Rock Hall Makes Course Correction

This is what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame looks like without Jann Wenner.

This year’s inductions have a flavor of making up for lost opportunities and honoring some previously slighted giants of music.

The MC 5 were inducted under the category of Musical Excellence. For a band that has been often criticized for sloppy, out-of-tune playing, this seems ironic at best. At their best, the MC5 were never sloppy and no more out of tune than anybody else in the 1970s. They were influenced by free jazz as much as by early rock and were one of the few white bands to combine those forms. Their influence is far-ranging and touches many categories of music that came after them, including punk, metal, and grunge. I wish the Hall would have inducted them before Wayne Kramer died. They were pioneers of a freedom in rock and roll music that was groundbreaking.

Willa Mae “Big Mama” Thornton is inducted under the Musical Influence category. That’s appropriate and long overdue. Thornton recorded the original version of Hound Dog, popularized by Elvis Presley. She also wrote and recorded Ball and Chain, a song popularized by Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company. She was a magnificent blues queen and a wonderful harmonica player. She was one of Buddy Guy’s musical heroes. He supported her by having her join his tours for years at a time when she wasn’t selling many records.

Alexis Korner was also inducted this year, in the Musical Influence category. He was the first white blues man in England and his influence touched every English lad who wanted to play the blues. Most of the famous English blues players got their start playing with Alexis Korner. His bandmate Cyril Davies has not been inducted into the Rock Hall yet, but should be.

John Mayall was inducted this year, in the Musical Influence category. Inspired by Alexis Korner, he started his own British blues band. many significant British musicians served an apprenticeship in his band, The Blues Breakers. This list of names is mind-boggling. He always ran a top-notch band and was successful throughout his long career.

Norman Whitfield was inducted this year. He was a writer/producer at Motown and the longtime producer of The Temptations. He produced Papa Was A Rolling Stone, and War by Edwin Starr, among many other groundbreaking records. He brought a socially conscious psychedelic vibe to Motown that rescued them from the irrelevance of their pop-soul beginnings.

I extend my congratulations to the whole class of 2024 inductees.

I encourage you to go to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website to read more about these incredible people. Listen to their music and discover their greatness.