Programming includes live interviews with Inductee Bobby Massey and Lou Ragland, panel discussion on Boddie Recording Service, and more

CLEVELAND (February 6, 2013) – Cleveland earned its place on the rock and roll map in the early Fifties when local deejay Alan Freed was the first to call the R&B music he was playing on his nightly radio show “rock and roll.†From the 1950s to the 1970s, Clevelanders produced powerful soul and rhythm and blues music in a rich network of clubs, recording studios and record labels. This February, as part of Black History Month, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will celebrate Cleveland’s rich musical legacy, highlighting great moments in the city’s rhythm and blues and soul music history. Fans are encouraged to share their knowledge, memories, and photos through the Rock Hall’s Facebook and Twitter page.

In addition to the public programs held in February, the month will also include:

A special class in the Rock Hall’s K-12 program Rockin’ the Schools, offered through the month of February

A new photo exhibit at the Library and Archives spotlighting the Jimmy Baynes photo collection

An online subject guide highlighting Black History Month resources at the Library and Archives

The installation of the Rock Hall’s newest artifact – Robert Lockwood Jr.’s guitar

THE ROCK HALL’S 2013 BLACK HISTORY MONTH SCHEDULE

Monday, February 11 at 1:30 p.m.

Media PHOTO OPPORTUNITY – installation of Robert Lockwood Jr.’s guitar

Media interview opportunity with Mrs. Mary Lockwood

Ahmet Ertegun Main Exhibit Hall

To kick off Black History Month programming at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Rock Hall will install its newest permanent collection artifact: Robert Lockwood Jr.’s guitar. Presented to him in Chicago at a celebration for his 85th birthday in 2000, the electric 12-string semi-hollow bodied guitar was custom made for Lockwood by noted Japanese guitar makers Moony Omote and Age Sumi of Blues Guitar/Open Natural G Musical Instruments. Lockwood, who was completely surprised by the gift, stated “this is one of the most beautiful guitars I have ever seen.†It became his main instrument for the remainder of his life. The guitar will be exhibited in the Roots of Rock and Roll gallery in the Ahmet Ertegun Main Exhibit Hall and will be placed alongside instruments from Mr. Lockwood’s friends and contemporaries, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and John Lee Hooker.

(Additional events to be announced soon. Visit rockhall.com/events/black-history-month for the latest updates):

Tickets and RSVP On-Sale Information

Unless noted, all events are free with a reservation at http://tickets.rockhall.com or in-person at the Rock Hall Box Office. Tickets for all FREE events will become available to Rock Hall Members on Thursday, February 7 at 10 a.m. EST and will become available to the general public on Friday, February 8 at 10 a.m. EST. For those without internet access, a limited number of tickets will be available through the Rock Hall’s RSVP phone system by calling (216) 515-8426.

Wednesday, February 13 at 7pm

An Evening with Lou Ragland

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s Foster Theater

Born on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio in 1942, Lou Ragland has donned many hats in his long career. He’s a singer, guitarist, songwriter, record producer, studio engineer, and more. Ragland’s first 45, “Never Let Me Go/Party at Lester’s,†was recorded in 1960 at Boddie Recording Studio on Union Avenue and released on the Way Out label the following year.

Between the late 1960s and mid-1970s, Ragland produced some of Cleveland’s greatest soul music, leading such groups as Hot Chocolate, Volcanic Eruption and Seven Miles High. In 1977, he released the solo album, The Conveyer, on his own SMH label.

Besides recording for local labels, Ragland also recorded singles for Amy and Warner Brothers. Before he became the O’Jays road manager in 1967, he was the only African American in the Terry Knight Revue, playing guitar alongside Cleveland saxophone legend Ernie Krivda. Knight went on to manage Grand Funk Railroad.

Ragland will be interviewed by Carlo Wolff, author of Cleveland Rock & Roll Memories.

This event will also be streamed live on rockhall.com.

This event is free with a reservation and tickets are currently available at http://tickets.rockhall.com or in-person at the Rock Hall Box Office. For those without internet access, a limited number of tickets will be available through the Rock Hall’s RSVP phone system by calling (216) 515-8426.

Saturday, February 16 at 11:30am

Jimmy Baynes Photography Collection Spotlight

Main Reading Room, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives (2809 Woodland Avenue, Cleveland)

Postal worker Jimmy Baynes supplemented his weekly paycheck through Baynes Foto Service at 2220 East 87th Street, primarily photographing local events in the African-American community. Though Baynes was not a trained photographer, the images he created from the 1950s into the 1980s, including weddings, beauty competitions, burlesque shows and musical performances, provide a candid glimpse into African-American life, music and culture. Throughout the years, Baynes’ photographs appeared in Cleveland magazines and newspapers, such as the Call and Post.

The bulk of the photographs in the Jimmy Baynes Collection feature prominent jazz, R&B, and rock and roll musicians of the 1950s and 1960s, including the likes of Louis Armstrong, Ruth Brown, Aretha Franklin, Mahalia Jackson, Louis Jordan, Memphis Slim and Lloyd Price. Also included in the collection are images of local performers, radio deejays, and venues. The exhibit will be on display at the Library and Archives through the end of April.

This program will be hosted by director of library and archives Andy Leach and feature a panel with curatorial director Howard Kramer, head archivist Jennie Thomas, and special guest George Hendricks of Cleveland vocal group the Hesitations. Attendees are encouraged to share stories about Cleveland music history and the places and people depicted in the photographs.

Wednesday, February 20 at 4:30pm

Teachers Rock: “Talk to Meâ€: A Cleveland Music Oral History Project for K-12 Students

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s Eat to the Beat (3rd Floor)

This workshop for teachers launches a special year-long oral history project for K-12 students connected with the Rock Hall’s annual Black History Month celebration. Teachers will learn how their students can connect with Cleveland’s African-American musical legacy through oral history. Teachers Rock is a FREE professional development workshop series for K-12 level educators interested in integrating popular music into their own classroom curriculum.

This workshop is free with a reservation at http://tickets.rockhall.com or in-person at the Rock Hall Box Office.

Wednesday, February 20 at 7pm

Boddie Recording Studio Panel Discussion with Mrs. Louise Boddie, Harvey Hall of Harvey and the Phenomenals, and Dante Carfagna of reissue label Numero Group

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s Foster Theater

The Boddie Recording Company (located at 12202 Union Avenue), run by Thomas and Louise Boddie, was Cleveland’s first African-American owned and operated recording studio, recording a wide range of genres ranging from gospel, soul, and rhythm & blues, to rock, bluegrass, and country. Harvey Hall, best known as the leader of Harvey and the Phenomenals, recorded three singles at Boddie including “Soul & Sunshine†(Da-Wood, 1971).

In 2011, archival record label Numero Group released the box set Boddie Recording Company: Cleveland, Ohio, which contained 58 tracks on three CDs (or 65 tracks on five LPs) representing the best of the Boddies’ in-house Soul Kitchen, Luau, and Bounty labels.

Following this event, there will be an after-party at the Happy Dog (happydogcleveland.com) where DJ Lawrence Daniel Caswell will spin classic cuts from the Boddie box set along with other great soul music.

This event will also be streamed live on rockhall.com.

Wednesday, February 27 at 7pm

Hall of Fame Series with Bobby Massey of the O’Jays

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s Foster Theater

Bobby Massey is a founding member of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees the O’Jays. The O’Jays’ story began in the late Fifties when Eddie Levert and Walter Williams began singing gospel on a radio station in their hometown of Canton, Ohio. Joined by fellow high-schoolers William Powell, Bobby Massey and Bill Isles, they became the Triumphs, an R&B vocal group, in 1959. Their popularity as a live act got them signed to Syd Nathan’s King label, where they released a pair of singles as the Mascots.

They were then taken under the wing of Cleveland disc jockey Eddie O’Jay and renamed the O’Jays – a name that stuck. The O’Jays spent much of the Sixties on the Imperial and Bell labels, enjoying chart success on the R&B side with such hits as “Stand in For Love†(#12) and “I’ll Be Sweeter Tomorrow (Than I Was Today)†(#8). The group’s fortunes took a leap when they met producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff backstage at Harlem’s Apollo Theater in 1968. The O’Jays signed to the duo’s fledgling Neptune label, for which they recorded seven singles, including the R&B hit “One Night Affair†(#15).

Massey left the group in 1971, shortly before the group signed to Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International label. He has since retired from performing and has established several recording companies to promote and nurture the talents of young artists. Bobby designed the “Back 2 Basics†program to help our children develop into responsible, well mannered, successful adults. Massey is also the President / CEO of Mass Network, a business development and consulting company whose goals are to make resources available to small, minority business organizations in order to realize maximum growth potential. Because of his many successes, Bobby is dedicated to giving back to his community and the world at large.

Bobby Massey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

This event will also be streamed live on rockhall.com.

About the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. is the nonprofit organization that exists to educate visitors, fans and scholars from around the world about the history and continuing significance of rock and roll music. It carries out this mission through its operation of a world-class museum that collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets this art form and through its library and archives as well as its educational activities.

The Museum is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. On Wednesdays (and Saturdays through Labor Day), the Museum is open until 9 p.m. Museum admission is $22 for adults, $18 for adult residents of Greater Cleveland, $17 for seniors (65+), $13 for youth (9-12), children under 8 and Museum Members are always free, for information or to join the membership program call 216. 515.8425. For general inquiries, please call 216.781.ROCK (7625) or visit http://www.rockhall.com. The Museum is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.