The news that Neil Diamond has been elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame came as a shock. Not that I thought him undeserving. His influence on American popular music ranks only a notch or two below Bob Dylan’s — and unlike Dylan, whom I revere, Diamond consistently sings on key. What came as a shock was the fact that he wasn’t already a member. To be sure, I haven’t kept a close watch on the doings of the hall. The concept itself has always struck me as bizarre. A Hall of Fame for rock and rollers is like a Twelve Step Program for anarchists. It goes against the grain of the thing.
That said, Diamond seemed like a no-brainer. The guy’s sold over 100 million records worldwide and written dozens of memorable songs. Off the top of my head, and I’m sure I’m leaving out several obvious ones, I came up with: “Cherry Cherry,” “I Am . . . I Said,” “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show,” “Holly Holy,” “Play Me,” “Song Sung Blue,” “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon,” “I’m a Believer,” “Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow),” “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You,” “You Don’t Send Me Flowers,” “Forever In Blue Jeans,” and “Longfellow Serenade.” I’ve heard an entire bar, drunks and teetotalers alike, sing along to “Cracklin’ Rosie” on the jukebox, an entire stadium sing along to “Sweet Caroline” over the loudspeakers. If he’s not a first-ballot rock-and-roll hall of famer — as peculiar as such a question sounds — then who is?
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Except it turns out that Neil Diamond isn’t — or wasn’t — the only glaring omission from the hall. Also on the outside looking in are Billy Idol, the B52s, the Bangles, Blood Sweat and Tears, Carly Simon, the Carpenters, the Cars, Cat Stevens, Chicago, Deep Purple, the Doobie Brothers, Duran Duran, Electric Light Orchestra, Glenn Campbell, the Go Gos, Grand Funk, the Guess Who, Heart, Jethro Tull, Jim Croce, Joe Cocker, John Denver, KISS, the Monkees, the Moody Blues, Motley Crue, Olivia Newton John, the Pointer Sisters, Rick James, Slade, Ted Nugent, Three Dog Night, and Tom Jones.
I’m not arguing for or against the artistic merits of any of the performers on that list — compiled from conversations with friends over the last several days. To be honest, I hadn’t thought about half of them in years. (I confess, however, that I still vacuum to Tom Jones’s songs, especially “Delilah.”) Evaluative debates, when the topic is rock and roll, rarely rise above the Olbermann-level of discourse — which is a silly, scream-y place. I wouldn’t even be writing about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame if not for a name that jumped out at me as I was cataloguing the exclusions, an inclusion so incongruous that it called into question not only the induction criteria but the coherence of the institution:
Patti Smith is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Patti Smith.
I mean, c’mon. Patti Smith? Why not Yoko Ono?
Granted, Smith is intermittently literate — which sets her apart from the majority of her drooling punk-rock contemporaries. She also hung around with several indisputable talents, including Dylan and Bruce Springsteen (who incidentally owes more to Neil Diamond than he’s ever acknowledged). It was Springsteen who penned Smith’s only hit, “Because the Night” — though Smith jettisoned several of Springsteen’s unpretentious verses and contributed stilted ear-gaggers such as “Love is a banquet on which we feed.” She also had the right look, a kind of feminine hybrid of the Rolling Stones and the Ramones. Lastly, it should be noted — if only in passing — that Smith has the right (which is to say, knee-jerk leftist) politics: She’s petitioned for the release of cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal and protested America’s support of Israel in its ongoing war with Palestinian terrorists. In other words, like so many of her generational peers, she remains in the diaper stage of moral reasoning; she’s never come to grips with the reality that the underdog is sometimes rabid, and she continues to react, as do so many graying baby-boomers, as though might invariably makes wrong. (For an insight into perpetual boomer infantilism, compare their ridicule of “Just say no!” as a drug policy with their embrace of “Give peace a chance!” as the height of geopolitical sophistication.)
All right, I'll finish the line, since you didn't. If there's a rock-and-roll heaven, you know they've got a hell of a band. What if there's a rock and roll hell?
I think it's silly to judge the musical merits of artists based on their political beliefs and/or actions either during their active careers and especially afterwards - and it doesn't matter to me if you're talking about Bono or Wagner.
The writer seems to miss the irony that rock and roll emerged and thrived in distinct opposition to the kind of 50's conservative nirvana (no pun intended) that some on today's Right seem to pine for.
Maybe real conservatives should be vacuuming to Pat Boone.
The issue with the Rock Hall is that the voting board has been the same since the Hall began. They have voted in a disproportionate number of 50s and 60s artists, and no don't appear to have any real appreciation for groups from the late 70s on.
I would love to hear someone argue why KISS is not in the HOF, but the Dells, the Flamingos, the Hollys, and the Platters are.
I was under the impression that being influential was one of the criteria for the RandR HofF. That said, Neil Diamond practically defined the "singer-songwriter" genre, and surely was (and is) influential.
Factoid: If you have his Hot August Night (live) album, he flubs a note: "Where it began, I can't begin to knowin', but then I know it's goin' [strong]." He remarks that he could never hit that last note.
I looked at the sheet music, and evidently it is at the bottom of his vocal range. So I located the original top-40 single, and noticed then when he sings the note [strong], he may be singing it at higher pitch, as a bass guitar plunks out a very loud note on correct pitch, possibly to cover him.
The very sad thing about the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" is that most of the inductees never played rock and roll ... including Neil Diamond.
Talented? ... without question!
Popular? ... wildly!
Proven money makers? ... You bet!
But, "Song Sung Blue," "Coming To America," and "Sweet Caroline" are simply not rock and roll. They are, in every way, great "Pop" songs.
The other artists noted in your article, including Bob Dylan, also have no place in any hall of fame devoted to rock and roll.
Real rock and roll began in the late forties, thrived during the mid-'50's, and was pronounced dead by the early '60's. It enjoyed a brief revival by the Beatles, and other British invasion groups, in 1964, but quickly faded into Pop music obscurity by 1967.
For a brief history of rock and roll just listen to Don McLean's "American Pie," and note that "the day the music died" corresponded to the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson ... February 3, 1959.
Guy goes to see his doctor. "Doc, you've got to help me. I can't get these songs out of my head." Doctor says, "What songs?" Guy answers, "Delilah, Green Green Grass OF Home, She's A Lady ..." Doc says, "Well, that's an easy one. You have Tom Jones Syndrome." Guy says, "Is it rare?" Doc answers, "It's Not Unusual."
What is remarkable (or maybe not so remarkable considering the judges) is that the Monkees - a group of white males put together by a white manager - is excluded, yet several groups of black females, who were crafted together by a black manager end up in the hall. The Supremes didn't write their songs, didn't play any instruments nor even pick the songs to sing, yet like the Marvetts and Martha and the Vandells, they are in.
I had it with the RnRHoF long ago since I heard that the Moody Blues were not going in until after Keith Richards was dead, by his own admittion (of course, as long as he keeps getting the blood change outs or mobile fossilization, that'll be a long, long time) or he would rescind his induction and have his name removed if they were.
I dare say there are millions of 70s-babies (I can name at least one specifically--my eldest) that were conceived to the MB ballads.
I don't even watch the induction any longer, when they bring rappers in before we've got the original rockers in.
Bah and a pox on the House/Hall!
When I saw your list of those not in the HoF the one group that glared out at me was the Moody Blues. When I was in high school in the 70's to common question was "Other than the Beatles, who is your favorite band?" The Moody Blues was not an unusual answer. Given their masterpiece Days of Future past and their other near masterpieces up to Seventh Sojourn (I have not cared for much or what they did past that album)I think the HoF is a no brainer. I think their album covers alone justify a spot in the HoF.
As to the question as to why KISS is not in the HoF. Maybe it is because they have no discernable musical talent.
Don't worry; they all will be in there sooner or later. They have to keep inducting people to justify the TV show. That's the real source of the lameness of the RRHOF.
No mention of the most snubbed rock band of all time?
RUSH! From their wikipedia page:
Over the course of their career, Rush has come to release 24 gold records and 14 platinum records (3 of which have gone multiplatinum),[102] placing them within the top 3 for the most consecutive gold albums by a rock band.
Could it be Peart's early Fascination with Ayn Rand?
I always thought halls of fame should be for people who's names are known to the public at large, not just to the people who follow the topic. People my grandmother would have heard about.
Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, The Beatles.
I guess what I'm really talking about is a Hall of Legends. People who didn't just change their field, people who changed the country.
Mark, you forgot, "Kentucky Woman," which, if Rock and Roll were truly the criteria for induction into the HoF, would be as close as Neil Diamond ever got. There's a funny story about Robby Roberston's back-door dealing to get Diamond on the bill for The Last Waltz, which left most of the artists there, including the other members of The Band, scratching their heads. Having said all that, performing Rock and Roll is not the criteria for inclusion in the HoF. If it was, why is ABBA, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Miles Davis, Madonna, and too many others to mention, in it? Neil Diamond is not "rock and roll"...but neither is the HoF. Let him in. As to the writer who references Don McLean as a source for explaining the history of rock and roll, and furthermore disqualifies Dylan as having contributed to rock and roll...ah never mind; it's hopeless.
As a long-time rock fan who grew up in the seventies, I have always considered Neil Diamond to be the best American pop singer/songwriter ever. Better than Dylan, better than anybody except the Beatles. When I moved to Cleveland twenty years ago I was pleased to see that the Rock Hall would be located here. It's a fun place to go and the exhibits are worth seeing. However, the membership is an atrocity. Grand Master Flash? Give me a break. No Rush? Really? Jan Wenner and his cabal all ought to be banned from selecting anyone and WE THE PEOPLE should do the voting.
As for Patti Smith vs. The Archies? Not even close. Archies win hands down.
As for Dylan: If you can, get your hands on "The Times They Are a Changing" recorded in the 60s by the Australian folk-rock group The Seekers. This is the group that did the theme to Georgy Girl, and some other nice songs.
The Seekers do it in strict tempo and harmony. Beautiful. Almost makes me want to become a lib. But then, the album has other tracks warning me about sin.
