I just had a mind-blowing, sensory-overload kind of morning at the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. I arrived this morning to loan the Hall of Fame the Link Wray Danelectro guitar, which will be on exhibit there for the next few years. I’m so happy that Link is finally being inducted, better late than never!
Imagine my surprise, after greeting Andy Leach (senior director of museum and archival collections), the first thing I see upon entering the “vault” are the black-and-white shoes that Link wore on the cover of his Epic album from 1958! Wow! They also had the guitar pick that Link used to record “Rawhide” (very thin, no brand, in case you’re wondering).
Then the sensory overload began. Andy got out Eddie Cochran’s original Gretsch 6120 guitar, and I got to see it up close and personal, which was a real treat. It still has the original strings that were on it when Eddie passed away (and, yes, this guitar was in the trunk when Eddie’s taxi cab got into the fatal accident that cost him his life—heavy stuff).
Andy showed us James Burton‘s original paisley Telecaster that he used with Elvis. He showed us Gene Vincent’s leather jacket. He showed us Muddy Waters’s famous red Telecaster with the amplifier knobs on it. He showed us Buddy Holly’s high school diploma, and handwritten Chuck Berry lyrics. We saw so much mind-blowing stuff, our brains started to turn to goo. And this was all just in the vault!
Say what you may about the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame. Everybody seems to have their grievances with the place. However, it’s still an amazing place to see some of the greatest artifacts in rock ‘n’ roll history. There is Carl Perkins’s Gibson ES-5! There is Wanda Jackson’s Martin guitar with her name painted on it! The original recording equipment from Sun Records! Les Paul’s original Epiphone “Clunker” guitar with the Bigsby pickup that he recorded ALL of his hit records with. There are stage costumes (Bobby Jones’s original Blue Cap from ’57!), there are drum heads, there are posters, there are records… You might be inclined to nitpick this place for not including your favorite artist, but there’s just an astounding array of artifacts on display. I dug it immensely.
Heather and Dan were there shooting some more footage for their upcoming Cynics documentary, so at some point, hopefully you can see some of what transpired this morning through their camera lens. For now, a great deal of the stuff we saw in the vault is not allowed to be photographed or posted online, so what you see here is what I was allowed to post.
I will say that having Eddie Cochran’s Gretsch and Link’s Danelectro side by side on the table in the vault nearly brought me to tears. I’m really glad that Link’s guitar will be on display there. I urge you to go check it out if you’re anywhere near Cleveland!
Big thanks to Andy Leach for making all of this possible.
Now I’m pointing my car in the direction of Nashville—Music City here I come! There’s more book talks and presentations and interviews and photography to be done…
