DECK THE HALL
with only thirty.
A little more than a week ago,
PG writer
and TWM reader Dennis Roddy returned from a trip to the Rock & Roll Hall of
Fame, sat down at his computer, and fired off an email that, both
inflamed and inspired by what he had seen, led to a whole lot of emails,
debates, discussions, and outright arguments that, in turn, led to this post.
Which, if it's even half as successful as we hope, will fire off a whole lot
more of the same.
But first, some snippets from that original email:
Just got back from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Did you know Alan Freed is from Johnstown? Always been a point of weird pride to me.) ... At any rate, after noticing the Bee Gees, the Jackson Five and Assorted Others listed there (but not Lowell George or Little Feat) I was thinking of paring things down a bit. If we had to have 50 people in the Hall of Fame (and that strikes me as about right for a genre just shy of 60 years old, who would belong? ... The point is that, much like the Baseball Hall of Fame, they let too many people in too easily. ... There are too many insignificant names there.
From there we began.
Before long, we decided to make it ever harder on ourselves by reducing the list of inductees from 50 to 25 -- a change that, you might imagine, made the last few slots especially contentious -- and reserving only five slots for the "Early Influences" category. This made the Hermann-Roddy Rock & Roll Hall of Fame considerably smaller -- worried about real estate costs and an unstable business climate, we're thinking of building our facility in North Carolina -- and more selective, but also a bit restrictive. In the process, we settled upon a set of criteria that was, if not perfect, at least workable and consistent:
1) Sustained excellence. (Not necessarily over an entire career -- that would, after all, eliminate even seminal bands like The Who and The Rolling Stones -- but for at least a significant portion of it.)
2) Profound influence on a time, a sub-genre, and/or a host of artists who followed.
3) Lasting and significant "time-capsule-worthy" contributions (musicianship, songwriting, live performing) that would make the artist, even fifty or one hundred years later, worth hearing and studying.
4) Rock-solid rock & roll credibility. (In other words, the artist either had to fit squarely into the genre or play just on the fringes of it while still making an essential contribution to it. This criterion, for example, eliminated Aretha Franklin -- whom we both love, but who is by any measure strictly a soul and R&B performer -- but kept Sam Cooke in the running.)
5) Gut reaction. (It's the simple litmus test that many -- but clearly not enough -- sports hall of fame writers use; when I hear the name, do I think "Hall of Fame"? If so, they're in. If not -- in other words, if I have to think about it -- they're not.)
As we approached the twenties, Dennis noted that we were awfully short on female inductees. (In fact, we only had one.) He also noted that my nominations had been utterly devoid of female artists, and that we risked running afoul of the feminists. To which I, speaking as a feminist, responded: screw the feminists. If only because I stand by my contention that, if you're discounting influential figures in other genres (Aretha Franklin, Billie Holliday, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline), there really hasn't been a major, iconic presence in or contribution to the genre by a female artist. (And, yes, I'm including Janis Joplin here; two great songs and a fatal drug habit are not enough.) I love Bonnie Raitt. And I love Lucinda Williams, who for more than a decade has been one of the best songwriters of any gender in any genre, even more. But I don't think either of them are original or iconic or influential enough, with a consistent and compelling enough body of work, to find a place in the rock & roll top 25. That's not being sexist. That's just being a realist.
And, perhaps, an idealist. But then, that's how this whole thing got started in the first place. So it seems fitting that this is also where it should end -- for now, at least, before the critics and the naysayers and the you-gotta-be-kidding-me-ers start emailing -- as we proudly unveil, for posterity and possible ignominy...
THE HERMANN-RODDY (SWEET LITTLE) ROCK & ROLL(ER) HALL OF FAME
EARLY INFLUENCES
Willie Dixon
Alan Freed
Woody Guthrie
Howlin' Wolf.
Robert Johnson
PERFORMERS
The Allman Brothers Band
The Band
The Beach Boys
The Beatles (& George Martin)
Chuck Berry
Kate Bush
The Clash
Sam Cooke
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Bob Dylan
Jimi Hendrix
Buddy Holly
Quincy Jones
Jerry Lee Lewis
Van Morrison
Roy Orbison
Elvis Presley
The Rolling Stones
Simon & Garfunkel
Phil Spector
Bruce Springsteen
The Who
Stevie Wonder
Neil Young
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention.
Rock on. And let us know what you think...
But first, some snippets from that original email:
Just got back from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Did you know Alan Freed is from Johnstown? Always been a point of weird pride to me.) ... At any rate, after noticing the Bee Gees, the Jackson Five and Assorted Others listed there (but not Lowell George or Little Feat) I was thinking of paring things down a bit. If we had to have 50 people in the Hall of Fame (and that strikes me as about right for a genre just shy of 60 years old, who would belong? ... The point is that, much like the Baseball Hall of Fame, they let too many people in too easily. ... There are too many insignificant names there.
From there we began.
Before long, we decided to make it ever harder on ourselves by reducing the list of inductees from 50 to 25 -- a change that, you might imagine, made the last few slots especially contentious -- and reserving only five slots for the "Early Influences" category. This made the Hermann-Roddy Rock & Roll Hall of Fame considerably smaller -- worried about real estate costs and an unstable business climate, we're thinking of building our facility in North Carolina -- and more selective, but also a bit restrictive. In the process, we settled upon a set of criteria that was, if not perfect, at least workable and consistent:
1) Sustained excellence. (Not necessarily over an entire career -- that would, after all, eliminate even seminal bands like The Who and The Rolling Stones -- but for at least a significant portion of it.)
2) Profound influence on a time, a sub-genre, and/or a host of artists who followed.
3) Lasting and significant "time-capsule-worthy" contributions (musicianship, songwriting, live performing) that would make the artist, even fifty or one hundred years later, worth hearing and studying.
4) Rock-solid rock & roll credibility. (In other words, the artist either had to fit squarely into the genre or play just on the fringes of it while still making an essential contribution to it. This criterion, for example, eliminated Aretha Franklin -- whom we both love, but who is by any measure strictly a soul and R&B performer -- but kept Sam Cooke in the running.)
5) Gut reaction. (It's the simple litmus test that many -- but clearly not enough -- sports hall of fame writers use; when I hear the name, do I think "Hall of Fame"? If so, they're in. If not -- in other words, if I have to think about it -- they're not.)
As we approached the twenties, Dennis noted that we were awfully short on female inductees. (In fact, we only had one.) He also noted that my nominations had been utterly devoid of female artists, and that we risked running afoul of the feminists. To which I, speaking as a feminist, responded: screw the feminists. If only because I stand by my contention that, if you're discounting influential figures in other genres (Aretha Franklin, Billie Holliday, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline), there really hasn't been a major, iconic presence in or contribution to the genre by a female artist. (And, yes, I'm including Janis Joplin here; two great songs and a fatal drug habit are not enough.) I love Bonnie Raitt. And I love Lucinda Williams, who for more than a decade has been one of the best songwriters of any gender in any genre, even more. But I don't think either of them are original or iconic or influential enough, with a consistent and compelling enough body of work, to find a place in the rock & roll top 25. That's not being sexist. That's just being a realist.
And, perhaps, an idealist. But then, that's how this whole thing got started in the first place. So it seems fitting that this is also where it should end -- for now, at least, before the critics and the naysayers and the you-gotta-be-kidding-me-ers start emailing -- as we proudly unveil, for posterity and possible ignominy...
THE HERMANN-RODDY (SWEET LITTLE) ROCK & ROLL(ER) HALL OF FAME
EARLY INFLUENCES
Willie Dixon
Alan Freed
Woody Guthrie
Howlin' Wolf.
Robert Johnson
PERFORMERS
The Allman Brothers Band
The Band
The Beach Boys
The Beatles (& George Martin)
Chuck Berry
Kate Bush
The Clash
Sam Cooke
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Bob Dylan
Jimi Hendrix
Buddy Holly
Quincy Jones
Jerry Lee Lewis
Van Morrison
Roy Orbison
Elvis Presley
The Rolling Stones
Simon & Garfunkel
Phil Spector
Bruce Springsteen
The Who
Stevie Wonder
Neil Young
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention.
Rock on. And let us know what you think...
Posted: Sat - April 14, 2007 at 06:59 PM
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Published On: Jan 16, 2009 04:50 PM
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