Rock and Roll
Description
This collection of interviews covers topics of race relations and rock and roll music in Cleveland between 1952 and 1966. The interviews were conducted by Dana Aritonovich as she researched her thesis in pursuit of a Master of Arts in History at Cleveland State University, which was successfully completed in 2010. Interview subjects are music fans, musicians, and disc jockeys from various racial and socio-economic groups, all of whom resided in the Greater Cleveland area in the 1950s and 1960s.
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Charm Warren-Celestine Interview 2009
Charm Warren-Celestine was born in Cleveland in 1950 and grew up in the Wade Park neighborhood. Her parents owned several record stores from the 1960s through the 1990s, Dean's House of Jazz. She worked for her parents and continued her love of music with a career in radio sales and artist promotions. This 2009 interview opens Warren-Celestine sharing childhood memories of her parents' store, the radio stations she listened to, and the venues around Cleveland at which she saw concerts. She…
Joan and James Orosz Interview, 2009
Joan and James Orosz were born in Cleveland in 1942 and grew up on the city's east side. This 2009 interview with the husband and wife deals with the the music they listened to growing up as well as race relations. The two remember listening to the ethnic music their parents favored before developing a liking for rock and roll and R & B. Joan and James also talk about their experiences growing up in Cleveland, describing the schools they went to, the neighborhoods they lived in, and the kinds…
Lou Ragland Interview, 2009
Lou Ragland is a musician, singer, and record industry veteran. He was born in 1942 in Cleveland. The interview covers his childhood in segregated Cleveland and his life in music.
Lynn Tolliver, Jr. Interview, 2009
Lynn Tolliver was born in Cleveland in 1950. He started working in radio at age 18 and is still in the music industry as a radio announcer and song writer; he is also an author. The interview discusses his childhood, family, race issues and music.
George Hendricks Interview, 2009
George Hendricks was born in Alabama in 1942 and moved to Cleveland at the age of 7. He is a singer with The Hesitations and has been performing music since he was a teenager. This 2009 interview discusses his long career as a professional R & B musician in Cleveland, describing the bands and the places in which he played, his struggles to make money playing music, and how he feels the nature of both the musicians and the music industry as a whole have changed since the 1960s. A recurrent…