Paul in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame!

 March 15, 1999 -

Oh what an exciting time this was!  Sir Paul McCartney was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Stella's shirt said it all!  

An important day in Beatles history

 January 19, 1994 -  Paul coming to induct John into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 was a moment when history was made.   Not only did Paul give a very emotional speech in the form of a letter to John, but of course, this was the night when Paul and Yoko hugged and mended their relationship, and Yoko handed over the tapes for "Free as a Bird,"  "Real Love," "Now and Then," and "Grow Old with Me."    At least that is the cannon for the story -- I think this was in the works before the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but still, at the time, I remember seeing the photos of Paul and Yoko hugging and couldn't believe that day had come! 

The Beatles induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

 

January 20, 1988

It has been 35 years since The Beatles were inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.   It was a HUGE deal in 1988 and even a bigger deal that Paul was a no show.   I found this article written by a fan that was there in an old issue of GoodDay Sunshine.   There was no author given to the article. 

Beatles News and other interesting News

GoodDay Sunshine Winter 1988

 

George and Ringo were joined by Yoko, Julian, and Sean to accept induction on behalf of the Beatles at the third annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies on January 20^th at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.  Paul should have been there, but he wasn’t.  He should have given a proper, intelligent explanation for his no-show, but he didn’t.  Truthfully speaking, it was his loss. 

  In addition to receiving the coveted award, all the presenters and presenters ended the Hall of Fame festivities (with George right up front) by jamming on some classic standards.  “Twist & Shout” kicked off a mind-boggling all-start session in which the capacity black-tie crowd of 700 (at $1,000 a plate) also heard renditions of “All Along the Watchtower,” “Stop! In the name of Love,”  “Who Lot of Shakin’ Goin’ On,”  “Born on the Bayou,”  “Like a Rolling Stone,” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”  The ultimate highlights, however, had to be when Julian contributed vocals to “Stand By Me” with Ben E. King (and some of the Beach Boys) and when “I Saw Here Standing There” saw Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Mick Jagger and George Harrison trade off vocals and “oohs.”   George not only sang, he played guitar, as did Neil Young, Jeff Lynne, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Edmunds, Jeff Beck, Steve Van Zandt, John Fogarty, Bob Dylan, Les Paul, and member of Paul Schaffer Late Night Band, Oh yes, Elton John played piano and Ringo drummed.

  It was Mick who presented the induction, crediting The Beatles with giving the Rolling Stones their first hit and stating, “We (The Stones) thought we were totally unique animals.  Then we heard there was a group from (he sneered) Liverpool!  They had long hair, scruffy clothes, but they had a record contract – I was almost sick!”  Harrison swiped a line from Pepper in his acception:  “It’s wonderful to be here.  It’s certainly a thrill.”  But he was also very serious, “We all loved John so much, and we all love Paul very much.”  Yoko added, “I wish John was here.  He would have been here, you know.  He would have come.”  She was alluding to Paul’s absence.  Julian, sporting a hairstyle more becoming on the lead singer of the band Simply Red, remarked, “I’m grateful to my dad for giving me a lot of inspiration.”  Sean, growing up quickly, confessed, “I’m a little young to know about all this stuff, but I love The Beatles.  I’m proud to be up here for doing nothing.”  Not to be outdone in the humor department, Ringo chimed in, “We’re all doing nothing…give us the prize and let’s go home!”  The five held hands and were all smiles.

  Let us pray that the complete award ceremonies will be made available as a video.  Our guess, though, is that the only place anyone will get to see replays of these Rock & Roll Hall of Fame annual presentations is at the actual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame when it finally opens sometime in the future in Cleveland, Ohio.

   For the record, Paul refused to join the others on grounds of “business differences.”  The precise message, delivered from a McCartney publicist:  “I was keen to go and pick up my award, but after 20 years, The Beatles still have some business differences which I had hoped would have been settled by now.  Unfortunately, they haven’t been, so I would feel like a complete hypocrite waving and smiling with them at a fake reunion.”  It sure doesn’t sound like the Paul of old, who would always think of public relations first.  Former Beatle publicist Derek Taylor said, “It’s a grim statement.”  Beach Boy vocalist Mike Love called Paul’s absence “…a bummer because we’re talking about harmony” when he accepted his award from Elton John.  

Others inducted were the Drifters, who were presented by Bill Joel; the Supremes, who were presented by Little Richard; and Bob Dylan, who was presented by Springsteen.  Motown founder Berry Gordy was inducted as a non-performing professional, while Les Paul, Leadbelly, and Woody Guthrie were honored as “early influences.”  Other notable no-shows were Diana Ross and Keith Richards, who was supposed to join Jagger in presenting The Beatles.  Little Richard was asked backstage how it felt to be an artist The Beatles took on tour in the sixties.  He was quick to correct, “Oh, you got that backward.  I took them on tour!  They stayed at my home…I knew ‘em  before you did!”  So there. 

Jamming with George and Bob

 Rest in Peace Jeff Beck ...

We got the Beat (le)

 

October 30, 2021 -  I will be posting more photos of Paul at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame 2021 Induction this week.   But I wanted to start off with thse great photos of Paul with the Go-Go''s.  

"I'm going to be here for hours...." -Ringo Starr 1988

 

The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Museum - A Review (2018)

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland 2018 (photo by Sara Schmidt)

I was the proud recipient of a grant to travel to Cleveland, Ohio to do research for my upcoming book about the Beatles' fan clubs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Archives.     I spent Tuesday-Friday during the day digging through old scrapbooks, files, books, and databases for Beatles information for the book.      However, my evenings were free and the library wasn't open on Saturday, so I took the opportunity to meet up with the girls from WALHFMF and go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum to see the Beatles stuff.


The museum changed around the Beatles section recently and it has some great Beatles items to see in person.

Flower jacket that John wore frequently in 1967 (photo by Sara Schmidt)

Jacket John wore during the 1966 tour!!  (Photo by Sara Schmidt)

The piano that was in the Asher house (photo by Sara Schmidt)

Some John items (guitar was used in Double Fantasy) 

It was very John-heavy this time in the museum.    Ringo's drumsticks were on display and a classic Beatles 1963 suit of George's but it seemed to have more John items.   Now, I personally wouldn't be complaining about this because John is my favorite, but if I was a George, Paul or Ringo fan, I would be a little disappointed by the lack of recognition. 

Right next to the exhibit, is a wall of small screens.   This is a great documentary about each of the Beatles albums.   All of the key players are shown talking about the songs and albums.   There isn't any new information, but I did spot a couple "new" photographs and it is well worth the time to sit on the benches nearby and watch from Please Please Me to Let It Be.

There is a special exhibit going on right now called "Stay Tuned: Rock on TV."  I really enjoyed it.   It is all about rock music and television from variety shows to MTV -- everything is covered (including cartoons).    Beatle fans will want to check out the Ed Sullivan section on the 4th floor right behind this huge television set.    The guitar John Lennon used on the Sullivan show is displayed (and was hard to photograph) as well as a few other items.

Go up to the 5th floor and you will find the clothing Ringo wore on Saturday Night Live in 1984

If you find yourself in Cleveland this summer, it is well worth going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.    There is a lot of things to see and interesting films to watch as well as plenty of Beatles content to keep you happy.   

The Rock n Roll Reunion

At the time Paul and Yoko being spotted together and getting along at John Lennon's induction into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame was big news.    Big news!    We had been under the idea that those two were bitter rivals and would never be photographed together again. So when we saw them together and hugging it was crazy.   We didn't know it at the time, but that was when Yoko gave Paul the tapes that were to be used for the new Beatles songs.     I don't recall ever seeing a photo with Sean in it. 

Hall of Famer

This photo was snapped while Ringo was leaving the Beatles' induction ceremony into the Rock n roll Hall of Fame in 1988.   The Cleveland museum had not been built yet and so the ceremony took place in New York City.

Beatles Traveling: Report of my trip to Cleveland, Ohio

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame photo taken by Sara Schmidt

Last week my mom and I went to Cleveland, Ohio for a short trip.    The main purpose of the trip was to go into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame library and archives so I could do some research for my book.    However, I wanted to make sure that you all knew what Beatles stuff is currently in Cleveland if you want to take a trip of your own, or if you live too far away and would just like to know what is there.

Here I am at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame library.  Photo taken by Coral Schmidt

My first stop was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame library and archives.   This is not located where the museum is and you will need to drive there or take a cab.  (Side note do NOT use Yellow cabs of Cleveland---I know Paul used them in 1976, but they are terrible!!!).    Anyone can go inside and read the books.   There are so many Beatles books!   Shelves upon shelves.   It was really, really neat to see the books that friends such as Chuck Gunderson, Robert Rodriguez, Bruce Spizer, Candy Leonard and many others have written and are on the shelves there.     To see the archives, you have to make an appointment ahead of time.  They will issue you a library card and you have to watch a short  powerpoint about handling the materials.     The archives are awesome.   You wouldn't believe all of the Beatles' news clippings, never before seen photos (I saw some from Detroit 1966 that I just LOVED!), Bob Bonis' paper archives, Rolling Stone's archives...all about the Beatles.    What is sad to me, is that many of the newspaper clipping are deteriorating and are in bad shape.   They aren't organized or anything.  Just a bunch of clippings in a manilla folder.    I wish I could have a job organizing these documents.   Wouldn't that be awesome?

Yellow Sub things at the Cleveland Hard Rock Cafe  Photo taken by Sara Schmidt

After spending the afternoon as the library, we had diner at my favorite vacation restaurant, the Hard Rock Cafe.    There isn't a whole lot of Beatles stuff in this Hard Rock.  Just some Yellow Submarine things on one wall.   But the food was good, as always.


The next day was a full day for us.   The first thing we did was go see the "Christmas Story" house and museum.   Since that isn't Beatles related in any way, I won't go into details about it.  But if you like the movie "The Christmas Story," then you really need to go to the house and museum.  It was fun!

The it was straight to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame museum.   I had been there in 2001, but things have changed since then.  #1 being Ringo has been inducted into the Hall of Fame just this year!  That made it pretty exciting!    After getting our tickets, we went down to find Ringo Starr's suit from "Goodnight Vienna."   Now that was amazing!!!

My mom, (Ringo's #1 fan) next to the Ringo display.   Photo taken by Sara Schmidt

We quickly realized that we just wanted to see the Beatles things and we weren't going to focus on any of the other displays until we saw the Beatles stuff.  So we went off and found it.   I was really amazed by all of the items on display.    And it really hit me---I spend a lot of my time doing Beatles things, and I would guess that the readers of this blog do as well.   The Beatles are just part of my life.  But here was their stuff preserved under glass and being stared at by all of these people.   The Beatles aren't just MY thing---they are everyone's thing!   To me seeing John Lennon's Sgt. Pepper suit in person is incredibly cool because I have seen all of the photos, but there it was under glass because it has historical importance.   I don't know, it just struck me.   Here are some of the amazing Beatles things on display currently at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

John's guitar from 1965 with setlist still taped on it.  Photo by Sara Schmidt

John's All you need is love jacket.  Photo by Sara Schmidt

John's Sgt. Pepper suit.  Photo by Sara Schmidt

John's "You are Here" t-shirt from 1972.   Photo by Sara Schmidt

The mellotron used on Strawberry Fields Forever.  Photo by Sara Schmidt

My mom with Ringo's drums.  Photo by Sara Schmidt

Ringo's jacket worn in the Strawberry Fields promo.  Photo by Sara Schmidt

John's "Rock n Roll" jacket.  Photo by Coral Schmidt

John's "rooftop" guitar.  Photo by Coral Schmidt

The orange suit George wore to the Yellow Submarine premiere.  Photo by Coral Schmidt

As you see---lots of Beatles stuff on display.   But which Beatle was missing?   Yes....where's the Paul clothing?   The only Paul item on display was a Grammy award given to Wings.  I understand that Paul still uses his guitars, but really---can't he find one of those knitted sweater vests to give to the museum?   It just stood out to me that Paul doesn't have really anything there.


Of course there is much more to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum than the Beatles.  There are several films that you can watch about the induction and who is in the rock hall.   However, these are older films.  You do see clips of Paul, George and Ringo.   The one that goes year by year does not have 2015 in it yet.    But in the room as the video, there is a wall of "signatures" of everyone who is inducted.  This is the only place where I found anything about Brian Epstein.

photo taken by Sara Schmidt

I enjoyed the display about radio and was happy to listen to the MC of Beatlefest, Terri Hemmert on the headphones.   I also got a kick out of the Murrary the K shirt.  The Rolling Stone magazine exhibit was really neat as well.

photo taken  by Sara Schmidt

If you have a chance to see the things in the Rock n Roll hall of fame, it is well worth it for Beatle fans.   They have some great Beatles items available at the gift shop as well.   Speaking of the gift shop, be on the looking out soon for a contest where you can win some souvenirs I picked up at the gift shop just for this blog!