I think you are a little late on your estimation of his resurgence. His appearance in The Blues Brothers was in 1980 and his hit album “The Healer” with collaborations with Carlos Santana and others came out in 1989.
I have to say I am very surprised to Stevie Ray Vaughan at the top of this ballot. And I love SRV. But I’m not sure exactly how SRV is in above John Lee Hooker… that just feels backwards to me for a Hall of Fame.
Neal is a great songwriter, IMO. But I think of him more as a pop artist, not a rocker.
One is mainly considered a Blues Musician and the other more Blues Rock Guitarist. Though both are first and foremost awesome Blues Guitarists.
SRV is probably my favorite after Hendrix.
Rondstadt is doing fine. I switched her vote over to The Temptations, a genuinely great band that crossed from mid-60’s soul (My Girl) to late 60’s/early 70’s funk (Papa was a Rolling Stone) with ease.
I had reservations about SRV being inducted. Just MO, but I think he’s very overrated. There are many lesser-known blues-rock guitarists that are much, much better.
Mmm… as a fan I didn’t really want to go there, but you’re probably not wrong.
His untimely death certainly enhanced his legacy quite a bit.
I probably tend to focus on either foundational acts (ones which changed the landscape of the music in some meaningful way, and whose impact is felt across multiple sub-genres) or ones that are the very peak of a particular sub-genre. I’m not sure SRV really ticks either box for me.
But then again I voted for Neil Diamond… so who the hell knows? Probably just gut feeling. The Temptations are possibly a better choice than Neil.
Although with Sweet Caroline I could probably argue that Diamond hit the very pinnacle of the anthemic sing-along. I’m not sure there is a single song that you could put on in just about any country on earth and get a few random folks to sing along.
Neil Diamond is interesting because he had influence as a Tin Pan Alley writer before eventually becoming a huge pop star. He very much falls into the Harry Nilsson/Carole King/Laura Nyro vein only with a much more successful solo career (despite them all being somewhat successful).
But he is certainly polarizing - he appeared on The Last Waltz concert with The Band because Robbie Roberston (principal band songwriter) was a huge fan. But the rest of the band, particularly Helm (always reflexively anti-Robertson) were apparently baffled why this pop singer was on stage with them.
But I dunno - I consider him more or less to fall under the broader rock umbrella in a soft/pop-rock sort of way. Listen to a classic rock station in the 2000’s at least and you’re liable to hear Cracklin’ Rosie or Cherry, Cherry pop up once in awhile. He is undeniably big and undeniably influential.
From the movie What About Bob?:
There are two types of people in this world.Those who like Neil Diamond, and those that don’t.
I confess, I’m one of those that like Neil Diamond.
I feel exactly the same.
And this. Well said.
29
Public Enemy
Lou Reed
Linda Ronstadt
Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble
I screwed up slightly; John Lee Hooker shouldn’t have been eligible to rejoin the ballot until this week, and the Four Seasons should have returned to last week’s ballot. The management regrets the error.
The class of 2016 kind of sucked IMO. Good week to catch up on deserving candidates who haven’t quite made the cut so far. Vote for three.
- Cheap Trick
- Chicago
- Deep Purple
- Neil Diamond
- The Four Seasons
- Green Day
- John Lee Hooker
- Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
- KISS
- Steve Miller
- NWA
- The Temptations
- The Ventures
0
voters
Hi Prof, welcome to the poll! Wouldn’t have taken you for a member of the KISS Army!
Thanks. I was around when they first appeared and I thought they were a prank on rock music at the time.
Lowkey tempted to vote for Deep Purple/Green Day/Blackhearts just for thematic consistency.
I voted NWA for their massive impact on hip-hop. Seriously, read their Wikipedia page if you don’t know why they are considered such a seminal act.
They basically started the gangsta rap genre, and four of the members – Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, and MC Ren – went on to be multi-platinum solo artists. And “Straight Outta Compton” and “Fuck Tha Police” straight up rock.
Bonus points for scaring all the pearl-clutchers.
The weeks keep getting crazier. Since the polls are based on when an artist gets inducted instead of eligible, they include artists from all over the timeline.
For example, some of this week’s artist’s eligibility:
- John Lee Hooker: 1973
- The Ventures: 1984
- The Temptations: 1986
- Deep Purple: 1993
- Steve Miller: 1993
- Chicago: 1994
- NWA: 2012
- Green Day: 2014
My technique for this thread has been not to overthink, but to go with my first impressions. However with 40 years of artists, it gets difficult to compare them – especially based on influence. JLH has had 39 more years to be an influence than NWA has.