Tom Waits, Neil Diamond, Alice Cooper among 2011 Rock Hall inductees

 
 
Tom Waits, Neil Diamond, the Alice Cooper Band, Dr. John and Darlene Love will be welcomed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next spring, the organization will announce Wednesday.

All five had been long eligible for induction under the hall’s criteria that acts wait at least 25 years after releasing their first recordings. In addition, Jac Holzman and Art Rupe, the founders of Elektra and Specialty Records labels, respectively, are entering the hall as co-recipients of the annual Ahmet Ertegun Award bestowed on influential record executives.

Demonstrating that when Elton John speaks, Rock Hall voters listen, Leon Russell has been selected as the honoree for the new Award for Musical Excellence, previously known as the Sideman category. John had been exceptionally vocal this year when promoting their duet album “The Union” in saying that his Oklahoma-based fellow pianist, singer and songwriter deserved to be in the Hall of Fame.

Of the nominees who were on the final ballot for induction, Bon Jovi, Donna Summer, Chic, Laura Nyro, the Beastie Boys, Donovan, the J. Geils Band, LL Cool J, Joe Tex and Chuck Willis were left to wait for another year to be voted in.

As much as Waits’ induction will be cheered by critics and fans who have long admired his idiosyncratic songs, which often deal with the denizens of seedy bars and low-rent hotels, this year’s choices won’t help mollify those who have criticized the hall for the scant attention it has given rap music since its earliest proponents first became eligible in the last few years.

Dr. John’s selection can be seen both as a vote of confidence in his richly regional gumbo of New Orleans R&B, jazz and rock as well as for his prominence in recent years as an outspoken champion of the Crescent City’s status as a wellspring of musical and cultural riches following the devastation to the region in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Mainstream rock fans are also likely to grouse about the snub of Bon Jovi, even though many music critics have been lukewarm to New Jersey’s catchy but cliché-ridden brand of Springsteen-lite pop-rock.

When cartoonish rock band KISS made the nominee list last year, many fans objected, saying that Cooper, a.k.a. Vincent Furnier, had established the template for outrageously theatrical hard rock and deserved to be voted in first.

The induction ceremony will be held in March in New York.

-- Randy Lewis

Photo of Tom Waits in concert at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles in 1999. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[james]

How can KISS still be left out? What makes them not good enough for the hall? Wait i know the hall is private and can put in whoever they want and keep out whoever they want

[David Cadalan]

Maybe it's time that Elton spoke up for the Small Faces?

Happy for Tom Waits though.

[Robert B]

And still...no RUSH. *sigh*

[itsalock]

RAP fans are miffed that the ROCK & ROLL Hall of Fame has "snubbed" Rap acts? They can get their own Hall of Fame....if it ain't ROCK, it shouldn't ROLL in there.

[Rockin'Robert]

The Art Rupe L.A.-based label was Specialty, not Speciality, Records. Also, Donovan should've pre-ceded Waits, being that Don had his first hits in '65, 'Catch The Wind", "Colours" and "Universal Soldier". He rocked out with "The Trip" and "Season Of The Witch", while "Hurdy-Gurdy Man" and "Sunshine/Superman" both used John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin on bass. Meanwhile, Jeff Beck guested on "Barabajagal" and "Superlungs". Donovan also recorded "Rock And Roll Soldier" in the mid-70s. Waits, who I have always dug, didn't arrive 'til the early 70s, and never had a hit record beyond the Eagles doing "Ol' 55" which Waits dispised, despite getting enormous royalty checks from the sales. He's probably embarrassed by his nomination for induction. As for 'rap' inductions...I think I just heard my toilet flush!

[Tannim]

Still no Rush...

I mean, c'mon, Neil Diamond? He is to rock what Metallica is to country, or what Lord Helmet is to Lonestar--absolutely nothing!

What's next? William Hung? William Shatner?

RNRHOF is long past being a joke, and except for Alice Cooper, the proof is in the list again...

[steve]

One can only hope that Alice Cooper the band is being inducted, not Alice Cooper the solo artist.

[kingenots]

TOM WAITS is GOD!!! I must have sent over a hundred e-mails to the president of that dog & pony show called the rock & roll hall. I feel like a man that got some redemption today. I still think keeping bands like rush & kiss out and inducting rap acts is a joke! I love hip-hop & rap but it's not rock & roll...I know that for sure. Let them get there own hall of fame if they want that honor. Any way all my bitching pay off......TOM WAITS RULES!!!!!!!

[fred&slinky]

Tom Waits - YES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Nick Padilla]

Mollify the rap community? Why? Let them have their own hall of fame. Donna Summer? Eh. LL Cool J? Screw THAT! At least the Beastie Boys crossed over to some degree, although I would not put put them in simply because they don't have enough great songs. Why not just put everyone in?? Don't even get me started on Rush... At least kiss is not in yet...It looks like posturing for future record deals and/or concert.

[dwon]

The fact that Rush is still not in the HOF at this point means it has no credibility anymore. They weren't even on the ballot, yet Bon Jovi was? Donna Summer? J. Geils Band?Over Rush? Rush should have been in years ago. This is a joke.

[Streets]

Chicago, Tower of Power, Los Lobos ??????

[GRINderMan]

kISs should never be included.

[Randy Lewis]

Thanks, Rockin' Robert, for catching the typo in the name of Specialty Records. Longtime Angelenos like myself know it well and love all the great music Specialty brought us. But Robert, Rock Hall membership isn't based on seniority--except for the eligibility requirement--so an act that's been around a long time could wait years and years to be inducted while much younger acts get voted in based on merit as determined by the hall voters. And to Steve, I should point out in the first paragraph of the story that the Hall's announcement specifies that it is the Alice Cooper Band that is being inducted. Cheers to all!

[Paulus]

Leon Russell !!

.... way overdue.

[jim]

Never understood who the sanctioning body was for Rock and Roll. Who exactly decides on the honorees? Football has the NFL, Baseball has MLB, Golf is USGA and St. Andrews Royal and Ancient, but who is the sanctioning body for the R&R HOF?

Just wondering...

[Craig Brown]

Screamin' Jay Hawkins was the first to do Theatre-Rock.
He was using costumes and props when Alice was just a lad
and Gene Simmons was spitting up baby formula, not flames.

[Jagexxx]

The RRHOF has no credibilty.

[Jagexxx]

Jan Wenner hates prog rock, so doubtful Rush, Yes etc. will ever be inducted.

KISS? Come on, people took them seriously? Shouldn't there be the slightest bit of artistry involved? I know it's only rock and roll, but contributing a bit more than just to the record company coffers should be a consideration.

[David]

Still smiling from the "you kids get off my lawn" mentality that the old rockers have towards rap music. That's exactly how the jazz and pop folks felt when rock came first came along.

I'm not saying that there's much rap that deserves to be in R&RHOF, but the influence of folks like Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Run DMC, The Beastie Boys, and (even) LL Cool J is undeniable. (and they DO rock!)

[Bob]

I saw Leon Russell at the Coach House last night and he was amazing. I am so glad that he is getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Who cares about Bon Jovi. I want to know why The Smiths, The Cure and Gram Parsons have not been inducted!!!

[cabeachguy]

I love Tom Waits, truly a singular artist in our time. BUT..the Rock Hall of Fame?

Yeah, Tom is the hardest of rockers, with numerous albums producing classic rock songs we all know. His rock singing and guitar playing is up there with the best, and he's influenced so many other rockers over the years as well.

Give me a break! What about Tull? Same as another commenter noted, Jann Wenner doesn't like them (prog rock bands), so they'll never get in.

Yeah, Neil Diamond is a rocker too; outrocks Rush any day of the week.

Face it fans, the Rock Hall of Fame is a complete joke.

Someday the Bill Graham archives will start up a REAL rock hall of fame on the west coast, in San Francisco where the "Summer of Love" sprouted so many great bands and musicians.

[BOB LAIRD]

I cant believe THREE DOG NIGHT, CHICAGO, AND BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS, HAVE NEVER BEEN INDUCTED. THEY OFFERED MORE TO THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, THAN A LOT OF YOUR NO NOTHING ARTISTS THAT HAVE BEEN IN. YOU CAN TELL THIS WHOLE DEAL IS POLITICAL. CHICAGO AND BS&T WERE INNOVATORS OF BIG BAND SOUND IN ROCK,I GUESS TALENT DOESN'T MATTER. AND THEY ARE STILL PERFORMING.

[kevin]

Ah where to start. Jagexxx and Grinderman. Clearly neither of you has ever listened to the catalogue. While I enjoyed the theater as a kid, it's hurt their legitimacy with bafoons like the two of you who've never listened to their albums. "Rock and Roll all night" is one of the worst 70's era kiss songs but it's what people go by since it's still played in stadiums and on classic rock stations. Kiss had few truely great songs, but they had dozens of songs that were better than 90% of the songs on the radio at the time they were both released. As far as the non Alice Cooper inductees..... Waits has value but when so many are left out, he doesn't belong, pure and simple. And the others, please. I shouldn't even have to make that argument it's so ludicrous. With the one exception being Neil Diamond. Again, absurd to argue against the guy who was a dominant player in 70's rock, singing and writing, albeit typically soft rock. Listen to "Hot August Night". He belongs in the hall without question.

The Hall is a joke. All anyone of us that object to the omissions and admissions can do is never support it with our ticket money, t-shirts and so on. I wonder if they even know they are laughed at by pretty much all sides. If they do, they clearly do not care.