The 2009 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Inductions Thru My Eyes

(All Photos below courtesy of Sandy Durbin)

The 2009 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Inductions came back to Cleveland for the first time in 12 years and the Rock Hall and the City Of Cleveland need to give themselves a pat on the back for not only a great event on Saturday, but a fantastic week of music and events to celebrate music, the Rock Hall and our city.

I know, some of my readers are going to say “Bear you sold out”, but no. I have been a critic in the past of the Rock Hall VOTERS, not the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. I am a proud member of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and think they do a fantastic job. Anyone that has come to Cleveland and walked thru it especially this week cannot say differently. The new Springsteen exhibit, the Motown exhibit, the special events for teachers and students, the Free Day at the hall on Saturday featuring live music all day, and of course the Induction Ceremony itself showed they know what they are doing, and they do it well.

My night started early as my son and I made plans to meet up with some friends. Matt from Addicted To Vinyl and Brian from broken headphones at Great Lakes Brewery for some dinner and what else, a few beers. (little side note: if you are into music folks and you must be if you keep coming to my site, these are two of the best music blogs around, make sure to check them out) The dinner was good but the conversation was great. We swapped stories about concerts we’ve been too, talked about the inductions and argued over Run DMC being inducted (it was 3 to 1 and I lost), and Matt told us about his dinner the night before with Paul Shaffer and them going to a private party at the House Of Blues. (I would tell you more but go to Addicted To Vinyl to read about Matt’s great night out partying with the stars, lucky bastard!).

After dinner we made the trip to Public Hall and it brought back memories. It’s been over 30 years since I was there but walking up to Public Hall outside with the red carpet, the searchlights and the press everywhere, it seemed as I stepped into another world.

We went to our seats and I was surprised at how the old hall looked. The City Of Cleveland put over $500,000 into renovations and clean up of the 87 year old hall and the only thing I could think of was this must have been the way it looked when it first opened. In all of my times there in the 70’s, it was old looking, smelly, dirty and those were some of the good virtues. Our seats were in the 2nd row only around 30 feet from the stage in the lower balcony and we were able to watch the stars, politicians, power brokers finish their meals and hob knob with each other. The funny thing is, except for the, I’m sure fine meal, my tickets were better than most of the ones at the $50,000 tables below.

Before the show started I noticed the great rock photographer, Janet Macoska, taking a picture of the stage at the end of my row and sitting two rows behind me. It was important to me to go and say hi as I have admired her work for a long time. Her photos of rock legends can almost make you hear the music thru her lens. Take some time one day and take a look at her work. You won’t regret it.

The show started with a film montage of past inductees pictures with parts of their speeches playing and I have to admit it got me pumped for the evening especially how it ended with the iconic photo of John Lennon and his voice saying “John Lennon you made it, tonight you’re in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame”. I was ready for the night to rock.

Little Anthony and the Imperials started the show musically with a melody of their hits “Tears On My Pillow”, “Hurts So Bad”, and “I’m All Right” before the Smokey Robinson walked out to officially induct them into the Hall Of Fame. During one of the Imperials speeches he made a plea “the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is fantastic, keep it here, Please”. (Side Note #2: Why is this being even discussed Rock Hall Foundation? I know that NY feels it should be there because they just opened an annex there and they have hosted the induction ceremonies every year but why would you move to a city that doesn’t even care enough to have a simulcast of this year’s ceremony at their annex because they seem to be pouting, if it’s not in NY they do not want any part of it. The Hall Of Fame is where is should be, Foundation members, we care. Okay enough of my rant back to the story)

Wanda Jackson was the next inductee and was presented by Roseanne Cash. During the video into of Wanda her advocates Elvis Costello and Bruce and Patty Springsteen talked about her influence and seeing here perform on the video from the 50’s showed she really did know how to rock and she proved it at age 71 as she strapped on her guitar and rocked out with “Mean, Mean Man” and “Let’s Have A Party”

Paul Shaffer was next to present Spooner Oldham and I have to tell you it was one of the best parts of the show for me. Paul gave a passionate speech interlaced with Spooner’s licks as they went thru some of the great songs he played on. Songs like “Mustang Sally”, “When A Man Loves A Woman”, “I’m Your Puppet”, “Natural Woman”, and “Cry Like A Baby”. This speech alone showed why the Sideman category is so important to the Hall Of Fame. These unspoken masters made the music we love, even if they never sang a note. I would have loved to hear Spooner play his masterpieces but as a Sideman Inductee they don’t get to play.

The screen lowered and the video montage of Bobby Womack was great with the old Soul Train clips and interviews and then out came Ronnie Wood who in his speech you can tell really cares about Bobby Womack and is his friend. The fact that he did it without notes and it came from his heart tells you how he feels. There is a bond between these two men. Having Womack inducted in his hometown made it even more special. When Bobby opened his speech with “It’s great to back home in Cleveland” and his voice started to break, you know how he felt about the honor. Bobby took the stage for his performance and with an acoustic guitar played the great “Across 110th Street” and then Ronnie came out and backed him on the Stones hit written by Bobby “It’s All Over Now”.

Next up was Run DMC who were inducted by Eminem. Now I am not a fan of Eminem like my son is but his speech was one of the best of the night. It was heartfelt about how he felt about Run DMC and how they influenced him. I have let it be known, I don’t feel Run DMC should be in the Rock Hall even though friends and family have told me differently. Even though they used rock/metal records to scratch on, it still doesn’t fall into the rock category but as a musical artist, they are at the top of their genre, you can’t say differently. They led a lot of firsts in the Rap world and were pioneers. One thing I did not understand was they did not perform. I know they said they wouldn’t perform without Jam Master Jay ever again but last year Rev Run was out doing Run DMC songs with Kid Rock and “DMC” McDaniel said at the end of his speech he’ll be back here in 25 years as a solo artist. I think it would have been a way to salute their friend with a performance together at their induction.

Max Weinberg and Danny Tallent of the E Street Band presented the next two inductees from Elvis’s old backing band, bassist Bill Black and drummer DJ Fontana. Bill Black’s son and daughter gave a heart tugging speech about their father and DJ Fontana almost stole the night with his laid back speech. The one thing about the “Sideman” inducted Saturday was how laid back they were. You could tell in both DJ’s and Spooners speeches, that these were guys that didn’t need the limelight. They were happy to just play the music.

Jeff Beck was next and the place erupted when Jimmy Page came out to present Jeff with his 2nd induction into the Hall Of Fame, the 1st with The Yardbirds and now as a solo artist. Jimmy said that he thought that Jeff was the best solo artist he ever heard. To listen to someone like Jimmy talk about how amazing guitar player Jeff is with his unorthodox style and how he feels about him as an artist is what I knew would get me, the music/guitarist geek in the end. Jeff speech was great and his thanking the people that keep him going and the finger he gave those that didn’t was funny. It was also very cool of Jeff to acknowledge the great Scotty Moore who was in the audience as someone he admired. After his speech Jeff came out on stage with his backing band and launched into “Beck’s Bolero” and give props to the camera people for focusing on his hands during it on the big screens. It was a pleasure to watch this artist play like this, again being the music/guitarist geek. When Jimmy came out the two launched into “Immigrant Song” chills went up my spine. Jimmy Page backing rhythm guitar to Becks leads was a highlight for me. Jeff finished with a rocking “Peter Gunn Theme”. How he plays lead solos like he does with his thumb is mind blowing.

The night ended with the last inductee and the one the fans in the balcony (as well as my son and myself) seemed to be waiting for, Metallica. The video montage went thru the history of Metallica and what I thought was fitting for them also interlaced footage from the documentary “Some Kind Of Monster” showing the highs and lows of this powerful band. Flea presented them and another great speech from an artist that seemed to really care about the band. When Metallica came up to give their speeches I was on the edge of my seat to see how they would all interact with Jason Newsted but it looked like nothing in the past ever happened and it was one big happy reunion. I was also interested in how they would acknowledge Dave Mustaine and Ron McGovney but no mention of either even though McGovney was in the audience and at the private Metallica party the night before. We all know the tension and feelings in the band throughout the years and it was nice to see they were all shelved in their speeches and they realized that it was a whole group effort to get them to the Hall Of Fame. It was also great that each one shared their thoughts on the late Cliff Burton with Cliff’s father accepting his award. After the speeches the only break into the show came as Metallica got ready to perform. After about a 5 minute wait they came out and blew the roof off with “Master Of Puppets” and “Enter Sandman” with both Newsted and Trujillo playing bass! It was very cool to see them playing the same notes in two totally different styles. (just a thought, maybe on the new tour!, how cool would that be to see the 5 of them together) The music was loud, driving and great.

The finale was something I was waiting for all night, especially with the diverse styles of the inductees but what disappointed me was they did it in two parts. The first finale was Wanda Jackson, Roseanne Cash, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Spooner Oldham, Bobby Womack, Ronnie Wood and Jeff Beck along with Paul Schaffer and the band doing a rockin version of “Jailhouse Rock” The sad part was this was not even included on the television broadcast by Fuse.

The second finale had Metallica, Jeff Beck, Ronnie Wood, Jimmy Page, Flea and Joe Perry playing the classic “Train Kept A Rollin” which was covered by almost everyone on the stage. James Hetfield said it best before they started “I don’t have to do a lot of playing with what’s behind me” and it was a guitar fans feast on stage. They rocked it and at the end of the song we wanted more.

What happened to the seemingly endless jams at the other inductions? Why have two different finales? It would have been cool to see Hetfield and Wanda trading lines on “Jailhouse Rock”. How about Lars and DJ pounding out the licks on “Train” side by side. Think outside of the box guys. If they all go into the same Hall Of Fame, have them all play together. It really would have been golden and it would have worked. This is my only real problem with the whole night.

Kudos to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on a great night. To Mayor Frank Jackson and the City Of Cleveland you did a great job of making the city look like a Hall Of Fame city.

Last but not least, congratulations to all of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees of 2009.

A huge Thank You to Sandy Durbin who was sitting next to us and was kind enough to send me the pictures she took at the inductions. I used just a small sample of her photos here and the rest can be seen at the main website http://www.clevelandrockandroll.com/

Keep rockin Cleveland
Nuff said, at least till next week
Peace Out
Bear