Gift Ideas for Classic Rock Fans

Nobody can dish the dirt better than the artists who did the dirt. Autobiographies from Pete Townshend, Neil Young, Ann and Nancy Wilson and oral histories of Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix offer high gift potential for people who like to read about classic rock almost as much as they like listening to it.

• Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young
• Who I Am: A Memoir by Pete Townshend
• Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock & Roll by Ann & Nancy Wilson
• Hendrix on Hendrix: Interviews and Encounters with Jimi Hendrix
• Led Zeppelin: The Oral History of the World's Greatest Rock Band

We call musicians artists (because they are) just as we apply the term to people who paint, sketch and sculpt. A few, like Grace Slick, have earned the title in both music and art. Chances are, anyone you know who likes classic rock music also likes the album covers, posters, paintings and other artistic images that helped define it.

• Artwork by Grace Slick
• Sex, Rock and Optical Illusions
• The Art of Classic Rock
• The Art of Rock Posters
• The fine art of classic rock

You know what they say about pictures, how one of them is worth a thousand words? These highly giftable collections of photographic images often tell more about an artist's heart, soul and spirit than any quantity of words ever could.

• PhotoFlashbacks.com
• Forever Young: The Rock & Roll Photography of Chuck Boyd
• Rolling Stones 50 x 20
• LIFE With the Beatles
• Instamatic Karma: Photographs of John Lennon

I don't mind admitting that I own a lava lamp. It isn't one of the ones I owned back in the '70s, but it's a pretty darned good replica. It stays in a closet mostly, but once in a while when the urge strikes, I pull it out, plug it up, and get a little high on some fond memories. This stuff is like that.

• LP placemats and 45 coasters
• Hard Day's Night cup and saucer
• Peace symbol toaster
• Fender guitar refrigerator magnets
• Classic rock blankets

Henry David Thoreau warned us to "Distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes." He probably didn't realize it at the time, but he could have been talking about the distrust of The Establishment, and the clothes that were part of that rebellion in the classic rock era.

• Woodstock red poster t-shirt
• Yellow Submarine t-shirt
• Peace sign t-shirts and hoodies
• Tie dye t-shirts and hoodies
• Classic rock kids and baby clothes

Almost as much fun as listening to, reading about, looking at, and making toast in honor of classic rock is having the opportunity to show off how much we know about it. These potential gifts offer many such opportunities.

Trivial Pursuit

• Classic Rock edition
• The Beatles edition
• The Rolling Stones edition

Monopoly

• AC/DC edition
• The Rolling Stones edition
• The Beatles edition
• Metallica edition

Jigsaw Puzzles

• The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper
• The Beatles - Abbey Road
• Jimi Hendrix - flag
• Pink Floyd - back art
• Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
• Grateful Dead
• Rock 'n Roll stars

Finally, if you're still intent on thinking inside the box (and that's fine by me) here are five of the best albums by classic rock artists in 2013.

• David Bowie - The Next Day
• Eric Burdon - Til Your River Runs Dry
• Deep Purple - Now What?!
• Elton John - The Diving Board
• Paul McCartney - New