The House That Rock Built

July 1, 2020

Rock historian and radio host Nite (Rock On Almanac) and journalist Feran affectionately outline the history of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, from a spark of an idea in 1983 to the cities that vied for the right to house it to construction to its opening in 1995 in Cleveland and its evolution since. A native Clevelander and integrally involved with this project from its inception, Nite is the ideal narrator for a suspenseful yet inspiring tale filled with outsize figures such as Atlantic Records executive Ahmet Ertegun, Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner, architect I.M. Pei, and the politicians of Ohio who combined enthusiasm with realism re: financial support. Nite has done exhaustive research and includes extensive interviews, sidebars explaining some of the cast of characters, and exceptional contemporary photographs ranging from the mid-1950s to the present. A foreword from rocker Stevie Van Zandt, of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, adds interest. VERDICT This informative and entertaining read will likely become the definitive volume on this important cultural center's formation, and is a worthy companion to stand beside Nick Talevski's useful if dated The Unofficial Encyclopedia of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.--Barry Zaslow, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2020
The beat goes on--and on and on--in this history of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Why should Cleveland be the home of the world's chief museum devoted to rock music? As Nite, a veteran DJ and broadcaster, and Feran, who worked for the Cleveland Plain Dealer for nearly 40 years, observe, it was the home base of Alan Freed, who introduced the term "rock and roll" to a broad audience in the 1950s before falling afoul of the censors. Freed "championed the music so vigorously he became its personification and was called its father," and the international syndication of Freed's show and others out of Cleveland introduced the sound to radio listeners such as Ringo Starr, who remembers "hearing Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis for the first time." In a mixture of keepsake volume and business history, the authors painstakingly--and repetitively--chart the course that brought the museum to Cleveland. The initial driving force was record-industry mogul Ahmet Ertegun, who, allied with other music insiders, established the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation and enlisted support for the endeavor. Another important figure was the fiscally conservative mayor George Voinovich, who "seemed an unlikely champion" but recognized that investing in the venue would bring much-needed income to the city. The authors calculate that the nearly 12 million visitors have brought $127 million per year to the city and its businesses. Much of the narrative is cut-and-dried, but there are some standout moments (other than the many photos), such as Sam Phillips' anger that the museum would not be located in Memphis and Chuck Berry's deliberate sabotaging of the first concert to be staged at the Hall. As guitarist Nils Lofgren recounts, "He shifts keys four or five times; I can only imagine to mess with us. I can't imagine why else this happened." A middling rock history that will be a boon to Cleveland boosters and rock completists.

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