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" It might help some Memphians get over the snub of losing the museum to Cleveland "
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By Ted Horrell
They say that the blues had a baby and they called it rock 'n' roll. Well, the kid's all grown up now, but she's not too big to pay respect to Mama Blues. Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum not only recognizes the role of the blues in rock 'n' roll, but it gives it great emphasis. While blues and rock fans in Memphis can still be heard grumbling that the heritage-rich, blues soaked city was overlooked as the site of the rock hall, the ugly truth is that Cleveland has done a fine job with it. The building, designed by I.M. Pei, sits dazzlingly on the edge of Lake Erie. It contains much more exhibit space than it looks like it should. And as dazzling as the outside is, the inside is even better. The museum's most please surprise by far is its abundance of pieces and information about the blues. Robert Santelli, the museum's director of education, is largely responsible for the museum's heavy dose of blues. Santelli's extensive writing on the blues, which includes The Big Book of Blues, caught the attention of the museum's curators. "We're very knowledgeable that the blues played a vital role in the development of rock 'n' roll," Santelli says. He took it upon himself to see that the role of the blues is reflected in the museum's collection. "We have the best collection of blues guitars you'll find anywhere," Santelli says as he points out Muddy Waters' Fender Telecaster, T-Bone Walker's Gibson electric, Leadbelly's 12-string and an Elmore James guitar that looks like it has seen just about everything. And that's only a few of the guitars on display. Visitors don't have to be content staring at instruments however. A look at a nearby display shows Howlin' Wolf's money bag, which he even carried on stage because he didn't trust banks with his cash. Visitors also can see the blues masters in action on any number of video walls, films and interactive computer monitors that sample the museum's exhaustive film archive. It might help some Memphians get over the snub of losing the museum to Cleveland to see the massive amount of attention given to Memphis as a blues city. Memphis is currently featured in an exhibit highlighting several cities that have shaped rock 'n' roll. Besides the obvious inclusion of memorabilia from Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, the exhibit details Howlin' Wolf's first full band recordings for Sam Phillips and the rise of one "Blues Boy" King from local prominence as a disc jockey to international fame. Phillips' essential role in rock history is given its due in more detail in several other exhibits for which he donated memorabilia and memories. The museum's interactive exhibits also force unenlightened rock fans to wake and take notice of the folks who influenced their favorite artists. For example, choosing the late 1960s rock band Cream on one computer database will show you a video of Albert King performing "Crosscut Saw," which fades into Cream's obviously influenced "Strange Brew." The computer similarly highlights Ma Rainey's influence on Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix's debt to Muddy Waters. Santelli says that links such as these serve an education purpose as well as an entertainment one. "Everybody comes in here a fan of the music without question, but we hope that if you don't know anything about them, maybe you'll learn a little something about Howlin' Wolf or learn a little something about Leadbelly, and then maybe you'll buy the CD. That has happened," he says. Despite the number of excellent blues exhibits, hard-core blues fans should not expect the hall and museum to be completely dominated by their favorite artists. After all, this is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, not the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Miss. Anyone who can't handle heavy doses of Bruce Springsteen, Pete Townshend and U2's Bono should be forewarned. The good news is that young Timmy in his Oasis T-shirt who thinks rock 'n' roll started with Nirvana will be forced to confront a style of music he may not be familiar with. Even better news is that Santelli and the museum staff are not satisfied. He says they have only begun to hunt and gather blues memorabilia. "We plan to be really ambitious in getting more of a blues collection," Santelli says. "We're happy with what we have and it's great, but we want more and we will have it as we continue to expand." Through the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the baby of the blues may become a mother herself to a new generation of blues fans.
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