Come for Aerosmith, stay for John Lennon…you’ll hear stories that will blow your mind!

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That’s rock and roll.

This exhibit is so much better than the reviews. By the time I was finished I was in shock, as if I’d just endured a Zeppelin show, or another aural assault by our favorite bands of yore.

A bunch of instruments from famous musicians…doesn’t sound like much.

Unless you were there, unless you lived through it.

It starts with Chuck Berry’s Gibson. To think that this is the guitar he played “Johnny B. Goode” on. That’s a rock STAPLE!

And then there’s Bo Diddley’s box guitar and you turn a corner and right there are Ringo’s drums. Turns out the bass drum was lost, and this is a replica, but not the rest of the kit, not George and John’s guitars.

Now I’ve met Ringo. He called out to me at the Greek, during sound check. But when you see those drums you’re taken right back to ’64 and the Sullivan show and you start to tingle. The energy, that was IT!

Furthermore, they tell the story of the logo, with the dropped “T.” It was the shop owner’s idea, not the Beatles’. That’s the history of music, what we believe was labored over was done thoughtlessly in a pinch. Now it’s iconic.

And then you see Blackie, Clapton’s composite guitar.

Those are two things that strike you. How many of the guitars are hybrids, put together from this and that.

And the sensibility. Never forget that Keith Richards went to art school. These guys were NEVER on the right path, the straight and narrow, they were always a little bit off.

But it’s when you go into the annex room that your jaw drops.

There are the rigs.

I stopped first at Jimmy Page’s. It’s astounding how the equipment has aged, or had rough edges to begin with. That was the analog world, not the digital world we now live in. Today we expect everything streamlined, designed by Jonny Ive, to work straight out of the box and forever. But back then? Electronics were touchy. Boxes were hammered together. Everything had rough edges. That’s the essence of the sound.

And they had video.

You know the modern Jimmy. He looks like a tall slim grandfather, and despite his demonic image, he’s got a soft high voice. But he starts telling tales. This one Telecaster was given to him by Jeff Beck, when they were together in the Yardbirds. He played it on Led Zeppelin I. Huh? There’s an actual instrument and…

Jimmy talks about his double-neck Gibson and then he starts to play.

“Kashmir.” Come on, we know it’s hard to get that sound and Jimmy’s old and he moves his fingers on the frets and he picks the strings and it’s the exact same sound from way back when, it’s incredible. And “Stairway” and the theremin in “Whole Lotta Love”…

And you see Eddie Van Halen’s 1978 rig. The speaker cabinets look like they’ve been on the road. And Eddie tells the story of building his original red and white Frankenstein guitar and plays a bit of “Eruption” and then you go in another room, and there it is.

Eddie wanted Gibson pickups in a Fender guitar, because of their humbucking properties. Forget the surgery, when you see the actual guitar… IT LOOKS LIKE IT WAS PUT TOGETHER WITH BUBBLE GUM! In between the two pickups there’s a floating piece of metal that’s attached by wires and if it was your guitar, you wouldn’t let it leave your bedroom, you’d think it’s too fragile. But this was the axe that Eddie jumped around on stage with and cut all those legendary tunes… This instrument has gravitas.

And the Boss’s half Esquire and half Telecaster, the one he wore slung on his back on the cover of “Born To Run”…IT’S ALMOST WORN OUT! It’s down to the wood in places, there’s no lacquer, same deal with Clapton’s Blackie. These instruments have been USED! And they have not been under glass, protected, they’ve been on the road, they’ve seen miles, they’re a badge of honor and the sounds that emanated from them are emblazoned upon our brains.

And Jimmy’s dragon suit. And then a movie of him in it. It makes it all come alive.

That’s the key to the exhibit. They list exactly when these instruments were used, what year, what records, sometimes what songs. And then they sing out to you, even though they’re silent. It’s like being up close to living history. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? This is the guitar that Hendrix played “The Star Spangled Banner” on at Woodstock? This is the organ that Keith Emerson plunged knives into?

It was show business, artifice, we were never that close. But if we had been, we’d have seen the imperfections. Rock and roll was built from whole cloth, some of these instruments were literally built by their players. And sure, they became rich and famous. But it was a long hard road to rock and roll. Practicing eight hours a day like Tom Morello. Looking for sounds. Trying to get it right.

And the rock stars gave instruments away. Sold them. Normal people would never do this. You cut a track with an axe and then you gift it?

But these people are not like you and me, never were. They were a different breed, called to action by their instruments. They had no other path. And they stumbled and studied and learned along the way.

And the exhibit was crowded with tourists who were looking but didn’t seem to get it. I only wished someone was there with me, so I could turn to them and say…DO YOU BELIEVE THAT?

These instruments were the bedrock of rock and roll. Which was the bedrock of our generation. The music was not passive, it was active, and it was everything. We went to the shows to communicate with the band, not shoot selfies. We were into the gear, we knew the models, we went to Manny’s to check them out. All those memories are stored in our brains. Ready to be activated…

When we see these instruments.

It’s like your deceased relative come back alive. Speaking to you. All the time you spent with them is in vivid color. It’s magic. And even though we were all there together, it was personal. The music entered our brains and set our minds free, led us to drugs, standing up to the man, sex…

That’s right, rock and roll was the root of all evil. The oldsters hated it.

But the little girls understood, along with a whole generation.

Music was everything back then. And if you were there you’ll be overwhelmed.

Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock and Roll

Tune in today, Tuesday April 30th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive

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The major labels will lose power. Their tight grasp on the industry was based on control of distribution and media. They’ve lost control of distribution, Spotify is more powerful than every label. No label can afford to pull its catalog from Spotify, it’s their number one payer. So the leverage of their catalogs is gone. And by signing so few acts in so few genres, they’re ceding territory to independents. And their distribution deals for indies are too expensive for what they’re getting, Glassnote was at Sony then Universal and is now with AWAL. The only thing the majors have to their advantage is cash, they pay it. But so do the promoters, with much less heinous terms. So, if you can make it on the road you don’t need a major label and if you can make it on the road chances are you’re not making the kind of music the major label is interested in anyway, ergo the ultimate decline. Furthermore, radio and TV continue to decline in power, it’s all about the internet, where the majors are not in charge.

Ticketing will remain opaque, for years, because this is what the industry wants. Ticketmaster takes the heat for acts, and promoters want to lay off some of the risk with scalpers, and people are not down with facial recognition and are concerned with transferability. So change is not imminent.

Hip-hop will lose its streaming hegemony. It never had it at Amazon anyway. Streaming services will be forced to reflect broader interests.

Scale will not be the sole factor considered in business investment. When few can become billionaires, people will settle for influence over cash, human power will start to make a comeback. Algorithms can’t solve everything, sometimes you need the human touch.

Electric cars will gain traction overnight. If you’re buying an expensive gasoline car today, don’t, lease, the value is about to drop through the floor.

The goal is to be ahead of the public. People say they don’t want driverless cars, but the truth is they’ll embrace them, just like Spotify and Netflix streaming.

New music will play no part in the 2020 election, because no new tracks can gain ubiquitous traction. Expect classic tunes to be used.

Continued consolidation in the concert promotion business. Experience counts, it’s no longer the 1960s. And deep pockets are the key to success at festivals, you’ve got to lose for years before you reap rewards. Newbies will continue to get trounced, or will sell out.

Purveyors will realize it’s not about subscribers, but streams. Irrelevant of Apple’s number of paying customers in America, more tracks are streamed on Spotify, it’s a more active platform.

Streams first, revenue second. It’s just like tech, you build it, get mindshare and then think about how to monetize. And with mindshare/fans, you can always monetize.

Melody will come back, it’s just a matter of when.

Everybody won’t buy a new smartphone until the 5G rollout, when there is good service everywhere. Upgrades were for LTE and larger phones. Now there’s no incentive to trade up, it’s too expensive, but soon you’ll want to for 5G.

Having said that, hardware is passe, all the development is in software. Expect no new tech gadgets. The smartphone is a Swiss Army knife. You add to it, you don’t create standalone items.

The public is willing to donate to your political campaign, just as long as you don’t take public money. Politicians are the new rock stars. Was techies, but now it’s those running for office. People believe in them. Not all of them, but many of them. This is confounding, because legendarily politicians are whored-out people, under the thumb of corporations and lobbyists. But people want somebody to believe in. The era of paying fealty to products is declining. Your identity is based on who you believe in. Unfortunately, only pre-teens and nincompoops can believe in most of the new musical acts. What you stand for is more important than short term gains.

The baby boomers think they rule but they don’t. And only when they are in the rearview mirror will we see revolution in the creative industries. Millennials and Gen Z are not anti-money, but they are about truth and honesty, unlike their parents who said money was the root of all evil and then sold themselves out to the man for cash.

If you want to gain traction in the media, start a fight with somebody.

The individual will gain more power. The groupthink of the millennials is coming to an end. People will be willing to let their freak flags fly, stand out, be ostracized. There’s a new willingness to take social risk. Standing up and making change is the story of the youth today, and will only grow. This focus on profits and wealth will fade in importance, because most millennials and Gen-Z’ers have been locked out of the party.

Everyone is gonna take a side, to be noncommittal is to be judged negatively and ignored.

Fads will continue, just don’t mistake them for serious trends/established companies.

Good enough is fine for most people, just right/perfect appeals to a small sliver of the public, which is willing to pay for it.

Despite economic inequality, all of America is going upscale. Everybody wants name brand products and artisanal food and is willing to pay for them. It’s a small luxury compared to the big ticket items they can’t afford. Sure, some people are destitute, and probably voting against their own interests, i.e. government programs/welfare, but from the lower middle class on up there is a dissatisfaction with the life of yore. Food can’t be bland and there must be choice. The cheaper and more evanescent the product, the more people want to consume it and argue about it.