Rock and Roll Archaeologist: How I Chased Down Kurt's Stratocaster, the "Layla" Guitar, and Janis's Boa

Dubbed the "Indiana Jones of Rock 'n' Roll" by Seattle’s The Rocket, Peter Blecha’s life reads like a dream come true. From an adolescence spent hoarding 45s, he turned an obsession with music memorabilia into an amazing career, amassing an astonishing collection of rock-and-roll artifacts while hobnobbing with music industry bigwigs and helping to establish a world-famous museum. Here Blecha recounts his favorite adventures in the field, from porchside interviews with Jimi Hendrix’s father to haggling with Courtney Love for Kurt Cobain mementos to a tense auction battle for Eric Clapton’s “Layla” guitar. The book also relates his involvement with Microsoft mogul Paul Allen’s quest to build a gallery devoted to Jimi Hendrix, which, with Blecha’s help, eventually became the renowned Experience Music Project. Blecha’s story is a unique celebration of fandom taken to obsessive lengths, culminating in a lifetime of incredible experiences — and a basement overflowing with the stuff rock-and-roll dreams are made of.