#with all these looks to camera the final beatles film should have been the office

[javelinbk]

John Lennon (and George Harrison) with Nicola Hale, Magical Mystery Tour (1967) - part two (part one)

[howaminotinthestrokesyet]

Music Landmark Tours: Recording Studios, Estates, and Museums

Graceland

Graceland is the well-known home of Elvis Presley located in Memphis, Tennessee. I always knew some very basic facts about his home, but never really went into any detail. Many documentaries refer to it, but very few give off a true sense of what the home is like. Today, Graceland is owned by Lisa Marie Presley. She received everything related to her father’s estate upon his death. The home was not open to the public until 1982, as it took that long to get everything in order following his death. Graceland is the second most visited home in the United States besides the White House, but that might change very soon based on the president’s performance this year. The name Graceland originates from the original owners that built the house, Stanley Toff. The entire estate was named after his daughter, Grace. The mansion was actually built in 1939 by a niece of Toff. Elvis entered the picture in 1957 when he gave his parents a budget of $100,000 to find him a suitable home. One of the conditions was that it had to be somewhat secluded and private due to the fact that fans were beginning to become a problem. The home was 10,000 ft.² making it unbelievably massive. Rooms besides standard ones in every house included a TV room, a music room, and a strange jungle room highlighted by very bizarre furniture. There was even a racquetball court that Elvis had built because he became obsessed with the sport in the 1970’s. Other interesting things about the house include his father Vernon‘s office because he served as his business manager for almost his entire career. Most of the Presley family are buried there including his mother, father, himself, and even a stillborn twin brother. Upon his mothers death, his stepmother lived at Graceland for a time causing a very awkward and tense relationship. Yet, you probably could not blame Elvis too much because his father did remarry two years after his mother’s death. The other notable part of his estate was the wall he had built along the street. Like other famous states, people have signed the wall creating a living history monument.

Sun Studio

This was the recording studio started by Sam Phillips in January 1950 in Memphis, Tennessee. It’s major claim to fame was the first record company to release music from Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash among others. The original name of it was the Memphis Recording Service, but Phillips changed the name to Sun in 1951 when he decided to run his own label. A major portion of Sun’s early artists were well-known blues artists like Howlin’ Wolf, BB King, Junior Parker, and others. Later, other artists like Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison would record there. Phillips moved to a larger facility in 1959, then eventually sold the entire label in 1969. In 2005, the original Sun Studio was re-opened as a tourist attraction and working recording studio. This has attracted prominent musicians like U2 to do a little recording there. The first major recording of any note from Sun was “Rocket 88” by Jackie Brenston in March 1951. The backing band on this record was none other than Ike Turner’s band, who would later become more infamous for his marriage to Tina Turner. Many people consider this to be the first rock ‘n’ roll song ever. In the beginning, Sun had tremendous financial pressure because they could not release a hit. Finally, “Bearcat” was released in 1953, which emerged as the first successful single. Yet, the success was short-lived, because a copyright lawsuit threatened the company due to the song sounding just like “Hound Dog.” Phillips would record anyone that wanted to make a record there throughout its existence. Any person could come off the street and actually make a record for three or four dollars. In 1953, he was able to talk a local jail into releasing members of a group to record a song, which led to a story in the newspaper. Some say this is one of the reasons that brought Elvis Presley to Sun. Presley was only 18 years old when he first entered the studio. He would go on to record several songs for Phillips. These were all fairly insignificant until late one night they discovered the sound everyone had been looking for. With the release of “That’s All Right,”rock ‘n’ roll would never ever be the same. Phillips would later sell Presley‘s recording contract for $35,000, which eventually led him to sign with RCA. The producer always defended the move saying he had too many outstanding debts at the time, while promoting Presley would have been impossible due to the small size of his company. He was still able to promote other notable acts like Cash, Perkins, and Orbison. Yet, by the mid-1960s, Phillips had lost all interest in the recording business. He had branched out into radio, which was where his interest really lied. If you visit the actual studio in Memphis, there really is not that much there. This reminds me of when I visited the Johnny Cash Museum in Nashville or the Fairmount Historical Society in Indiana for James Dean. The studio has a small café, small museum, and the recording studio. The recording studio is essentially a couple of rooms to show what it was like back in the 1950s. You could see some of the original recording equipment that was used for the records. This includes the Record a Phone, which allowed for mobile recording. One will find that essentially Sun Studio was a tiny store front operation that got really lucky because nobody else really wanted to record the music they were releasing.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is located in Cleveland, Ohio right on the lakefront. This museum’s foundation was established in 1983 by Ahmet Ertegun, owner of Atlantic Records. The actual building was dedicated in 1995. The museum includes all members inducted into the Hall of Fame, as well as seeking to document the entire history of rock ‘n’ roll. The layout of the museum contains seven levels as different wings of the museum concentrate on different genres including blues, gospel, soul, hip-hop, folk, bluegrass, country. Other exhibits feature cities that have figured prominently in the history of rock ‘n’ roll including Los Angeles, New York, Detroit, Chicago, and more. Finally, they have long-standing permanent exhibits for major artists that are at the top of the list of influence in rock ‘n’ roll history including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Michael Jackson, and so on. The museum has not been without its fair share of criticism over the years. The major one going on at the moment is the fact that too many members that vote artists into the hall of fame are not musicians. This includes people like Jann Wenner, former editor of Rolling Stone. These members set up rules that make it too easy for some artists to receive induction into the hall of fame, while not ensuring that female or black artists are represented fairly. Many musicians that have been inducted to the hall of fame skip the ceremony primarily because they think it is a joke. Another criticism over the years has been the location of the museum. Many leaders in rock and roll did not feel that Cleveland was In anyway whatsoever to be lauded as the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll. This also includes what some feel is the fairy tale that Alan freed was the first DJ of rock ‘n’ roll. Many people believe that it should not be located in Cleveland because of his connection to the payola scandal of the late 1950’s. I have been here twice through the course of my life. The sense that I received each time was that the entire museum is overwhelming. You almost need more than one day to take it all in because of the amount of artifacts that are within the museum. Some of the highlights that I remember when telling people about my visits there are John Lennon‘s Rolls Royce hanging from the ceiling, Roger Waters signing a replica of the wall hanging from the ceiling, personal lyrics by Jackson Browne, and a documentary by Jonathan Demme. This has always been shown since the beginning of the Hall of Fame in its theater. One of the reasons because of the fact that it was probably Jonathan Demme‘s last film. This is a short 25 minute documentary interviewing various artists about the museum. The one thing I remember is Pete Townsend gets rather agitated during one of the segments. He yells back at the camera about referring to these people as icons because he points out they were not only icons, but his friends of his. I guess that is something that that may get lost in translation that some of these rock ‘n’ roll stars are friends with each other.

Electric Lady Studios

This recording studio based in New York City has a long history to it. I did not realize that he actually started a studio named after the song Electric Ladyland. The Greenwich Village location had been a night club since the 1930’s in it’s basement called the Village Barn. Until 1967, abstract expressionist painter Hans Hoffman also called this home, where he would conduct lectures on art. In 1968, Hendrix purchased the night club upstairs called The Generation. This had been a popular venue at the time for late night jam sessions including himself and a treasure trove of other artists in New York. Such artists as Big Brother and the Holding Company, Sly and the Family Stone, BB King, Chuck Berry, and more.One of the reasons he became convinced to convert the space from a live venue to recording studio was the fact that the Electric Ladyland sessions had been so expensive. This was also a chance for him to create a recording space that he was happy with. Hendrix had been notoriously picky about recording studios throughout the course of his career. This became the only artist owned recording studio in the world at the time. The construction of it cost twice as much as budgeted and took twice as long as initially scheduled. He needed to get a loan from Warner Bros. Records in order to complete the project. The studio was set up in such a way that the feel was very relaxing filled with lots of ambient light. From Hendrix’s perspective, this would help with creativity. The entire studio was painted in psychedelic colors, which still exists to this day. I do not know what else to tell you except that it was the 1960’s. He would only record there for about 10 weeks as construction was being completed. His final recording was done there, “Slow Blues.” The next day he boarded a flight to England to perform at the Isle of Wight Festival. Sadly, Hendrix would die before ever returning to the studio. Many notable artists have recorded there over the years including Julian Casablancas, Kanye West, Daft Punk, Arctic Monkeys, AC/DC, Eric Clapton, Beastie Boys, BB King,The Cars, David Bowie, and many more. If you do a search on Spotify, artists will occasionally do short unplugged sessions at the studio. The Strokes would record the album Angles at Electric Lady in 2011. If you would like a sense of seeing what the inside of that studio actually looks like; check out their behind the scenes footage from those sessions on YouTube.

Paisley Park

Paisley Park is home to Prince’s estate just outside of Minneapolis. He built it in 1987 as the headquarters of his now defunct record label, Paisley Park Records. The place is absolutely enormous coming in at about 65,000 ft.². The estate includes his living quarters, recording studio, and two live venue spaces that were used for rehearsals. He had planned to turn the entire complex into something just like Graceland upon his death. Coincidentally, the same company that manages Graceland takes care of Paisley Park now. In 2016, tours began of the estate that also included a private museum filled with personal artifacts from his career. For example, there are 6000 wardrobe outfits located there. Other artifacts include musical instruments, awards, artwork, memorabilia, and cars. The funny thing about the entire estate is that unlike Graceland, most people see Paisley Park as very lonely. This is because throughout his entire career Prince kept everyone at a distance including his estate. Nobody really knows for certain when he began living there full-time because it was never intended to be a home. This was always meant to be a commercial recording environment. This is why from the outside one gets a sense of how strange it is to make this the symbol of Prince. From the outside, Paisley Park looks very much like a large office complex you would find in any large city. Other highlights include a basketball court, which was made famous by Dave Chapelle. There is a ping-pong table that he would challenge celebrity guests like Michael Jackson to a game. You can see his kitchen and his office, which for the most part has remained unchanged since he was found dead in that elevator in 2016. As for the experience if you do go there, things will probably seem a bit strange. You will find that the rules for tours are very strict, filled with formality, and almost unforgivable. You cannot show up for a tour too early or too late. This seems very symbolic of the public’s interaction with Prince throughout the course of his career. The cost of the tour is a bit pricey as well, and some have questioned whether it is really worth the price of admission. The contrast between Prince and Elvis is quite stark. People weep at Graceland for the simple reason that they feel as if they knew the man personally. With Prince, they are not sure how much they knew the man personally, but they feel deeply emotional about his music. Without the recording studio, purple everywhere, or the rehearsal spaces, I am not sure how many people would actually care how the man lived since he never let people see that side of him. For example, you can look at his microwave in his kitchen, but I have a difficult time seeing Prince dressed in a purple robe cooking a Hot Pocket.