John Platt

Music librarian, archivist and aficionado of the psychedelic music era.

Platt became an active librarian in 1970. Between 1977-1982 he published the San Francisco psychedelic scene magazine Comstock Lode. He also wrote and published Yardbirds (1983), London's Rock Routes (1985), Disraeli Gears (1998), and co-wrote Jimi Hendrix: Inside the Experience (1993) with Mitch Mitchell. John married in 1992 and moved to NYC in 1993, where he curated the Lincoln Center Cinerock Festival.

Following Platt's death in 2001 his wife, Marylou Capes, donated The John Platt Collection to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, Inc. on 6th November 2007. The Foundation transferred the collection to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. on March 31, 2011. [Ref: The John Platt Collection (ARC.0051)]

The Collection spans 1960 to 1999, the bulk of material centered around the San Francisco era of psychedelic rock - containing audiovisual materials, VHS videocassettes, audiocassettes and personal files dating between 1965-1975. Artists of note in the collection include: Big Brother and the Holding Company, Cream, Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin. Platt's files also contain research and correspondence for many of his professional projects, including the creation of video installations and short films for the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in 1995. The Platt Collection provides extensive insight to the professional life of a lifelong rock and roll fan and historian. Of particular interest are original concert recordings and video footage of interviews with prominent artists of the era. Many of the video recordings are of European television broadcasts. There are over 100 audiocassettes of Grateful Dead concert recordings in this collection.

Born: 26 July 1952, Heston, Middlesex, UK
Died: 7 May 2001, New York City, USA