 Chris
Epting is an accomplished
roadtripper, cultural historian, and the author of nine
books including James
Dean Died Here, Marilyn
Monroe Dyed Here, Roadside
Baseball, Elvis
Presley Passed Here, The
Ruby Slippers, Einstein's Brain, and Madonna's Bra,
and Led
Zeppelin Crashed Here. He is a regular contributor
to a variety of travel publications and the spokesperson
and co-creator for the Hampton Inn's "Hidden
Landmarks" program. Originally from New York,
Chris now lives in Huntington Beach, California, with
his wife Jean and their two children. |
It's
Only Rock and Roll (But I Like Visiting It)
TOP 10 ROCK AND ROLL PLACES
by Chris Epting
Rock and roll, despite its infamous reputation
for mayhem and property destruction, has a surprising number
of historic landmarks that didn't just survive -- they thrive.
Given rock and roll's status as a genuine, homegrown American
product, like baseball it enjoys a growing number of wanderers
who love hitting the road in search of the landmarks that
define the art (myself included). So as a sampling from my
new book, Led
Zeppelin Crashed Here: The Rock and Roll Landmarks of North
America, here are my Top 10 hits; ten places every
rock and roll connoisseur should hit at some point in their
travels…
1. Big Pink
2188 Stoll Road
Saugerties, New York
This house was the Band's crash pad, where they
hosted Bob Dylan and where The Basement Tapes was recorded.
In addition to The Basement Tapes, the sessions also resulted
in The Band's debut album, Music from Big Pink. The
singles, "The Weight" and "This Wheel's on
Fire" became
instant classics.
2. Chess Records
2120 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois
This is one of the most famous addresses in rock
and roll history. After settling at this two-story building
in 1957, the Chess Bothers (Polish-Jewish immigrants Leonard
and Phil) continued the tradition they had started 10 years
before of recording the jazz players who performed at the
brothers' nightclubs. Only now they had a permanent address
and a real recording studio, as opposed to the various rented
storefront offices they'd been using. Over the years, many
classic records were cut at Chess. Chuck Berry recorded "Johnny
B. Goode" on February 29, 1958, and Bo Diddley, Muddy
Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Ramsey Lewis, James Moody
and many other blues greats recorded here. British blues bands
like the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds treated Chess like
Mecca-the Stones even cut a song called 2120 Michigan Avenue
in homage. After years of being used as a dance theater, today
it's been restored and tours are available.
3. Janis Joplin Death Site
Landmark Hotel (now the Highland Gardens Hotel)
Room 105
7047 Franklin Avenue
Hollywood, California
This is where Janis Joplin accidentally overdosed
on October 4, 1970. She died in her room at the Landmark Hotel
in Los Angeles, having scored a particularly pure batch of
heroin. Her sad, lonely death followed that of Jimi Hendrix,
who'd died just two weeks earlier. (Jim Morrison would die
within a year.) Janis was cremated and her ashes were scattered
along the Marin County coastline of California. The album
she was recording at the time, Pearl, was released after her
death. Although Janis Joplin's career lasted only a few years,
she has been hailed as the greatest white female blues singer
who ever lived.
4. Elvis Presley Birthplace
306 Elvis Presley Drive
Tupelo, Mississippi
Every year more than 50,000 music fans flock
to Tupelo, Miss., to tour a modest, two-room house that was
built for $180. It's the very house where the King was brought
into the world on January 8, 1935. The city bought the land
in 1956 with funds from a Presley concert, and today it's
an official state landmark. Set on the 15-acre Elvis Presley
Park, the grounds also have a museum and gift shop.
5. Site where "The Music Died"
Off State Road 20, north of Clear Lake, Iowa
Directions: Take Interstate 35 (the main road) to Clear Lake.
From I-35, take Highway 18 west into town. Turn onto a road
marked S28 going north from 18 (there's a gas station on the
northeast corner of the intersection). Drive 5 1/2 miles on
S28 and turn right onto 310th Street. Turn immediately onto
Gull Avenue, a gravel road. Drive north on Gull one half mile
and stop at 315th Street. Park. Walk to the west past the
sign marking 315th Street into the cornfield. Walk west on
the north side of the wire fence for half a mile. Four oak
trees (one for each victim) mark the exact site of the crash
(where a memorial sits).
"The Winter Dance Party Tour" was planned
to cover 24 cities in a short three-week time frame, and Buddy
Holly would be the biggest headliner. Waylon Jennings, a friend
from Lubbock, Texas, and Tommy Allsup would go as backup musicians.
Ritchie Valens, probably the hottest of the artists at the
time, The Big Bopper, and Dion and the Belmonts rounded out
the list of performers. It was the dead of winter and the
tour bus had heating problems when they arrived at the Surf
Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa on February 3, 1959. They were
cold and tired. So harsh was the situation that Buddy had
decided to charter a plane for himself and his guys. Dwyer
Flying Service was called and charged $36 per person for a
single engine Beechcraft Bonanza. At the last minute, Waylon
Jennings gave his seat up to the Big Bopper, who was ill and
had a hard time fitting comfortably into the bus. When Buddy
learned Jennings wasn't going to fly, he said, "Well,
I hope your old bus freezes up." Jennings said, "Well,
I hope your plane crashes." Allsup flipped Valens for
the remaining seat and Valens won. The plane took off just
after 1:00 A.M. from Clear Lake and never got far from the
airport before it crashed, killing all onboard. At the next
tour stop in Moorhead, Minnesota, the rest of the performers
looked for local talent to fill in, deciding the show must
go on. They found a 15-year-old singer named Bobby Vee, which
was the start of his career.
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The
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6. The Doors' Office/Recording Booth
8512 Santa Monica Boulevard
West Hollywood, California
This building, now the Benvenuto Café,
once housed The Doors' office (up on the second floor), and
the classic album, L.A. Woman was recorded in the space they
used downstairs. In fact, the restroom in the current restaurant
here is the actual vocal booth where Jim Morrison recorded
the L.A. Woman album.
7. "Memory Motel"
692 Montauk Highway
Montauk (Long Island), New York
The Memory Motel is a small (13 rooms) motel
and bar immortalized by the Rolling Stones in the pretty ballad
of the same name (which appeared on the band's 1976 album
Black and Blue). During the mid-1970s, the Rolling Stones-and
in particular Mick Jagger-were regulars out on the remote
reaches of Montauk, hanging out with artist Andy Warhol at
his nearby compound, among other places. Jagger supposedly
spent time at the motel because it had a pool table and a
decent jukebox, and one night while here he supposedly was
inspired to write the beautiful song about "Hannah, a
honey of a girl," and where they spent "a lonely
night at the Memory Motel." (Rumor has it he actually
wrote part of the tune at the bar.)
8. The Gibson Guitar Factory
The Beale Street Showcase
145 Lt. George Lee Avenue
Memphis, Tennessee
Take a complete tour of the Gibson Beale Street
Showcase in Memphis. This memorable tour of Gibson's Memphis
guitar factory consists of an intimate viewing of the facility
as Gibson's skilled luthiers craft some of the finest guitars
in the world. An opportunity to witness the intricate process
of binding, neck-fitting, painting, buffing, and tuning that
creates these incredible musical instruments. See and hear
how Gibson has helped shape the world of music for over 100
years and continues to set the pace for the musical innovations
of tomorrow. The tour lasts approximately 45 minutes and in
the gift shop of course you can buy a guitar.
9. Bob Dylan Home
519 North 3rd Avenue East
Duluth, Minnesota
Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May
24, 1941, in Duluth, and spent his first six years in this
port city at the end of Lake Superior. The Zimmermans lived
on the top floor of this house, which incidentally was auctioned
off on eBay in 2001 for $94,600. When Dylan was in kindergarten,
his family moved to his mother's hometown of Hibbing, a mining
town about 75 miles north of Duluth.
10. Sun Studio
706 Union Avenue
Memphis, Tennessee
Opened in 1950 by a local radio station engineer
named Sam Phillips, some of the most legendary moments in
rock-and-roll history were captured at this tiny Memphis studio,
and many artifacts from over the years remain here today in
this living music museum-including Elvis Presley's microphone
and Johnny Cash's dollar-strung guitar. Phillips started Sun
Records in 1952; two years later, a nervous local teenager
came in to lay down a few vocal tracks. The date was July
5, 1954. "It was just an audition," remembers Scotty
Moore, the country guitarist brought in to back up a green
Elvis Presley for his Sun Records tryout. Near the end of
the day, Presley broke into an obscure blues tune, "That's
All Right," and history was made. The studio was restored
with Sam Phillips's help, and in 1987 opened its doors as
both a tourist attraction and a working recording studio.
Ringo Starr, Def Leppard, John Fogerty, Tom Petty, Paul Simon,
Bonnie Raitt, U2, and Matchbox 20 are only some of the recent
music greats who have come to record at Sun Studio since it
reopened. In the studio's own words: "Today, Sun Studio
carries on the Rock N' Roll Revolution begun here in 1950,
by providing a place where a kid with a guitar case full of
dreams can stand in the footsteps of giants and carve out
a legend." Tours are given on a daily basis.
Those are my top 10 must visit rock and roll
landmarks-places where the music lives on in spirit for every
fan to experience.
Chris Epting
May 20, 2007
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