Library & Archives

The collection contains 48 silver gelatin prints of musicians and bands performing in venues across Northeast Ohio. Prominent artists featured in the photographs are James Brown, the Beatles, Chubby Checker, Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, Jim Morrison and John Densmore of the Doors, Smokey Robinson, Sly and the Family Stone, the Rolling Stones, David Ruffin of the Temptations, Taj Mahal, Joe Tex, Pete Townshend of the Who, Jackie Wilson, and Stevie Wonder. Venues include the Cleveland Arena, Public Auditorium, Music Hall, and the Convention Center. Of particular note are Shuba's photographs of Tom and Jerry’s first television appearance under their own names, Simon and Garfunkel, and Otis Redding’s final performance on December 9, 1967 before his untimely death the following day in a plane crash. Both appearances occurred on the nationally syndicated WEWS-TV show, Upbeat. The collection illustrates the connections of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio to the national rock music scene of the 1960s and early 1970s. It also provides insight into local media’s influence on that scene, as many of the performances photographed were produced by Cleveland radio and television stations.

The Mary Ruth Koogler Film and Video contains analog and digital footage of 7 Super8mm films that document primarily local rock concerts or related events from the late 1970s. Artists featured in the footage include Neil Diamond, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Frampton, Kenny Loggins, Sonny and Cher, and Wild Cherry. Some films document the Belkin family and Belkin Productions, a concert promotion company, behind the scenese of concerts. Footage of the 1977 World Series of Rock concert at the Cleveland Stadium includes footage of the Free Clinic of Cleveland. The films were shot by the donor, Mary Ruth Koogler, and digitized by Videodub International in July 2018. World Series of Rock clips were selected for the 2018 Home Movie Day compilation video, created with support from the Ohio History Connection's History Fund.

The Michael Boyer collection consists of two folders. The collection as a whole is arranged in the order that it was received. The first folder contains 79 Beatles "plaks"--cardboard trading card-like items that were manufactured by Topps. They were originally sold in packs of bubble gum in 1964. These plaks contain images of the Beatles and a variety of slogans (e.g. "I have Beatlemania"), and were intended to be linked together and hung up on display. There were 55 unique plaks made; the Boyer collection is mostly complete, and contains some duplicates. The second folder contains photographs taken by the donor of two concerts in Cleveland in the mid-to late- 1970s. There are 21 color 3 1/2 x 5-inch photographs of Rod Stewart performing at the Richfield Coliseum in 1979, which were taken on either May 3 or May 5. These photographs depict the audience, the stage setup, and Stewart and his band in performance. There are also 21 color 3 1/2-inch square photographs of a Rolling Stones concert at Municipal Stadium on June 14, 1975. These photographs primarily depict the audience, the stage setup, and the surroundings, as the stage is too far away from the photographer for any of the band to be clearly visible at any point. Although the band cannot be seen, the photographs provide a good depiction of the atmosphere of a large rock concert during this era. Visible posters and banners held by some in the audience include one depicting a peace sign, and one depicting the flag of South Vietnam, as well as national flags from Canada and Japan. A photograph of an announcement displayed on the stadium scoreboard gives the attendance at the concert as over 83,000 people. There are digital scans for ten of these Rolling Stones photos, which were digitized as part of the Library & Archives Scan Day program in 2016.

The David Spero Collection spans the years 1968 to 2017, with the bulk of the materials dating from 2000 to 2014. The collection consists of four series: Artists, Subjects, Posters, and Upbeat digital files. Series I: Artists ranges from 1991-2017 and includes contracts, correspondence, invoices, budgets, royalty statements, clippings, legal documents, and tour information for several of Spero’s clients, including Dickey Betts, Funk Brothers, Richie Furay, Survivor, and Cat Stevens. Series II: Subjects ranges from 1968-2014 and consists of materials on artists not under Spero's management, benefits and events organized and attended by Spero, correspondence, and materials relating to Spero’s business ventures. Series III: Posters ranges from 1968 to 2005 and contains four posters for the Eagles, Funk Brothers, and Jimi Hendrix. Series IV: Upbeat Digital Files consist of seven digital videos of performances from the Cleveland television program, The Upbeat Show, which include Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Jeff Kutash and the Upbeat Dancers, Jackie DeShannon, Bobbie Gentry, O.C. Smith, Chicago, John Denver, the Impressions, Occasions, Guess Who, Yardbirds, Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, and the Fifth Dimension, during the 1970s. The collection provides insight into the career of a northeast Ohio based manager, primarily for musicians in the later stages of their careers.

The Duran Duran Collection contains items from the period of the band's history spanning 1983 to 2000. Most of the photographs are from the 1980s; however some of the collection is undated. The posters are primarily from this period, but also include a few from 1999 and 2000. Also included in the collection are a variety of other promotional materials from the 1980s including a calendar, Japanese language photo magazine, and a biographical press program. These promotional materials provide insight into the band's commercial success through their marketing.

The Barbara Pariser Adler Collection on the Monterey International Pop Festival, 1967, undated, includes business cards, correspondence, contracts, and other legal documents related to the festival. The documents detail aspects of the founding of the Monterey Pop Festival, including correspondence, contracts for the production of festival artwork by Tom Wilkes (including business cards for Alan Pariser featuring art by Wilkes), and other legal paperwork concerning the founding partners of the festival, as well as a promissory note payable to Harry Manning, and a document confirming the festival's subsequent discontinuance as a business entity. The collection primarily represents aspects of the legal creation of the Monterey Pop Festival as it pertained to co-producers Alan Pariser and Ben Shapiro. Given the extent to which the running of the actual festival was taken over by Lou Adler and John Phillips--with Shapiro being cut out of the picture entirely and Pariser being given a much-reduced role--the documents in the collection represent some of the earliest stages of the festival's development. None of the collection materials relate to any of the bands contracted to play at the festival. Materials are arranged in the order in which they were received.

The Rosalind Ashford-Holmes Collection on Martha and the Vandellas includes materials from 1954 to 1992, with the bulk dated from 1963 to 1968. The files are organized into two series that contain materials on Martha and the Vandellas and the personal papers of Rosalind Ashford-Holmes. Series I: Martha and the Vandellas consists of contracts, clippings, postcards, photographs and slides, and documents for the Motortown Revue, including European tour information. Series II: Personal Papers consists of the personal documents and photographs of Rosalind Ashford-Holmes and include education documents, photographs, a passport, and Motown identification card. The collection provides insight into Ashford-Holmes' childhood and Motown's business and marketing for a popular 1960s female vocal group.

The Barbara Donahue Corrigan Collection on the Waitresses ranges from 1962 to 1998 and contains undated materials. The collection contains three series: the Waitresses, Patricia Donahue papers, and audiocassettes. The Waitresses materials include lyrics and correspondence, photographs, press kits, and clippings and magazines with reviews of the band. The personal papers of Patricia Donahue consist of documents from her education, post-Waitresses career, and personal life. The audiocassettes contain Waitresses recordings, compilations by Donahue, and recordings from her professional career working in talent and repertoire at MCA. The collection provides insight into the development and promotion of a Northeast Ohio band, as well as the career of woman in the music industry.

The Jim Summaria Photographs consist of 44 images taken by Summaria at live performances between 1973 and 1978. The majority of the photos are of classic rock artists, but other genres like blues and psychedelic rock are represented as well. All photographs measure 6 by 9-inches. The majority of the photographs are in color; nine photos are in black and white. The collection is arranged in the order in which it was received. The photographs were likely taken at concerts in or near Chicago, Illinois, where Summaria was employed as a photographer. His press credentials allowed him to photograph from either the pit or the front row at most shows, so it follows that the majority of the images are fairly close-up shots of singers and/or instrumentalists, with only one or two performers in each photograph. The majority of the photographed subjects are guitarists and/or vocalists, with some images of drummers, keyboard / piano players, and bassists. There are also individual photographs featuring saxophonists, banjo players, and flautists. Featured guitar models include the Gibson Flying V, Les Paul, and EDS-1275 (double-necked electric guitar which features both a 12-stringed and a 6-stringed neck).

The Ben E. King collection contains seven items, donated by Ben E. King, which feature the Crowns, the Drifters, and King's work as a solo performer. It includes promotional photographs (in black-and-white and color), a show flyer, a composite photograph featuring King and other performers at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and a biography of the Drifters from Atlantic Records. Most of the items are undated; roughly half of them are from the late 1950s / early 1960s. The materials are arranged in order as received. The Drifters' biography and Kingston concert flyer both provide insight into the way R&B artists were promoted and advertised in the late 1950s into the 1960s. Of particular note is the significance of the song "Stand By Me" to the promotion of King's solo career, as the song title appears on both the 1962 concert poster and the later color promotional photograph of King.

The Tina Mayfield Collection on Percy Mayfield and Lowell Fulson contains varied items related to the life, music, and career of Percy Mayfield, along with a few materials related to the career of Lowell Fulson. Most of the materials in the collection are undated; the only exceptions are Percy Mayfield's royalty statements from Atlantic Records, which date from 1974, and the funeral ceremony program for Percy Mayfield from August 17, 1984. The collection is arranged in the order in which it was received. Five black-and-white 8 x 10-inch promotional photographs are included in the collection; two feature Lowell Fulson, and three, Percy Mayfield. There are six handwritten lyric sheets for songs written by Mayfield, some of which contain crossed out or amended lyrics, and a single typed page. The collection also contains two handwritten saxophone parts from arrangements of Mayfield songs. A flyer for the Percy Mayfield Scholarship and Memorial Foundation gives evidence of some of Tina Mayfield's charitable activities towards students in the Los Angeles area after Percy Mayfield's death.

The Barbara Riedel Collection consists primarily of promotional magazines and posters related to the Beatles, along with three items related to other performers from the 1960s. The collection is arranged by item type and size. Some of the materials are undated, but the collection as a whole dates from the 1960s, and most of the Beatles items date from 1964. The non-Beatle portion of the collection consists of a single newspaper clipping on audience reaction to the Rolling Stones during their appearance on the Mike Douglas show, and two scraps of paper containing autographs. One document has autographs of two members of the Monkees, Mike Nesmith and Davy Jones; while the other contains autographs of TV host Mike Douglas, and Rolling Stones members Bill Wyman, Brian Jones, and Charlie Watts. The Beatles magazines, booklets, and pamplets contain a variety of content, such as song lyrics, articles and interviews, and photographs. One promotional magazine is solely dedicated to the making of the film A Hard Day's Night. Some of the magazines contain a color insert or a few color photographs throughout, but the majority of the photographs are in black-and-white. The two large posters contain black-and-white images of members of the Beatles, displayed against red or pink-colored backgrounds. The collection as a whole illustrates a fan-based collection and, more specifically, ways in which the Beatles were marketed during 1964.

The Dr. Wayne Risius Audio Recordings on Muddy Waters contain 1/4-inch analog audio tapes that document the production of Muddy Waters' album, Mississippi Rollin' Stone, released by record label Stack-O-Hits. Master reel #1 appears to have been recorded in early 1982 and includes 10 tracks. Master reel #2 is undated and includes 5 tracks. The LP test pressing of the album is unlabeled. These recordings could provide insight into Waters’ recording methodology, studio work, and record label collaborations.

The Jim Pojman Photographs of the Jimi Hendrix Experience contains 20 images from a Jimi Hendrix Experience concert on March 26, 1968 at Music Hall (Cleveland, Ohio), taken by Jim Pojman. The collection is arranged in the order in which it was received. Photographs are all 5 by 7-inch black-and-white images, and depict Hendrix and other members of the band in performance.

The Bill Payne Little Feat Collection encompasses various items relating to keyboardist / songwriter Bill Payne's life and career in the 1970s, especially his work with Little Feat, a band he co-founded. The collection is arranged by format: notebooks, planners, and other bound items are in a folder separate from documents, but is otherwise arranged as received. The majority of the items in the collection are undated, but are likely from the 1970s. Payne's business dealings are represented through documents in the collection, as well as aspects of his creative work, represented by lyric sheets, set lists, and spiral notebooks full of lyrics, set lists, drawings, and other notes on song arrangements and chord progressions. Payne's day planner from 1973, offers a particularly in-depth look at both the business and creative sides of his work, giving evidence of his busy schedule, with meetings, recording sessions, rehearsals, and other commitments mixed in with set lists, contacts, and notes on daily expenses. Other artists mentioned in the planner in the context of rehearsals and recording sessions include Bonnie Raitt and the Doobie Brothers. One item in the collection not directly related to Payne is a black-and-white promotional photograph of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, which features Little Feat co-founder Lowell George.

The Greg Kot Papers span the years 1966 to 2013, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1988 to 2005. The collection consists of Kot’s research files on artists and music-related topics. Materials in the collection include clippings and copies of articles, press releases, publicity photographs, slides, interviews, and research notes used by Kot in his work as a music critic for the Chicago Tribune and contributor to national publications, Entertainment Weekly, Vibe, and Rolling Stone. The files represent over 2,000 artists from a wide range of popular music genres and topical files, such as music aid benefits, the Chicago music scene, music genres, record labels, and MTV. The collection provides insight into late twentieth and early twenty-first century music journalism.

The Brenda Siegelman Collection is separated into three folders by topic, with Live 8 Philadelphia materials and Joe Strummer / Clash materials each getting a separate folder. The remaining folder is arranged alphabetically by artist. Many of the items in the collection are undated; those with known dates primarily come from the 1980s and 1990s, with the Live 8 concert materials dating from June-July 2005. The collection include set lists, contracts, riders, handbills, posters, itineraries, invitations, manuscripts, correspondence, advertisements and promotional materials, drawings, venue layouts, lighting diagrams, printed emails, passes, schedules, and hotel rooming information. Many of the materials provide a window into behind-the-scenes aspects of concert production and touring life. Artists represented include the Clash, Feelies, R.E.M., Henry Rollins, the Replacements, just to name a few. The folder of Joe Strummer materials includes an advertisement, photocopies of set lists and a handwritten manuscript, as well as an original hand-drawn map of Central and South America. The folder of Live 8 materials includes a copy of the official concert pass and a fake pass, show rundowns, dressing room layouts, and a copy of a hospitality email. Of particular note, the multiple revised rundowns demonstrate the planning process for a major, internationally televised concert event.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Library Advocate Historical Archive Photographs and Clippings contains photographic publicity material and clippings on popular musicians, spanning 1957 to 1998. The collection was originally a part of the The Advocate Historical Photograph Archive at East Baton Rouge Parish Library. The collection is arranged in alphabetical order by artist name. This collection will be of interest to researchers who are looking for images of musicians from almost any popular music genre.

The Randy Ada Collection of Photographic Materials consists of slides, negatives, and prints from performances at venues including the 9:30 Club (Washington, DC), Ziggys (Winston-Salem, NC), RFK Stadium (Washington, DC) and Coney Island High (New York, NY) between 1995-2005. Some of the featured artists include Van Halen, Green Day, Metallica, Pearl Jam and the Ramones. The majority of the materials are negatives and it is noted at the file level if the format includes slides, photographs and/or contact sheets.

The Radley D. Hirsch Collection spans the years 1980-1998 and includes some undated material; the bulk of the material dates from 1983 to 1995. The collection is split into three series based on material type: audio recordings in various formats (cassette, ¼-inch reel, DAT, VHS), VHS video recordings, flyers, business documents, and photographs relating to the Gilman Street Warehouse in Berkeley, California, as well as concerts and events from the surrounding area. Recordings include demo tapes and studio recordings, as well as live performances and radio broadcasts. Many of the recordings include additional written or printed material such as set lists, personnel listings, and other information on the recordings, such as the specific audio equipment used. The collection provides insight into the regional punk rock community and the musical and cultural scene that surrounded 924 Gilman from its early days through the 1990s, including the running and organization of the club, as well as the advertising of its shows. Live recordings from other Bay Area venues such as the Cotati Cabaret, Bottom of the Hill, Mabuhay Gardens, The Farm, and Oasis provide a more complete picture of the local performing arts scene during the era. Artists featured most prominently in the collection include Operation Ivy, Polkacide, Jain, Z Axis, Crimpshrine, Capitol Punishment, Econochrist, Jawbreaker, Neurosis, Rancid, and Spitboy. Other famous artists represented include Green Day, Jello Biafra/Dead Kennedys, Fugazi, and Bikini Kill.

The Bill Glovin and Michael Billig Collection of Phil Ochs Lyrics consist of handwritten lyrics from Phil Ochs' 1969 album, Rehearsals for Retirement. The songs documented here include partial lyrics for "Another Age," "Pretty Smart on My Part," "The Scorpion Departs but Never Returns," and "William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park and Escapes Unscathed." Songs that include full lyrics are "My Life," "The Doll House," and "Rehearsals for Retirement." Also noted on the lyrics are chords. "The Doll House" is written on the back of ""Pretty Smart on My Part," and one page of "The Scorpion Departs But Never Returns" is on the back of "My Life."

The Chris Butler Papers range from 1969 to 2005 and contain undated materials. The files are organized into three series that contain materials on the Waitresses, Butler's personal papers, and collected publications. The series on the Waitresses consists of lyrics, contracts, tour itineraries, photographs, and promotional materials relevant to the band. Butler's personal papers include correspondence, collected ephemera, lyrics, and legal pads relevant to his life and other acts with which he was professionally associated. Additionally, Butler collected a number of publications: newspapers, fanzines, and magazines, that can be found in the third series. The collection as a whole documents the early years of Butler's career and the creative process of a songwriter and musician.

The Patty DiLauria Collection on Laura Nyro spans the years 1966 to 1998, but is primarily focused on the period from 1978-1997. The collection contains audio and video recordings, correspondence, personal and songwriting notes, photographs, posters, press materials, and tour documents related to the life and work of Laura Nyro. Of particular note are Nyro's notebooks, songwriting notes, and studio and live recordings. The notebooks and songwriting notes give the researcher an insight into Nyro's life and writing process. The studio and live recordings include materials from her later album releases. The collection is organized alphabetically by type of materials.