Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2009 Induction Ceremony

First things first: a big, fat “F-You” to Fuse TV for advertising since at least January that they would be streaming the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony held last night on their website and then having nothing more than Twitter updates. Fortunately, after hunting around online for awhile, I found some site based in Chile that was streaming the feed from Fuse TV’s actual television broadcast. Disaster narrowly averted, no thanks to Fuse. The amateur Fuse hosts that they had interviewing the various artists were ridiculous. Some dude named “Steve” couldn’t go five words without saying “awesome” or “amazing.” He’s sitting there with Bobby Womack, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, etc. and he can’t think of any interesting questions to ask beyond “so, how does it feel to be in the rock and roll hall of fame?” “That’s awesome. Your performance was amazing. Let’s go back to the main stage now. Amazing. Awesome.” Who hires these people? The clowns at Fuse TV, that’s who.


ABOVE: Run/DMC and Metallica were both members of the Class of 2009

It was cool that the ceremony was held in Cleveland this year instead of the usual New York. They also opened it up to the general public, holding it in an arena instead of some expensive hotel. Although next year it returns to New York for the 25th anniversary of the Hall of Fame.

I know that it seems somewhat silly for me to be caught up in the Rockhall and its machinations, but I truly do believe in what the Rock Foundation could be if it were just in the right hands. Preserving the history of this great music is an important and worthwhile endeavor, but people have to buy into it. And until they wrest the power on the Nominating Committee away from Jann Wenner, Jon Landau and their cronies, there will continue to be gaping holes as far as who gets inducted each year. But it is hard to argue with this year’s class, I have to admit that it was quite good.

Roseanne Cash gave a great induction speech for Early Influence Inductee Wanda Jackson. Roseanne told some great stories about her father, Johnny Cash, trying to hit on Wanda when they were touring together in the 50’s. Very funny. At 71, Wanda is still a firecracker and she gave a spirited performance (well, as spirited as a 71 year old woman can give).

I was so glad to see Bobby Womack get inducted, one of the great but overlooked giants of soul. He still sounded spectacular as he jammed through “Across 110th Street” and “It’s All Over Now.” Ron Wood of The Rolling Stones gave the induction speech, and, uh…wasn't Woody supposed to be off drugs? Woody was so freakin’ high as he rambled through confusing recollections of him and Womack hiding in a closet as they watched Hell’s Angels beat the crap out of Wilson Pickett. That was the bulk of the speech. I love watching these ceremonies!

Eminem gave an excellent induction for Run DMC, and it was one of the more emotional moments of the night when Jam Master Jay’s mom remembered her slain son. I loved Joe Perry’s Cruella deVille look.

Wonderful to see Spooner Oldham (of the Muscle Shoals rhythm section) and Bill Black and DJ Fontana (Elvis’ original rhythm section) inducted in the Sidemen category. Truly the unsung heroes of rock and roll that this category tries to honor each year.

BELOW: Nigel Tufnel...


BELOW: Jeff Beck...


I was so happy that Jeff Beck got inducted this year as a solo artist (he’s already in as a Yardbird). The opening montage was well done, especially when they threw in the clip of Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap amongst the Beck clips! (It is a well known fact that Tufnel was based largely on Beck). Jimmy Page gave a classy induction speech for his old friend, and Beck was predictably witty in his own speech. (One of the great moments in Rock Hall history was during the Yardbirds induction many years ago when he went off on the rest of the band as they were gathered on stage together during their acceptance…”I should be honored to be up here, but I’m not, because these bastards kicked me out of the band…” as he jokingly lectured his uncomfortable former bandmates, including Eric Clapton and Page). By the way, as Page admitted in his speech, Beck can outplay both Clapton and Page any day of the week. Loved the sleeveless tux shirt. The highlight of the night for me was Beck’s performance. He freakin’ shred it up on the guitar, as expected, bringing the entire arena to its feet. It was guitar nirvana when Page joined Beck on stage for a medley of “Beck’s Bolero” and Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” (where Beck played Plant’s vocal line on the strat). I mean, what the f*** else could you ask for?


ABOVE: Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page jam out last night on "Beck's Bolero" and "Immigrant Song" at the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. I'm sorry for the poor sound in parts (especially right when Beck gets into his solo), but it is still worthwhile

But rightfully so, the night really belonged to Metallica. Flea gave the speech of the night when he inducted them (gleefully dropping F-Bombs all over the place as Fuse tried to beep them all out). I gotta hand it to James Hetfield, who had a special message for the Nominating Committee as he gave some “suggestions” of great innovators who have been overlooked so far by the Rock Hall. It kicked ass as he rattled off Judas Priest, Rush, Motorhead, Kiss, Thin Lizzy and others…a litany of notoriously overlooked bands hated by Wenner & Co. on the Nominating Committee. (Rock Hall power broker Dave Marsh has famously said that as long as he is on the Committee he will do everything in his power to see that Kiss never gets nominated, much less inducted.) Metallica gave a killer performance of “Master of Puppets” and “Enter Sandman” before the predictably muddled All-Star Jam at the end. It was cool to hear James Hetfield growl through The Yardbirds' "The Train Kept A-Rollin'" and then say "Mr. Beck..." as Jeff tore through a ripping solo.

Overall, a good night, but as James Hetfield pointed out, the Rock Hall needs to rectify some past wrongs.

Here's some Bonus Beck with better sound. Check this out...