Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Rocks!

I am not one of those students who plans elaborate trips to Hawaii, Florida, Jamaica or Bermuda for my breaks from school. Just the fact that I’m not in school is enough for me. But there was one excursion that I was really hoping to get in during this year’s Spring Break. My desired destination was the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum, and I brought the week to a close with that trip yesterday. I was accompanied on my trip by a friend from college and my mom, who was doing the driving. She ventured out despite the considerable snowfall, and we were on our way.

Two hours later we reached our destination. We arrived at the museum at 10:00 with the whole day ahead of us. It’s a good thing we got there pretty early, because although we had heard from various sources that the museum took two to three hours to get through, we spent five and a half hours wandering through the seven floors.

On the ground level, several exhibits are available for perusal. The Jimi Hendrix Exhibit includes a variety of memorabilia from the life of the late singer. Family photos, lyrics, guitars, costumes, and a fifteen-minute program featuring footage from his Isle of Wight concert are among the artifacts. Rockin’ All Over the World focuses on the relationship between different cities and rock and roll. Many interesting articles, including albums, personal notes, instruments, and drawings, are found in each city’s panel.

Legends of Rock contains items belonging to big-name stars such as Tina Turner, Led Zeppelin, Madonna and the Who. Rave On: Rock and Roll’s Early Years pays tribute to the earliest rock and rollers. Among its featured artists are Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers, Little Richard and Chuck Berry. The Roots of Rock and Roll goes even further back, noting the influence of various musical genres on rock and roll. Blues, bluegrass, gospel, soul, R&B, country, and folk all have representation here.

The floor is rounded out by smaller exhibits: Don’t Knock the Rock, U Got the Look, Rock of Ages: The Early Influences, the Gallery, Atlantic Records, Sun Records, The Rolling Stones, and One Hit Wonders. Keep an eye out for the impressive sight of a large spiral design made up of dozens of signed drumsticks from one man’s personal collection.

Two 12-minute films, Mystery Train and Kick Out the Jams, consecutively shown in two theaters, give a brief history of rock and roll. The first focuses on its roots and earliest manifestations, while the latter turns its attention to the music of the sixties and beyond. This latter film contains some footage and language which is not appropriate for young children. Both films, shown on three screens, contain a barrage of music, images, and commentary from rock and roll experts and artists.

Beyond all of these exhibits, the ground level has three interactive kiosks. Five Hundred Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll allows visitors to search for influential recordings by year, artist, and song itself. As you click on each recording, you hear the song and read information about it. As with all of the kiosk computers, this comes with headphones on either side. We spent quite a bit of time browsing through the lists according to the different criteria. The Beat Goes On ‘ Performer Influence Database features information about different rtists/groups and two artists/groups that influenced them. There are fewer performers to choose from here, but you can select performers from a variety of genres. When you click on an influence, you’ll get some written information about how this artist/group was influential to the other. You will then hear a clip, first of the inspiration, and then of the inspired. Finally, Come See About Me ‘ Performer Database features in-depth information on over five hundred groups and individual performers. Profiles contain photographs, written histories, video commentaries and discographies.

The lobby’s only exhibit is On the Charts, a pretty small collection of items from current singers such as Britney Spears, The Backstreet Boys, and *N Sync. The rest of the floor is occupied by the ticket booth and the museum floor.

The first thing you’ll see on the second floor is Respect: The Sound of Soul, a wall-long display featuring memorabilia from artists such as James Brown, Al Green, Otis Redding and Steve Cooper. The Memphis Recording Service allows visitors to view equipment from the Sun Records recording studio, where Elvis Presley and other influential artists made their initial recordings. The Big Beat: Alan Freed includes a video and information about the man who is credited with coining the phrase ‘rock and roll’. Behind this display is Rock and Radio, a kiosk allowing visitors to search for DJs by year and by city (unfortunately, there seems to be no way to search by name). Surrounding these stations are radios from the forties and fifties.

Rock and the Movies is another kiosk, this one focusing on the interaction between rock and roll and film. Categories to be searched include rock artists’ favorite movies, worst appearance of a rock artist in a movie, best soundtracks, best animated rock films, best rock and roll movies, and songs taken from movie titles. Video Killed the Radio Star is a 12-minute film shown on a tower of televisions. It uses clips from music videos to demonstrate how visual stimuli have become so ingrained in our musical culture that radio is becoming obsolete. This particular film also contains mature themes, and it is presented in such a dizzying fashion that we were unable to watch the whole thing.

Before leaving this floor, be sure to check out the two-sided display featuring Billy Joel on one side and Bruce Springsteen on the other. Then glance through the Rolling Stone Magazine exhibit, which displays some of the controversial rock magazine’s most famous covers. You’ll notice that Lennon was a favorite subject. Take special note of the cover which appeared on the issue announcing his death. It will appear again on the fourth floor. The unconventional portrait of John Lennon and Yoko Ono was taken just hours before he was shot on December 8, 1980.

The third floor houses the museum cafe. Other than a very small two-sided exhibit dedicated to The Band and U2, this floor’s focus is the Hall of Fame. Not yet featuring the 2001 inductees ‘ about whom information can be found on the ground floor ‘ the theater shows a 38-minute multimedia presentation on three screens showing clips of artists who have been inducted since 1986. Just outside the theater, a television plays a 12-minute series of clips from past induction ceremonies.

Other than the Hall of Fame Interactive Jukeboxes, computer stations containing over 25,000 songs performed by inductees, the fourth floor is John Lennon’s. The fifth and sixth floors contain only material pertaining to Lennon. These exhibits make up Lennon: His Life and Work, a special exhibit running through September of this year. The fourth floor begins the journey into Lennon’s life. A wall of collages which Lennon did, including the ones he created for Ringo Starr, George Harrison and Elton John. The bed he and Yoko Ono shared which was made from church pews. A large array of pictures, notes, and glasses, including the ones Lennon was wearing when he died. And a telephone which rings from time to time; Yoko Ono is on the other end, waiting to chat. We were hoping that would happen while we were there, but no such luck.

Inside the theater, we were treated to a lengthy film featuring interviews of John and Yoko Ono and commentaries from a variety of people associated with them. Through the film, it became clear the Lennon was quite a controversial figure who was not well liked by a number of people. It showed his nasty side, his difficult personality, but it also displayed his genius and the tragedy of his untimely death.

The fifth floor is filled with artifacts from all different times of Lennon’s life. It has clothes he wore as a Beatle, a piano on which he composed many songs, paintings and drawings he did, album covers. Most artifacts come with some printed explanation of their significance. The walls are covered with quotes from and about Lennon. This floor is filled with fascinating facts and items, but my favorite part was the beginning of the exhibit, in which Lennon’s childhood drawings, report cards, and weekly rag are housed. It’s very interesting to read those teacher comments and see what a lousy time he had in school.

The sixth floor contains the manuscripts of more than 25 of Lennon’s songs. Each comes with a printed commentary on the song. Lennon’s music plays continuously in this small room, and guests can circle and stop to read the songs at their leisure. The unique pyramidic architecture of this building causes the entire sixth floor to be nothing but a room, while the lower floors are quite extensive.

It was a cold and overcast day yesterday, but the outer extremities of each floor were extremely bright as the light poured in through the glass pyramid. I would imagine there is a great deal of squinting in the building in the summer. We were quite comfortable, however, and in no need of our coats, which had been checked into the desk on the ground level free of charge. The museum wasn’t terribly crowded when we went, so we had no trouble at all seeing everything we wanted to see. The museum is equipped with both escalators and elevators, so getting from floor to floor is simple. It is open each day from 10:00 to 5:30. This should be plenty of time to get through the museum, though if I lived in Cleveland I think I would be able to make good use of a season’s pass. Daily passes cost $15 for adults and $11.50 for children aged 9 to 11. Younger children get in free. If you have AAA, don’t forget to give them your card for a discount. There is plenty of parking nearby, and we found a place for $5. Not bad at all.

All in all, I would say that if you live near Cleveland or plan to be visiting, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum is a fantastic way to spend the day for a very reasonable cost. No matter what kind of music you like, you’re sure to find something that will strike your interest. Terrific tunes, fascinating facts, and awesome artifacts...it’s a rock and roll fan’s dream come true!