The Heart of Rock and Roll is Still Beating

Some people never go anywhere.  Some people go somewhere and it's always to the same place.  I grew up in a family like that--but MY family (the one I made) is different.  I'm proud to say that I've dragged my people all over the country to such an interesting assortment and variety of places never seen by most.


This week, it was Cleveland, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame--a place I'd considered before, but thought that Cleveland was really too far away for a weekend trip.  This week, with a little prodding from friends who'd been there, I changed my mind.  What a day it has been; what a rare mood I'm in; what a fabulous experience we had there.


Upon arriving (we walked from our hotel), we took photos of large guitars that had been adorned, painted, decorated by local and some more well-known artists.  Like Chicago has its bulls, and Indiana has its large tennis shoes, and Michigan has its bears, Cleveland has huge guitars--we saw guitars decorated in tribute, and guitars by the famous (Yoko Ono, for one).


The lobby was the only place one was allowed to photograph, but there was plenty to photograph, so I took a bunch of pictures.  Then we turned in our tickets (that we bought at the hotel for $2 less....;-) and went in. 


We were funneled into a movie theatre where we saw a fabulous--I mean FABULOUS--video collage documenting--in song and image and very little printed word on the screen--the roots of rock and roll.  And it was all interspersed with train imagery.  Really great.  Made me think of Carie and wish she could see it.


Then we were ushered into another theatre where we saw more modern images of rock and roll, it's power and it's ability to motivate and how it pushes the envelope.  Clips of Mr. MoJoRisin' getting arrested...Madonna's cutting edge performance artist tour... Interesting.


Then we started through the museum.  Fascinating; nostalgic; memory-inducing.


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Grace Slick's fringed leather vest.***** Jimi Hendrix's 2-year-old baby picture.*****Jim Morrison's cub scout shirt.

Buddy Holly's high school diploma.*****The hand-written words to 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' and 'We Didn't Start the Fire'. ***** Stevie Nicks' wardrobe. ***** Johnny Ramone's very worn out guitar. ***** A dress that wouldn't fit over Aretha's thigh today. ***** Overheard a comment in front of a Steven Tyler wardrobe piece:  "Oh.  A guy wore that?" ***** An exhibit about music censorship which made us all laugh:

***** We saw a great hour-long, year-by-year movie tribute to all the rock and roll hall of fame inductees that was wonderful and moving, for those that have passed.  At the end of 2006, an image of a letter sent by the Sex Pistols.  Funny. ***** Bits of sheets from a hotel where the Beatles slept. ***** An entire exhibit on the Boss (where I got in trouble for trying to video the words to 'Thunder Road' as the wound up the circular stairway. ***** Janis' beads. ***** An 8-track tape of Fleetwood Mac. ***** Another family with young children, schooling them in the music of 'the old days'. ***** An exhibit on the great disc jockeys and their personal style in song dedication. ***** The 500 Most Influential Songs of Rock--a room I never thought I'd get my husband out of...
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And oh, so much more.  A monument to modern media and culture from the early 20th Century and beyond.  I HIGHLY recommend it.  AND our hotel (DoubleTree/Hilton) was actually underpriced.


The best part of this vacation was that we all actually relaxed.  Forgot about our troubles and pressures back home.  Forgot that we were spending money we didn't have.  Forgot about everything except the family, and the music, and the times that won't come again--as we prepare for Charlie to graduate from high school.  The old hippie I'm married to--whom I swear would never leave the house but for me--enjoyed it, too.  I know he did.  He comes off sometimes as a set-in-his-ways, old stick-in-the-mud, but one of these days, he will look back and be glad for this frenetic, 'gad-about' of a wife who has filled his life with two children, friends, and laughter and memories.  The music is the soundtrack of our good, good life.

So...on that note, let's hear from someone who isn't in the Hall of Fame...

I’ve been lately thinking about my life’s time, all the things I’ve done and how it’s been
And I can’t help believing in my own mind, I know I’m gonna hate to see it end
I’ve seen a lot of sunshine, slept out in the rain, spent a night or two all on my own
I’ve shared my family's treasures, had myself some friends and spent a time or two in my own home
And I have to say it now, it’s been a good life all in all
It’s really fine to have a chance to hang around and sit here by the fire and watch the evening tire
While all my friends and my old honey sit and toss the times around
And talk of poems and prayers and promises and things that we believe in
How sweet it is to love someone, how right it is to care 
How long it’s been since yesterday and what about tomorrow
And what about our dreams and all the memories we share....
---Henry John Deutschendorf