Sat 4/20 @ 2PM
Space: ROCK, the gallery on Waterloo dedicated to Cleveland music history and photography, opened on April 5. Its inaugural show, The Golden Age of Cleveland Rock: 1969-1974, is dedicated to an era when many starry-eyed young Northeast Ohio bands signed to nationally distributed labels. Usually, their dreams of rock stardom were dashed by the reality of the music business.
One of the bands that had a little success and a lot of disappointment was Damnation of Adam Blessing, who released four albums between 1970 and 1973. With their dense, dirge-y sound and hippie image, they fit right in with the times, and their version of the folk song “Morning Dew” garnered some airplay. But as with most bands, they didn’t hit the big time.
But the band’s rhythm guitarist Jim Quinn, who produced their final album, went on to a long career in band management and record promotion. He’ll be at the gallery at 2 pm Saturday to talk about his career and lend some perspective on the myth that getting signed means you’ve “made it.”
A $5 donation is requested to benefit the work of the new nonprofit group Cleveland Rocks: Past, Present & Future, which is working to preserve the area’s music history and promote its current scene. This is the first in a series of oral history programs with Cleveland-area rock musicians and music industry people.
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