May 2010 | Blog Archives
Remembering Ronnie James Dio
My heavy metal heart is hurting – Ronnie James Dio is gone. When Dio died of stomach cancer on Sunday May 16th the rock world lost one of its greatest voices. Passionate heavy metal fans love to argue about their favorite bands, but no one disagrees about Ronnie James Dio. You could claim that you liked one singer more than another, or that Maiden was better than Priest, but if you brought up Dio people would always say, “No fair, no one compares to Dio!” It’s the reason why Jack Black and Kyle Gass made Dio the ultimate rock icon for Tenacious D and even featured him as the voice of rock in The Pick of Destiny. (If you have not seen Dio play himself in the film’s song “Kickapoo” go find it now!)
Dio’s voice had ultimate power and ultimate control. It was often called operatic in much the same way that people think of Roy Orbison’s voice. While Dio’s voice came to represent heavy metal, he reached early success as a hard rock singer in the band Elf. Listen to his vocal and emotional range on “Never More” from Elf’s self titled debut ...
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame goes to Outerspace on the Shuttle Atlantis
Dr. Garrett Reisman, a native of New Jersey, is a veteran astronaut. He spent three months aboard the International Space Station in 2008 conducting one spacewalk lasting seven hours. Sirius XM radio host Dusty Street, who broadcasts live from the Rock Hall during the week, caught up with him during his final preparations for his flight aboard the Space shuttle Atlantis which embarked on its final planned mission on May 14, 2010. During the 12-day flight, Dr. Reisman will conduct two spacewalks.
Dusty Street: Dusty Street here talking to world famous Astronaut, do they call you Dr. Garrett?
Garrett Resiman: Well not too many people call me world famous, but you can just call me Garrett.
D: Well as you know, all of us Rock and Rollers are a bit of a space cadet, but I want to know what inspired you to come to the Rock Hall for some things to take on what I believe to be the last flight of the Atlantis?
G: Yes, well our future here at NASA is currently in transition so we are not 100% sure that it is going to be the last flight of Atlantis. Our crew has gotten into the ...
Cleveland's Glass Harp band
Glass Harp is widely acknowledged as one of the most innovative rock bands to have ever emerged from the Cleveland rock and roll scene. Formed in Youngstown in the late Sixties, the band – Phil Keaggy on guitar, Daniel Pecchio on bass and John Sferra on drums – was a power trio in the tradition of Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the James Gang. But the group – which is currently represented in the Museum’s Ohio exhibit -- went beyond the blues-based stylings of those bands to create a sound all their own. At the center of Glass Harp’s sound was Keaggy’s lyrical, inventive guitar playing. So admired was Keaggy that, when asked who his favorite guitarist was, Jimi Hendrix cited Phil Keaggy. Glass Harp released three critically acclaimed albums and was on the verge of breaking big on the national scene when, in 1972, Keaggy left the band to pusue a career in Christian music. Twenty-five years later, in January 1997, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opened an exhibit called My Town, which focused on Cleveland’s rock and roll history. I contacted the band members, and they agreed to re-form the original Glass Harp for an ...
Congratulations to Rock Hall inductee Bonnie Raitt, recently inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum would like to congratulate 2000 inductee Bonnie Raitt on her induction into the Blues Hall of Fame. Though Bonnie may be best-known for her more mainstream, commercially successful albums like Nick of Time and Luck of the Draw, her music has always been rooted in the blues, and she has been a fervent supporter of the blues. When she began her career in Boston in the late Sixties, she appeared with Howlin’ Wolf, Sippie Wallace and Mississippi Fred McDowell, among others. In the years since, she has played guitar alongside such blues greats as B.B. King, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy and John Lee Hooker. In 1990, Bonnie and John Lee Hooker shared the Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Recording for their work on the song “In the Mood” from Hooker’s album The Healer. And in 2000, she took part in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s American Music Masters tribute to Muddy Waters. Bonnie also co-founded the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, and she has gone out of her way to help struggling blues artists with financial assistance and other forms of support. The Blues Hall of ...
Rock and Roll and the Vietnam War: 40 Years After Kent State
May 4, 1970 marked the 40th anniversary of the shootings at Kent State University, when four students were killed and nine wounded by the Ohio National Guard during student protests of the U.S. invasion of Cambodia. As part of the commemorations, the Rock Hall’s Education department put together a panel at KSU on rock and roll and the Vietnam war. There are, of course, rock and roll songs about the Kent State shootings—most famously, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s single “Ohio”/”Find the Cost of Freedom,” recorded just weeks after May 4th. But I wanted to tell a wider story about the role that rock and roll played in our understanding of the Vietnam war, how protestors, soldiers, and civilians made sense of the war and its aftermath through the music. It was, as Samuel Freedman wrote, the first war to be “fought to a rock and roll soundtrack.”
I spent the afternoon on the KSU campus, listening to the many speakers who came together as part of the commemoration. Speakers included Florence Schroeder, mother of slain student William Schroeder; Russ Miller, brother of slain student Jeffrey Miller; Joe Lewis, a student who was shot and wounded ...
