The R&R HOF is a joke. There are oodles of bands that aren't close to R&R in the 1st place, including jazz, blues, hip hop, pop, dance music, reggae, doo wap, soul, funk. If they're going to put jazz musicians in such as Miles Davis, how the hell are John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker,Thelonious Monk, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, WeatherReport, Mahavaishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever & dozens more not in?
There are a few reggae so why no ska bands at all, such as The Specials, English Beat & the Skatalites?
Wenner hates prog rock, hence why no ELP, Yes, Tull, Moody Blues, King Crimson, Roxy Music, all of which should be in IMO.
Why Little Feat, The Meters, Deep Purple, Steve Miller, Steppenwiolf & Dire Straits aren't in is a mystery.
Here's the eligibility blurb on the R&R site:
"To be eligible for induction as an artist (as a performer, composer, or musician) into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the artist must have released a record, in the generally accepted sense of that phrase, at least 25 years prior to the year of induction; and have demonstrated unquestionable musical excellence.
We shall consider factors such as an artist's musical influence on other artists, length and depth of career and the body of work, innovation and superiority in style and technique, but musical excellence shall be the essential qualification of induction."
I think there are plenty of bands from the 90s on that SHOULD be in (at least after they've been around 25 years) given it's genre diversity & the blurb above, but they don't & never will have a large enough mainstream audience for it to ever happen: Phish, Panic, Galactic, Primus/Les Claypool, moe., String Cheese Incident, Leftover Salmon, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Del McCoury Band, Soulive, Greyboy Allstars, KDTU, Robert Randolph, Yonder, Umphrey's, Ween just off the top of my head.
Agree with you on the jazz artists, over time it has just become the Pop Music Hall Of Fame. It's Rock & Roll in name only, they cast a wide net after that.
I'm not trying to knock your list, I hope you don't take it that way because everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but you really think most of those bands listed from the 90's belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame when they are eligible? I don't think the mainstream audience is even a factor with some of those bands. A lot of them don't have the songs. You can be a great player and have great jams, but you have to have the songs as well. That's what separated the Dead and the ABB from many of the jam bands is they had the songs first.
From your list, I think maybe Phish and WSP have a shot due to their large fan bases and culture around the bands. Possibly Bela and Del if they expand into letting bluegrass bands in. However the others, would require it being the "Music Hall of Somewhat to Very Good."
From the 90's forward you will see less and less rock bands getting in the Rock Hall due to rock music being so marginalized and music genre's being so cross pollenated since then. There are not many long lasting highly popular rock bands since the start of the 90's. I see Pearl Jam and Soundgarden eventually getting in but after that as far as bands go it will be the Coldplay's of the world that get in along with more hip hop and R&B acts. That's the problem going forward with the changes in music.
The problem with the Hall right now is the bands that aren't in that have been overlooked for decades. They have to fix that situation before it can ever be considered as fully legit.
The MLB Hall isn't perfect, but at least the process to get in is transparent. The R&R Hall is a secret club getting together and deciding.
[Edited on 6/7/2015 by WarEagleRK]
The Stevie Ray tribute was great [does Tommy Shannon have parkinsons?] and Ringo was great as always.
I thought the same concerning Tommy Shannon... he looks as though he is suffering from some type of condition...
