ROCK MUSIC EXPERIENCE

PAGES OF ROCK: A NEW EXHIBITION FROM THE SUMMER OF LOVE TO THE MURDER OF JOHN LENNON A journey through the history of Rock, from historic contracts to behind-the-scenes secrets

Documents, contracts, letters, and concert posters, the front pages of historic music magazines, instruments, and stage props will transport visitors back to the 1970s, from Monterey to Woodstock, from Altamont to the Isle of Wight, from the recording studios of Queen and Lez Zeppelin, in England and the United States, to the era of political protest in Italy. Among the many pieces in the collection of Mariano Freschi, president of the Made in Rock APS Association, are the cover of the first issue of Rolling Stone magazine, featuring John Lennon wearing a British helmet; receipts for taxis taken by Queen bassist Roger Taylor, who used the pseudonym “Howie” to book rides; and the Black Sabbath contract that Ozzy Osbourne initially refused to sign in 1970 because he was afraid to go on stage due to too many fights at concerts. Among the documents purchased by major British auction houses, the collector said, are documents relating to “the recording hours used by Queen in 1997, in the studios where the Sex Pistols were busy recording the album that made them famous, a tangle of spaces that sparked a heated dispute between Freddie Mercury and Sid Vicious.” Furthermore, “when PCs and cell phones didn’t yet exist,” Freschi recalled, “through the record company I was able to start a fax correspondence with Lesie West, guitarist of Mountain, who sent me the lyrics to ‘Mississippi Queen,’ along with many of his accompanying drawings. It was beautiful; I even stayed up all night, due to the time difference, to write.” In addition to an important piece of international rock history, the exhibition also offers a glimpse into the vibrant 1970s in Italy, when the genre was covered in the magazine “Ciao 2001.” It will be accompanied by a panel featuring the front page of Corriere della Sera 1971, when a Led Zeppelin concert at Milan’s Vigorelli Theatre was canceled because a group of protesters threw smoke bombs on stage. From then until 1981, with the arrival of The Police, no major international band returned to Italy to perform, precisely for fear of aggression and violence.