Hall of Fame Archives - Page 5 of 9

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snubs

On the subject of Musical Excellence, I restate my case for Billy Preston and a slew of the Wrecking Crew, starting with bassist Carol Kaye.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the nominees for 2018:

Bon Jovi
Kate Bush – first time
The Cars
Depeche Mode
Dire Straits – first time
Eurythmics – first time
J. Geils Band
Judas Priest – first time
LL Cool J
MC5
The Meters
Moody Blues – first time
Radiohead – first time
Rage Against the Machine – first time
Rufus featuring Chaka Khan
Nina Simone – first time
Sister Rosetta Tharpe – first time
Link Wray
The Zombies
“To be eligible for nomination, an individual artist or band must have released its first commercial recording at least 25 years prior to the year of induction which means the 2018 nominees had to release their first official recording no later than 1992.”

Since we can vote for these folks, I cast my ballot for these:

The Moody Blues: #1 on Culture Sonar’s Top Ten Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Snubs. Commercial and critical cred, evolving in musical styles.

Nina Simone, the high priestess of soul – listen to Feeling Good

Two artists I think they should just plop into the Hall as early influencers are Sister Rosetta Tharpe, The Godmother of Rock & Roll, and Link Wray, the father of the power chord.

One band that should be in via the Musical Excellence route, and that’s the Meters, who defined New Orleans funk. And on the subject of Musical Excellence, I restate my case for Billy Preston and a slew of the Wrecking Crew, starting with bassist Carol Kaye.

Again, I’m pushing for Estelle Axton, the AX of STAX Records, as a non-performer. Her brother and business partner Jim Stewart has been there since 2002.

Chuck Miller made the case for Neil Sedaka; I’ll buy that, and would suggest that they include his longtime writing partner Howie Greenfield. Like Mann and Weil and Goffin and King, they were successful Brill Building creators.

If I knew the Meters, Tharpe, and Wray would get in another way, I probably would vote for Culture Sonar’s #9 pick The Cars, plus Dire Straits and Eurythmics.

I’m guessing that Bon Jovi, the Cars (high on the fan ballot in previous years) and the Moody Blues will make it.

High on my disappointed they weren’t even nominated:

Emerson Lake & Palmer – while I’d like to see King Crimson, Greg Lake’s previous band, go in first, I’d take whatever prog rock I could get

The Doobie Brothers- oddly enough, the death of Steely Dan’s Walter Becker has made me, even more, a fan of this choice. Only Becker and Walter Fagen are in the Hall, which means original Dan guitarist Jeff Baxter is not. Neither is Michael McDonald, who had a stellar solo career after singing and playing for Steely Dan then reviving the Doobies.

Warren Zevon – yes. a critical darling, whose songs were heavily covered.

Three Dog Night – yes, they didn’t write their own songs. But they made credible recordings covers of a wide range of artists, including musicians that people didn’t know at the time, including Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman, Elton John and John Hiatt. I really enjoyed their early stuff. And they had 21 consecutive Top 40 hits.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Is Looking for a Librarian

The only cataloging of music material I’ve ever done was for my personal use.

About a half dozen people sent me, usually via Facebook, an article about a job ad: The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Is Looking for a Librarian. Now it is true that I am a librarian, and for nearly 25 years. It’s also correct that I am interested in rock and/or roll, based on the one or two articles I’ve written on the subject the past dozen years. I’ve even been to the place in Cleveland, OH the past year, as I indicated here and here.

So I just HAD to look at the job description: “The Librarian reports to the Senior Director of Library and Archives and performs descriptive cataloging of library resources; assists in providing instruction and reference service and engaging users through outreach activities; assists in the collection development of library resources; and supervises the work of the Library Assistant, interns, and volunteers.”

I have done instruction, engaged users online on a few webinars, supervised interns. I’ve had only passing opportunity to do collection development. But I really haven’t done cataloging at all.

Moreover, in looking at the full posting, I have NO “Experience cataloging using RDA, AACR2, Library of Congress-Program for Cooperative Cataloging Policy Statements (LC-PCC PS), Library of Congress Classification (LCC), Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), Library of Congress Genre-Form Terms (LCGFT), and MARC formats.”

In fact, the only cataloging of music material I’ve ever done was for my personal use. For instance, I have several LPs that are compilations with various artists, such as the Warner Brothers Loss Leaders, benefit concerts such as The Secret Policeman’s Ball, and some soundtracks. I created a 3X5 card for each artist, with song and album name, better to make mixed tapes; ah, Arlo Guthrie’s Voter Registration Rag is on Burbank.

And that was about a decade before I even went to library school, which SHOULD have told me something. Was that geeky or what?

So I shan’t be moving to Cleveland, alas. But I appreciate all the notices from the people who have been thinking about me.

Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017

CHICAGO - 1987: Lee Smith of the Chicago Cubs pitches during an MLB game at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. Smith pitched for the Cubs from 1980-1987. — 1987: Lee Smith of the Chicago Cubs pitches during an MLB game at Wrigley Field. Smith pitched for the Cubs from 1980-1987.

No, I don’t have a vote for who gets into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017. Those who do must vote by Saturday, December 31, with the results announced Wednesday, January 18, 2017. Here’s the background about each player eligible.

Last year of eligibility:

1) Lee Smith, 15th year of eligibility (received 34.1% of the votes last year; 75% is the threshold)
A guy in USA Today wrote: “I happened to be a huge Lee Smith fan as a kid, and now the longtime closer’s in his 15th and final year of eligibility (though various Eras Committees will give him more shots).

“Smith seems an unfortunate victim of timing: If [Mariano] Rivera hadn’t come up just as his career was winding down, he might be long enshrined by now. But Rivera, especially, set inhuman standards for closing baseball games, and it doesn’t look like Smith will get elected on BBWAA voting.” And he DIDN’T put Smith on HIS ballot!

2) Tim Raines, 10th year (69.8%)
Probably the second-best leadoff hitter, after Rickey Henderson, with speed and power. I have hope he’ll get in this time.

Someone from the freshman class:

3) Ivan Rodriguez, 1st year
Not only a good hitter in his prime but a fine catcher. I picked him over Manny Ramirez, because of the latter’s 2009 suspension for prohibited Performance Enhancing Drugs, which hurt his team. I also considered Vladimir Guerrero, and he’d probably be on my ballot some other year.

The PED guys

The rules regarding performance-enhancing drugs were not clear before 2004. Moreover, as someone noted, this year they inducted former Brewers owner Bud Selig. “‘Under Selig’s ownership, the Brewers grew into a powerhouse, winning the AL pennant in 1982.'” If Selig was selected for his tenure as Commissioner, then so should every PED player that played while he was Commissioner.”

I won’t go that far – I’m not picking the single-dimension hitter Sammy Sosa – but I would put in the two best players in the past 30 years.

4) Barry Bonds, 5th year (44.3%)
Even by 1998, he had near HoF stats

5) Roger Clemens, 5th year (45.2%)
Seven ERA leading seasons

They were close last time:

6) Trevor Hoffman, 2nd year (67.3%)
One of the greatest save pitchers ever

7) Jeff Bagwell, 7th year (71.6%)
Should have gotten in a couple of years ago.

This category also includes Raines

Other worth candidates:

8) Curt Schilling, 5th year (52.3%)
I find him personally offensive for all sorts of reasons. But he was a fine pitcher, bloody sock and all.

9) Edgar Martinez, 8th year (43.4%)
I guess I’m getting over the fact that he was a designated hitter for most of his career, and I HATE the DH.

10) Mike Mussina, 4th year (43.0%)
He was seldom the best pitcher on his team, just a solid pitcher for a lot of years

If I had an 11th vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017, it’d be for Jeff Kent (4th year, 16.6%) who doesn’t get enough love

2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee fan vote

That first Steppenwolf album I listened to constantly

For the past couple of years, you, the popular music fan, have been allowed to select up to five Nominees you think should be Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, from the admittedly flawed list of candidates. The aggregate vote gets tallied as one vote, along with the experts.

Last year, I rooted for Chicago, Chaka Khan, Los Lobos, The Spinners, and Yes. Chicago, which won the fan vote last year made it into the Hall, though popularity there did not assure induction. Los Lobos and the Spinners are not even on the ballot this year.

The 2017 Nominees are:

Bad Brains– heard of, but only barely. Hardcore punk band of the 1970s and beyond.
Chaka Khan – for both her music with Rufus and her solo material. And we share the same birth month.
Chic -I’ve said three years running that “its sound still relevant, though if Nile Rodgers and the late Bernard Edwards got in as non-performers (songwriter/producer), I could accept that.”
Depeche Mode – I like their moody electronic sound. Eventually, I say.
Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) – the group’s been around for a long time, back to 1970. I could vote for them, though if Jeff Lynne got noted for writer/producer, that’d be sweet, too

The J. Geils Band – another band that’s been around longer than I realized; Peter Wolf is seven years to the day older than I, so you’d THINK that would move my needle of support, but it did not
Jane’s Addiction – a group I’ve heard of, and have a couple of songs on compilations. But they started in 1985, and they can wait.
Janet Jackson – nominated last year, possibly one of the most worthy. Yet, because she’s relatively young, I think she’ll get in eventually.
*Joan Baez – an odd choice. She’s not a real rock person. I mean I LOVE Joan. An early album of hers was massively important to me. But though she was a contemporary of Dylan, I still would peg her musically more like an early influence, in the same category as Pete Seeger or Woody Guthrie. But I’m voting for her anyway.
Joe Tex – I know who the late Joe Tex was. I saw his album covers on the inner sleeves of those Sam & Dave and Aretha Franklin albums my sister and I bought in the 1960s. But I never owned his music.

Journey – for a time in the early 1980s, they were ubiquitous, and not in a good way
Kraftwerk – their influence is reportedly legendary, yet I have none of their music
MC5 – They put out one of their albums that was huge for me. They were a legendary live band.
Pearl Jam – I have three of their albums. Still, they’re too recent for me to even consider. Naturally, they’ll get in on their first year of eligibility.
Steppenwolf – that first Steppenwolf album I listened to constantly

The Cars – I found their music incredibly catchy. They were third in the public voting last time out.
The Zombies – I like their hits quite a bit, and they put out one legendary album, essentially after they broke up. They’re worthy, but when I have five to pick out of 19, I haven’t picked them
Tupac Shakur – another artist I know by name, and reputation, and how he died in 1996, but not really his music
Yes – inexplicably, they weren’t even nominated until last year, when they came in second in the public voting. The dearth of progressive rock in the Hall is quite astounding. Now that Yes mainstay Chris Squire, unfortunately, passed away this past year, maybe THAT will sway the voters.

I’ve been voting consistently for Chaka Khan, Joan Baez – can’t have too many women in a sometimes boys club – The Cars, and, of course, Yes. My fifth vote, I scattered between MC 5 and Steppenwolf, before deciding on ELO.

I STILL would like to see:

Estelle Axton to be selected in the non-performer award, now known as the Ahmet Ertegun Award. Her brother Jim Stewart, the co-founder of STAX records with her, was inducted way back in 2002!

Billy Preston to be selected in the sideman category, now known as the Award for Musical Excellence. They got Leon Russell and Ringo Starr in under that mantle. Also in that designation, put in the members of the Wrecking Crew not already in there, including Glen Campbell, Carol Kaye, and Tommy Tedesco.

Yes, there are plenty of artists that haven’t gotten in that should, including, but not limited to, the Moody Blues, Link Wray (pick him in the Musical Excellence category), and Warren Zevon.

Billy Preston would have been 70

I continue to nag that Billy Preston should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,

When I was in college at SUNY New Paltz, WAY back in the spring of 1972 (I think), I saw Billy Preston in concert, probably the second live concert of a “name” artist that I ever saw, after Seals & Crofts. He must have played in the Elting Gym. I took pictures, but from where I was seated, in the rafters, all I got was shadows and the backs of people’s heads.

You SHOULD know Billy Preston, keyboard player extraordinaire.

Wrote about him five years ago. Not much has changed since then, since he died about three months shy of his 60th birthday, on 06/06/06 from “complications of malignant hypertension that resulted in kidney failure and other complications,” probably from drug use.

Well, there is one thing I learned in the last lustrum. From the Wikipedia:

Although the details did not become fully known to the general public until after his death, Preston struggled throughout his life to cope with his sexual orientation, and the lasting effects of the traumatic sexual abuse he suffered as a boy. Although his homosexuality became known to friends and associates in the music world… Preston did not publicly come out as gay until just before he died. This was reportedly partly due to the fact that Preston felt that his sexual orientation conflicted with his deeply held religious beliefs and his lifelong association with the church, so he remained “in the closet” until shortly before his death. Keith Richards’ autobiography, Life, mentions Billy Preston’s struggles with his sexuality.

As someone who grew up in the black church, I can imagine the internal struggle.

I continue to nag that he should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, under the Award for Musical Excellence category, which used to be the sidemen category.

Last time, I concentrated on songs Billy Preston played on other people’s records. This time, my favorite Billy Preston tracks, with links to all, and notation of chart action.

7. Nothing from Nothing from The Kids & Me – #1 US, #8 US R&B
6. I Wrote a Simple Song from I Wrote A Simple Song (IWASS) – #77 US
5. It Doesn’t Matter from That’s They Way God Planned It (TTWGPI)
4. Outa-Space (IWASS) – #2 US, #1 US R&B, #44 UK
3. That’s the Way God Planned It (Parts 1 & 2) (TTWGPI) – #62 US, #11 UK
2, Will It Go Round in Circles from Music Is My Life – #1 US, #10 US R&B
1. Do What You Want (TWGPI) – I LOVE how slowly it starts, and how fast it’s going at the end

And I SO like this:
11-year-old Billy Preston; Nat “King” Cole