reading it never cleared for a photograph.

This view overlooks Lake Erie from the Level 4.

Level 5 continues to look at TV and how it brought the artists into our living room and how those performances revolutionized TV itself.   Other exhibits look at the impact of Music Videos on the Rock & Roll scene.

Near the end of our day, the skies opened up and rain poured down.  That made them close Johnny Cash’s bus.   Lynn and I wanted to see the inside.  Oh well.  Being Motorhome people we can fully understand why you wouldn’t want wet feet tromping inside.

Lynn and I with our left legs complaining felt we had accomplished a great feat to make it through the whole structure.  We did take a couple of rest stops.  One family had spent 7 hours there the day before and came back the next day to finish.  If you read everything, you would need several days.

Derrille particularly enjoyed the Hall of Fame!  The man is a true Rock & Roll fan!  We are very glad this was on our itinerary!