Willie’s Here! A new multi-media exhibit brings you face-to-face with the colorful life and career of Willie Nelson from his Texas boyhood to his country superstar status, Hollywood films, and privatemoments.
Plus Elvis Presley’s Cadillac, a visit to the most historic recording studio in Music City, rare films, colorful costumes and Nashville’s most complete country music gift shop.
America’s Favorite Music Museum
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
4 Music Square East
Nashville, TN 37203
The archive is opening in conjunction with the museum’s newest exhibit, this one surveying the 125-year history of Columbia Records, a show that’s also packed with pop-music artifacts.
Among the items: a pair of Johnny Cash’s boots and his lyrics for the song “Cry, Cry, Cry”; Bob Dylan letters and lyrics; a jacket and trumpet that belonged to Miles Davis; jewelry worn by Billie Holiday; a tie and letter from Louis Armstrong; one of Barbra Streisand’s dresses; a Willie Nelson bandanna; stage sketches and lyrics from Public Enemy’s Chuck D.; one of Pete Seeger’s banjos; and a trombone played by New Orleans jazz pioneer Kid Ory.
http://www.latimes.com
by: Aaron Williams
Deep within the high-security Iron Mountain storage facility in Hollywood, where nearly every doorway except for the restroom is protected by a security-card swipe lock, sits the Grammy Museum’s permanent collection of pop music artifacts, recordings and memorabilia.
Hundreds of 10-inch 78 rpm discs — some from Thomas Edison’s record label — reside in archival boxes on 20-foot-long metal shelves, near antique radios and phonograph players, musical instruments, posters and some celebrity fashion items stored out of sight in sturdy garment bags.
Vintage synthesizers in their original cases take up a shelf right below three distinctively different accordions, an instrument Mark Twain famously dubbed “the stomach Steinway.”
The Grammy Museum may have opened a little less than four years ago in downtown’s L.A. Live entertainment complex, but it’s already looking at myriad new ways to store and exhibit its extensive collection of music history.
“People offer to donate things, but until we had someplace to properly store and preserve them, we’ve had to turn a lot of those offers down,” executive director Robert Santelli said last Friday during a walk-through of the museum’s growing archive.
“We have to be able to safely store the items, insure them — and be sure we can make them accessible to the public at some point, because we are an educational museum,” he said. “We’re working without an acquisition budget, so we have to rely on donations.”
Grammy Museum assistant curator Ali Stuebner slipped on a pair of white cotton gloves to peek under the lid of a 4-foot-tall 1920s-vintage Edison phonograph resting against one of the storage space’s bunker-like concrete walls, and to show a visitor one of two old (but well cared for) piano accordions donated by squeeze-box virtuoso Ernie Felice. She later riffled through a couple of large boxes, each holding perhaps thousands of 5-by-7-inch white notecards collected from one of Yoko Ono’s wishing trees, a project for which passersby were invited to complete the thought “Imagine a world …” in their own words and / or drawings.
It’s gems like these that caused the museum to enter into a partnership with Iron Mountain about 18 months ago, the company providing the storage space about six months later.
The Grammy Museum’s spot in the massive building is modest: It’s a repository of about 900 air-conditioned square feet, compact compared with some of Iron Mountain’s 800 other entertainment-world clients, whose holdings fill a 10,000-square-foot floor of the 14-story building. (more…)
Willie’s Sneakers Come Home
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum received a pair of size 9 tennis shoes and a well-worn headband from Willie Nelson. The museum encourages artists to donate items that the public will recognize. These are no exceptions.
by Robert K. Oermann THe Tennesseen 10/16/1985
Nashville gets its first look at the new Willie Nelson Museum exhibit this morning and yesterday “The Red-Headed Stranger,” himself, toured his tribute for the first time.
After the tourists left yesterday afternoon, Nelson entered the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum with Country Music Foundation director Bil Ivey, CMF president Frances Preston and CBS Records Nashville chief Rick Blackburn to view the display that chronicles his fabulous career. The Country Music Foundation operates the Hall of Fame and Museum.
The easy-going country-pop superstar was pleased with what he saw.
As he wandered through the display with wife Connie and the executives, Nelson began reminising about his life.
The new exhibit begins with Nelson’s boyhood in Abbott, Texas. “My grandparents raised sister Bobbie and me,” he said, gazing at a photo of his relatives.
Connie smiled at a childhood photo of her husband and observed that the children have his freckles.
Nelson turned to his companions and said, “See my football picture from highschool? You should have seen our football field. Rocks all over it.”
When he moved into the section that described his early professional career, he reminisced about some of the early nightclubs he worked in as a teenager.
The Nashville segment of the display features early records and sheet music. “I talked to (Pamper Music publishing founder) Hal Smith today. He’s still there in the same building.”
“Hank Cochran and I were in the studio co-writing with a couple of guitars one day, back there (behind Pamper) with no windows. I got the idea for Hello Walls there. But Hank got up to get a phone call. By the time he got back I was finished. I said, ‘Sorry, Hank.’”
The song became Nelson’s first big Music City hit as a tunesmith.Â
Later during the tour, Nelson joked about golfing when he got to the display of his personalized bag and clubs.
Ivey and Preston described the idea behind the new exhibit to Nelson and told him that Wrangler is financing the new display.
The Willie Nelson exhibit replaces the one devoted to Dolly Parton. Unlike the show devoted to the buxum blonde, this one is heavily dependent on photos rather than memorabilia.
It will remain on display duing the next two years at the museum, which is right behind Opryland. The Grand Ole Opry is Nashville’s most visited tourist attraction.
Willie Nelson’s running shoes
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Nashville, TN
Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing:
How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment
http://harlemworldblog.wordpress.com
On View at the Museum of the City of New York
February 8 – May 1, 2011The first exhibition to explore the Apollo Theater’s seminal impact on American popular culture will be presented this spring at the Museum of the City of New York. The traveling exhibition, organized by the Apollo Theater and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, examines the rich history and cultural significance of the legendary Harlem theater, tracing the story from its origins as a segregated burlesque hall to its starring role at the epicenter of African American entertainment and American popular culture.
With a dazzling array of images, videos, costumes, artifacts, and text, Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing brings to life many of the most groundbreaking personalities and moments in the history of music, while shining a spotlight on the impact of African-American artists on American culture. Highlights include Michael Jackson’s fedora, dresses worn by Ella and The Supremes, Louis Armstrong’s trumpet, Willie Nelson’s bandanna and sneakers, LL Cool J’s jacket, James Brown’s cape and jumpsuit, Sammy Davis’ childhood tap shoes, and Miles Davis’ flugelhorn (on public view for the first time).
Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing was organized by the National Museum of African American History and Culture in collaboration with the Apollo Theater Foundation. The exhibition’s national tour is made possible by a generous grant from Time Warner Inc. Additional funding is provided by J. P. Morgan. The exhibition’s national tour is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.
That little Trigger in the corner is about 9″ tall, so cute!
If you’ve been to the Willie’s Place truck stop at Carl’s Corner, Texas, I know you have enjoyed all the Willie Nelson art work, pictures, albums and collections on the wall. We have Janis Tillerson to thank gathering up pictures from fans, framing them, and hanging them on the wall. It’s been an on-going project, because she had to replace a lot of pictures that were removed last spring, owing to some re-organization going on at the truck stop. So she has been filling in the blank walls with more pictures, and working with staff to fill up the display cases. These are some pictures she took recently, along with a few I took last time I was down there.
If you are near Carl’s Corner, Texas, stop by just to see the collections. Thanks, Janis.
And these are only a few of the walls!
www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu
The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University’s Alkek Library has acquired an extensive collection of iconic singer, songwriter and bandleader Willie Nelson’s recordings and papers.
Acquired from a fan and consummate collector of Nelson’s work, John Kalinsky, the collection spans 1954 to 2010 and contains 877 recordings, including 45s, LPs, audio cassettes, VHS tapes, CDs, and DVDs. These materials represent a significant addition to the Wittliff’s Willie Nelson holdings of handwritten song lyrics, screenplays, letters, concert programs, tour itineraries, posters, articles, clippings, personal effects, and memorabilia reflecting Nelson’s success as a concert artist, as well as a handmade songbook created by Nelson when he was around eleven years old.
Featuring recordings under Nelson’s leadership as well as tracks on which he is a producer, guest musician, or songwriter, the collection represents Nelson’s enormous output and collaboration with various musicians. The oldest recordings are two 45s by Dave Isbell from 1954, on which Nelson plays guitar, released by Sarg Records, a small label from Luling. The collection also contains Nelson’s first single released under his own name, “No Place for Me” backed with “Lumberjack,” recorded in Vancouver, Wash., while Nelson was working as a disc jockey.
Also included are deluxe-edition CDs of Nelson’s classic albums as well as box sets with extensive liner notes, recording and session information, and previously unreleased performances. There are also live recordings, including a DVD documentary on Willie’s 4th of July Picnic in 1974—a carnival-like affair emceed by Leon Russell with performances by Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Jeff Walker and others.
With this new acquisition, the Wittliff Collections become the nation’s primary repository of Willie Nelson materials.
The Wittliff Collections at Texas State
A Guide to the Willie Nelson Collection, 1975-1994, n.d.
(not including new acquisitions):Inventory (more…)
photo by Natkin
www.FarmAid.org
A photo exhibit commemorating the 25th anniversary of Farm Aid will open at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville on Friday, June 25, 2010. The exhibit will be on display in the museum’s West Gallery through the end of 2010.
Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young organized the first Farm Aid concert to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to help keep farm families on their land. The first show took place Sept. 22, 1985, in Champaign, Ill. The exhibit features photos of numerous country artists, including Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Alan Jackson, Jamey Johnson, Kris Kristofferson, Martina McBride and Keith Urban.
Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young organized the first Farm Aid concert to raise awareness about the loss of family farms in the United States and to help keep farm families on their land. The inaugural show took place September 22, 1985, in Champaign, Illinois, and featured top performers from country, blues, rock and pop music. Farm Aid has since become an annual event and a non-profit organization working year-round on behalf of family farmers. This year’s concert, Farm Aid 25: Growing Hope for America, will take place in the fall and will be announced shortly.
“Country music is at the heart of Farm Aid and Nashville has given from its heart to support family farmers,” said Farm Aid executive director Carolyn Mugar. “We are honored to be represented at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and thankful for the support of the country music industry for twenty-five years.”
A Song for America: Twenty-five Years of Farm Aid features photographs by noted photographers Paul Natkin, Charles Riedel and Ebet Roberts. In addition to Farm Aid board members Nelson, Mellencamp,Young and Dave Matthews, other artists featured in the exhibit include Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, David Crosby, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Alan Jackson, Jamey Johnson, Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, Martina McBride, Graham Nash, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bonnie Raitt, Billy Joe Shaver, Ringo Starr, Stephen Stills, Keith Urban, Lucinda Williams, Gretchen Wilson and more.
The picture of Willie Nelson, taiken by Annie Leibovitz, in Luck, Texas is on display right now at the Austin Museum of Art. (www.amoa.org)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael Jackson’s fedora, Ella Fitzgerald’s yellow dress and Louis Armstrong’s trumpet are together in a Smithsonian exhibit celebrating the famed Apollo Theater that helped these stars to shine.
The not-yet-built National Museum of African American History and Culture is bringing New York’s Harlem to the nation’s capital with the first-ever exhibit focused on the Apollo, where many musical careers were launched. It opens Friday at the National Museum of American History.
About 100 items are on view, representing big names from entertainment today and from decades past.
Among the items on view are Willie Nelson’s bandanna and sneakers, LL Cool J’s jacket, the Beastie Boys’ boombox, James Brown’s cape and jumpsuit, dresses worn by the Supremes, Miles Davis’ flugelhorn (on public view for the first time) and Sammy Davis’ childhood tap shoes.
Thanks so much to Mark Hughes from the Willie Nelson General Store in Nashville for forwarding these pictures he took of Willie Nelson at the Ryman Theater last November 5, 2009. Willie performed with Mickey Raphael, and other Nashville musicians, singing classic country songs, which he recorded for an album recently with producer by T Bone Burnette.
The Willie Nelson General Store in Nashville has been operated by Willie Nelson’s friends Jeanie and Frank Oakley for over 30 years. Mark and Kay Hughes work in the family business and continue to add to the museum’s collections and gift items.
The 10,000 square foot museum and gift shop also offers souvenirs of Nashville and other classic country music stars. They now have a website, as well, where you can learn about the museum and it’s collections, and purchase gift items and souvenirs.
The Willie Nelson and Friends General Store & Museum was founded July 4th, 1979 in Madison, TN with Willie’s good friends Frank and Jeanie Oakley as the storekeepers. The General Store began life as a local art & picture framing store that Willie frequented often while visiting his friends in nearby Ridgetop, Tennessee.
As a result of his visits, the art shop quickly amassed a large display of framed artwork and photographs of country music stars as well as a lot of Willie memorabilia and souvenirs. In the fall of 1979, Willie was voted country music’s highest honor – “Entertainer of the Year”. And before long more people were coming to see the Willie items than those looking for picture framing…and so the Willie Nelson General Store was born.
And what a store it was…full of fun but certainly not what you generally expect to find. Sure, we sold souvenirs but in those days we were known as much for our parties as our souvenirs. Storekeeper Frank Oakley was always quick to dream up a new party.
The Willie Nelson and Friends General Store is located at located at 2613 McGavock Pike, in Nashville (directly across the street from the Gaylord Opryland Hotel). You can reach them at 615-885-1515 or on the web at www.WillieNelsonGeneralStore.com.
Willie’s Here! A new multi-media exhibit brings you face-to-face with the colorful life and career of Willie Nelson from his Texas boyhood to his country superstar status, Hollywood films, and privatemoments.
Plus Elvis Presley’s Cadillac, a visit to the most historic recording studio in Music City, rare films, colorful costumes and Nashville’s most complete country music gift shop.
America’s Favorite Music Museum
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
4 Music Square East
Nashville, TN 37203
Austin’s Bergstrom International Airport is one of the nicest ones to have to be stuck in — especially if it’s during their SXSW festival, when there is live music playing everywhere. But even at other times of the year, you can wander around enjoy all the exhibits featuring famous Texans, including this one featuring my most favorite Texan, Willie Nelson. On display is a handwritten songbook written by Willie, from when he was a young boy (eleven?) and a copy of his Red Headed Stranger album.
I spent a lot of time in the Austin City Limit’s store, too, where I found a copy of the video of Willie Nelson’s ‘Teatro’ album, which I gave away as a gift and have not been able to replace yet, unfortunately.
This picture is courtesy of Wittliff’s Collection and the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
