Skate legend Steve Caballero has teamed up with James Hetfield of GRAMMY Award winners Metallica to create this one-of-a-kind artifact—Steve Caballero’s personal ridden skateboard deck with his favorite song lyric (“Motorbreath”) written on it by James Hetfield himself.
The board is a 7-ply maple laminate Powell Peralta brand Steve Caballero pro model. It’s decorated with Caballero’s personal decal ensemble, and has all the signature wear and tear you would expect from a professional athlete. James Hetfield then hand-wrote wrote the lyrics to “Motorbreath” on it. Such an artifact from two icons of the skate and music worlds has never existed before, and it can be yours.
This special skateboard collaboration is part of the nonprofit Tony Hawk Foundation’s Boards + Bands program (www.boardsandbands.org). Funds raised through this effort will support the Tony Hawk Foundation and its mission to bring the benefits of free, public skateparks to at-risk youth across the U.S.
This and other skateboards from the Boards + Bands program are on display during this special auction. Come visit them at the GRAMMY Museum at LA Live: 800 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90015 (corner of Olympic and Figueroa). Museum hours, admission, and other information can be found at
www.grammymuseum.org, or by calling (213) 765-6800.
This board will remain in the exhibit through Monday, December 17, 2012, and will be available to ship after that date. It includes a Letter of Authenticity from the Tony Hawk Foundation, a custom embroidered velvet cover, as well as custom hanging hardware from Sk8ology.
Steve Caballero
The diminutive skater personified a new generation of aerial rippers in 1980, mixing creativity and power in an unprecedented manner. Like a big block engine transplanted into a smaller car, Cab boosted an unheard of power-per-square-inch ratio and credits skating with keeping that energy focused in a positive direction. He even remembers once telling his parole officer that, “I’ve found something that interests me and this is something that I’m going to focus on.”
Cab focused on it like no other skater at the time and became the face of a new breed of skaters. In the early 1980s he invented tricks that pushed skating forward in giant evolutionary leaps. The Caballerial, his namesake trick, twisted melons and opened the minds of other progressive skaters. Tony Hawk called it a “game changer,” and it remains one of the most popular tricks in skateboarding.
Submerged in the skate subculture, Cab handmade his own ’zines (homemade magazines) covering his skate scene, and even pioneered “Skate Rock” while playing bass with his skate-inspired band, The Faction.
He began collecting trophies in the late 1970s and hasn’t stopped, recently winning the Master’s Division of the Pro-Tec Pool Party. He’s never had a job title other than Pro Skater, and continues to tour the world as the legend and icon he is.
More about Steve Caballero: www.stevecaballero.com
Metallica
Metallica’s first album, Kill ’Em All, lived up to its title, wiping the floor with most other bands on the planet. The 1983 LP by the four Bay Area metal-heads assaulted a music world that has yet to recover. Their aggressive music became an early favorite of skaters—Cab wore their shirts at contests in the early ’80s—and they even employed infamous skate artist Pushead to lend his signature style to the band’s visuals. By the time they unleashed The Black Album, in 1991, the band attracted fans from all realms of music. The album hit number one around the world, selling over 15,000,000 copies.
Today, the band ranks as the seventh biggest-selling act in American history, a credit to the endurance of a group that achieved unimaginable success. From their sleeping-in-the-van days to the height of their success, they’ve always maintained a close bond with fans, skaters, and their culture.
More about Metallica: www.metallica.com
Steve Caballero on why he chose Metallica's "Motorbreath"
“Metallica has been one of my favorite bands to skate to since I first heard a demo tape of them in 1982. I chose the song ‘Motorbreath’ because it ties into the release the Half Cab/Metallica collaboration shoe being released by Vans this month!”
Skateboard photographs by Jody Morris (www.jodymorris.com)
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