Category Archives: Memorabilia

A Tale of Two Posters

Posted on by Musicofourheart

I became interested in Rock and Roll memorabilia in the 70′s. My passion for rock merchandise has several areas of focus. I love rock poster art. Much of the walls in my home have unique framed art.

My membership in The Rock Poster Society has kept me in direct touch with famous rock poster artists and their monumental work. Yesterday I got to see the Fillmore East Rock Art Poster guru, David Edward Byrd.

The event began with a Rock Art Poster Fair that featured various poster sellers and several of the poster artists themselves. The centerpiece of the Rock Art Poster Fair was to witness the artist proofs of David Edward Byrd before we attended the exhibition and the talk by David Edward Byrd and Arnold Skolnick. I was blown away to see the artist proofs of David’s Jimi Hendrix Fillmore East posters. I intend to buy one of those proofs from his Web site this year.

I can’t decide between these two images below. The final poster feature The Jimi Hendrix Experience and is the final artwork. The first poster was David’s original poster, which I like the colors and lightning bolt effect of he chose for Jimi. Decisions, decisions…

Jimi HendrixJimi Hendrix Experience - Fillmore East - May 1968

We then went downstairs to see the Byrd/Skolnick, A Tale of Two Posters exhibit. The exhibition did great justice to both art icons. I learned how much more David Edward Byrd has accomplished beyond my understanding of him as the Fillmore East poster artist. He has made a major contribution to Broadway, Television and Film with classic posters and art for Godspell, Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Harry Potter. David Edward Byrd’s work is in a word, magnificent.

Godspell

Arnold Skolnick educated us about his art contributions for nook covers, photography and painting. Yes he is the creator of the Woodstock poster that we all know and love, but he has an amazing dimensional ability with his art that is impressive.

We especially loved his photography book Love Songs.

The next event was a talk that featured both artists. Their discussion was informative, lively, revealing, filling us with laughter and respect. It was a great chance to learn more about them, their art and the stories behind famous posters and famous people like Bill Graham.

We had a lovely time at this event. The exhibition was well curated. The talk was very informative. Thank you Bethel Woods Center for the Arts for a fantastic weekend.

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It’s got a good beat and you can dance to it

Posted on by Musicofourheart
Publicity photo of Dick Clark from his ABC rad...

Publicity photo of Dick Clark from his ABC radio show. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was sad to learn this afternoon that a major hero in my life passed away. My wife texted me that Dick Clark had died. We owe so much to Dick Clark as a music impressario. We grew up watching and dancing with Dick Clark on American Bandstand. My favorite part of his show was when they would choose audience members and let them rate the latest 45 r.p.m. records. The classic response was, “It’s got a good beat and you can dance to it.”

Much will be written and remembered about Dick Clark in the ensuing days. He deserves much high praise for his vision for music broadcasting, his production efforts and his passionate enthusiasm for music. I loved how courageous he was in spite of his past stroke on national television every New Year’s Eve.

My warmest personal memory of Dick Clark took place one week night in 1976 at Bloomingdale’s in Stamford, Ct. My wife, my sister-in-law and I went to buy his book, Rock, Roll & Remember and get it signed by him. We never anticipated we would get such an exclusive audience with Dick Clark at  Bloomingdales. It was about 90 minutes before closing time when we found Dick Clark’s signing area in the store. We couldn’t believe our luck. Hardly anyone was there. The majority of book purchasers and fans had been in earlier that evening to see him. He was so cordial to us, we found him to be a very genuine and down to earth person. He let me talk with him for over an hour. He was genuinely interested in my college disk jockey experience and what I knew about music. We spoke at length about his shows American Top 40, S10,000 Pyramid, and the music broadcasting field. He was an engaging speaker and I listened to him intently, working actively to keep my hero-worship at bay. Dick Clark treated me as an equal, a fellow broadcaster (I was doing a Sunday radio show on WVOF-FM 88.5 at Fairfield University at that time). He thanked us for stopping in and for buying his book. He had a great smile. We considered ourselves fortunate that we got such quality time with Dick Clark.

Rock and Roll Heaven has the premier music host now. I can hear the echoes of American Bandstand playing as I write…

God Bless You Dick Clark. Our hearts go out to your spirit. We send your lovely wife and family our deep sympathy and prayers.

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Stuff I Collect

Posted on by Musicofourheart
Los Lobos - Tin Can Trust CD (Inside Cover Layout)

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Los Lobos (Autograph) – Tin Can Trust CD I collect autographs of musicians and musical groups. My collection started due to my wife and I attending live music concerts and wanting to meet the artists before or after the show. If I owned their music on CD or vinyl form I would bring their recordings […]