Sunday, February 19, 2006

I Love Rock and Roll

I heard about a website this morning that intrigued me and I just had to pass this along to all you baby boomers and/or rock and roll fans.
Wolfgang's Vault is the world's most exceptional collection of poster art, vintage t-shirts, concert photos, concert tickets and other rock music memorabilia. The Vault's holdings feature the complete archives of legendary rock impresario Bill Graham, whose headliners included Johnny Cash, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Janis Joplin, Aerosmith, Jefferson Airplane, AC/DC and Phish. Here, you'll find rock posters, concert photos, remarkably preserved vintage t-shirts and more from over 17,000 concerts worldwide.

You can actually buy memorabilia online. I found a Grateful Dead poster I liked for $742 (too rich for me) and a led Zeppelin t-shirt for $41. I think I'll be able to find something for my hubby's birthday here. It's the ultimate place for that hard to buy for baby boomer on your list!!

Check out the Vault Radio link too. You can listen to selected, unaltered live music from Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Doors, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Otis Redding, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, etc., for free - so get busy, and enjoy!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link. Can't believe that posters I used to see taped up on dorm rooms are now selling for hundreds of bucks.

Those prices make me wish I had taken some pics at the concerts I went to back in the good ol' days. (But who could afford a camera?)

Anonymous said...

Sweet! Thanks for passing that along Kathy :) I'll be sure to check out the site when I get a chance.

Hope all is well, Mike.

expatbrian said...

Hi Kathy, this is right up my alley. Can't wait to peruse it...maybe snatch something for a future blog.

Kathy said...

I'm glad everyone thinks this site is as cool as I do.

I should have given a little more background information. This stuff has been stored away in a warehouse for decades, and several companies bought and sold the holdings over the years. Clear Channel acquired it in 2000, and ended up reselling it to entrepreneur Bill Sagan for more than $5 million in 2003. He bought it for the intellectual property rights, but never imagined what a treasure trove he had. As his people began archiving the material, they realized that Bill Graham had kept a video and music recording of every single live concert he promoted till his death, along with all original posters, tickets, playbills, etc. Sagan quickly realized he had a gold mine.

I saw Sagan interviewed on TV yesterday and he estimates the collection will bring between $50-100 million. Not a bad return for his $5 million investment.

Side note, I'm glad Clear Channel got screwed when they sold it. They're the ones who refused to allow an anti-WalMart billboard to be posted in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Anyway, here's the link to the story if you care to read more about it. I saw the interview on the Sunday CBS Morning Show, but couldn't find that transcript.