Cleveland Rocks

Went to Cleveland for a weekend (no jokes please) to spend two days in the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame and a third day in the Cleveland Art Museum.

First, let me say that the people in Cleveland are among the friendliest I’ve ever met. Everyone, from the train engineers (Cleveland has a combination subway/above ground rail system) to people on the street to the coat check woman at the museum couldn’t have been nicer. Second, let me add that there isn’t a whole lot of nightlife in Cleveland.

 I loved the hall of fame, though as a museum it’s pretty lousy. If you already know a lot about the history of rock, it’s five floors of eye candy (and one floor of hideously overpriced souvenirs and other stuff). If you don’t, you won’t know much more after you leave: some sections have lots of historical context, some have none, some music is given too much importance while some is barely mentioned. Oh, and there’s even a section of battery-operated music devices, from transistor radios to iPods, because a battery manufacturer is a major corporate sponsor. (No doubt a shoe company is next.)

 

It was, however, lovely to see a section devoted to Les Paul, the pioneering musician and inventor, father of the modern solid-body electric guitar and multi-track recording. And the section of Ohio musicians was much larger than I expected. I had no idea Art Tatum and Dean Martin were from Ohio.