Never let them tell you that they’re all the same.
Okay, rock fans, here’s a travel guide and trivia book just for you – unless you already know how Elvis got his first guitar and where Keith Richards threw a television set out of a hotel window. How about the secret rehearsal location for David Bowie ’s Diamond Dogs tour?
Chris Epting’s Led Zeppelin Crashed Here is a fun journey through America’s rich rock 'n' roll culture. It includes nearly 600 locations, including birthplaces, burial places, concert locales and trashed hotel rooms, neatly compiled and paired with historical tidbits, photographs, and backstage lore.
Connecticut has a scant three mentions: as the state where Jim Morrison got maced by a police officer (in a New Haven Arena shower stall), as the burial place of Gene Pitney (no mention of the fact that he was born here, too) and as the home of The Mystic Disc, which made the list of the 30 greatest North American music stores.
However, if you are going to California (with an aching in your heart) there are pages and pages of possible pilgrimages. There really is a MacArthur Park (on Wilshire Boulevard near Alvarado) and you can check out any time you like – but you can never leave – the Beverly Hills Hotel, which provided the cover art for The Eagles Hotel California album.
Answers: Gladys bought it for Elvis for his 11th birthday from the Tupelo Hardware Store; Hyatt West Hollywood; Capitol Theatre in Port Chester.