# Why can't Lynyrd Skynyrd get in the R&R Hall of Fame? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803 "2005-03-23T00:10:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/21 "2005-03-23T05:37:34Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Stevie’s in. > > And a list of three shoo-ins assuming they haven’t met the 25 year mark. If they’re eligible, that proves it’s a sham. OK, good for Wonder. Heart’s first album came out in 1976 Pat Benatar – “Hearbreaker” 1979 Van Halen – huh??? first album 77/78 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/22 "2005-03-23T05:58:06Z")
I wouldn’t put Heart, Pat Benator, Styx, or REO Speedwagon in the RR HoF. Van Halen, yes. They were very influential, hugely successful, and critically admired. The others, not so much. But let me repeat: WARREN ZEVON. ---
**Author:** ![sulamith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@sulamith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sulamith)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/23 "2005-03-23T06:10:37Z")
Yes, Warren should be in! Excitable Boy, Werewolves of London, Mohammed’s Radio… I agree Styx, REO, Journey, etc… shouldn’t get in, but Heart? And I’m talkin’ 70’s Heart, not 80’s corporate sell-out fat-Ann Heart. Nancy was the first really serious girl guitar player wasn’t she? I would say she probably influenced a great many females to rock not only the mike but to actually play. I think Crazy on You, Barracuda, and Magic Man were very groud-breaking songs. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/24 "2005-03-23T07:23:24Z")
> [@Phase42](#): > > I ask the same question about Rush, for many of the same reasons. Except for Pink Floyd, they snubbed the entire genre of progressive rock. Nowhere to be found on [the list](http://www.rockhall.com/hof/allinductees.asp) are names like King Crimson, Yes, Jethro Tull, ELP, and Genesis. Prog has seen several resurgences in popularity since King Crimson popularized the style in the late '60s. It deserves more than just a token nod to the one band too popular to ignore. The list of inductees skews toward the R&B and soul music of the '50s and '60s, and later artists whose music was heavily influenced by those styles. Comparatively dispassionate rock music (that is, the stuff my wife calls me “really white” for listening to) doesn’t seem to stand much of a chance ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/25 "2005-03-23T07:46:16Z")
> [@neutron star](#): > > The list of inductees skews toward the R&B and soul music of the '50s and '60s, and later artists whose music was heavily influenced by those styles. Exactly my point. That’s why I said they were worthy performers, but for rock, meh. Granted Motown and R&B were influences on rock, but influence on rock n roll doesn’t make it rock n roll. I’ll listen to _Legend_ from time to time, but I’ll never see how it’s rock. And isn’t CCR seen as more southern rock than just rock? Why them and not Skynyrd? ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/26 "2005-03-23T08:02:36Z")
Okay, the RRHoF is a total joke. I think we all know that. Alice Cooper isn’t in. I mean, _Alice Cooper_!? How much more inventive, groundbreaking and original do you have to be?! “Eighteen” came out in '71, so it’s not the twenty-five year thing. Heck, even “Welcome To My Nightmare” has been around since '75, so he’s eligible with and without his original band. He’s still putting out records. “Dirty Diamonds” will be released in May or June. He’s still on tour. Matter of fact, this year he’s doing Europe, including England, Australia and North America. He’s doing a five hour, five day a week radio show. You can’t get much more active than that! Heck, he’s even mainstream enough to have been featured in a Staples ad last fall! C’mon, there’s just no exuse! Oh, and Skynard is being massively ripped off too. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lodoen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@Jeff\_Lodoen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lodoen)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/27 "2005-03-23T08:08:30Z")
> [@sulamith](#): > > Yes, Warren should be in! > … but Heart? And I’m talkin’ 70’s Heart, not 80’s corporate sell-out fat-Ann Heart. Nancy was the first really serious girl guitar player wasn’t she? I would say she probably influenced a great many females to rock not only the mike but to actually play. I think Crazy on You, Barracuda, and Magic Man were very groud-breaking songs. Let’s not forget Roger Fisher in all that. Heart wasn’t a girl-group, not that there’s anything wrong with those. And CCR weren’t _actually_ southern, maybe thats a consideration. And of course '60s \> '70s. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/28 "2005-03-23T09:14:07Z")
> [@Jeff Lodoen](#): > > And CCR weren’t _actually_ southern, maybe thats a consideration. And of course '60s \> '70s. Agreed. But CCR can be in southern rock as much as any other category. _Born on the Bayou_, _Lookin’ Out My Back Door_, _Down on the Corner_, _Up Around the Bend_, _et al_. Even if they weren’t from the south, I’d argue they were at least going for a southern rock sound and were pretty good at it. Hell, Green Day are some kids from Frisco being laudably compared to English punk groups. I’ll choose to stand by CCR being worthy. Oh, and **Alice Cooper**? When I made the previous list I just _knew_ there was an obvious one I had forgotten. Thanks, **zoogirl**. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lodoen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@Jeff\_Lodoen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lodoen)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/29 "2005-03-23T09:39:37Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > I’ll choose to stand by CCR being worthy. Not argung worthiness, just why CCR got in. Being from the SF-area in the '60s helped. And they were very, very popular. Seven #2 hits over 19 months! ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/30 "2005-03-23T13:33:29Z")
I’m pretty disappointed that Chicago hasn’t made it in yet. According to, I believe, Billboard, they’ve sold more albums than any other American group, excepting the Beach Boys. While they weren’t the first to use a horn section in rock, they were certainly the most popular group to employ it in more than one single; plus, if you ask me, they did the best work with it. And instead of sticking with the same formula decade after decade (they’ve managed to chart albums in five consecutive decades), they’ve changed course with their music numerous times. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/31 "2005-03-23T14:21:09Z")
Focus, people, focus. We’re talking about Lynyrd Skynyrd. 🙂 > [@sulamith](#): > > Thanks for that link, spoke! I read through that thread, and it still kills me that so many people don’t know that whole Neil Young reference in SHA was a joke. Neil Young and Ronnie Van Zant were actually friendly. The whole thing was a good-natured swipe from what I have been told. It seems it still comes off as Southern ignorance to some. That whole song is misinterpreted, and I’m sure that’s a big part of the reason they’re kept out. Nobody understands irony. (I offer Alanis Morissette as proof of this last proposition.) > [@](#): > > I have redeveloped a new appreciation for them in the last few years. > …My favorites are not Freebird and SHA. It doesn’t get any better than Curtis Loew and You Got That Right. I was never a huge fan at the time, but have come to appreciate them more. I’m with you on **“Curtis Loew,”** and am also really fond of **“Simple Man”** and **“All I Can Do Is Write About It”**. You can’t listen to those songs and still write them off just as a bunch of rednecks. Well actually, I guess you can. The Hall of Fame voters seem to be doing just that. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/32 "2005-03-23T14:36:06Z")
“Simple Man” was covered by Shinedown last summer, it was on the radio in heavy rotation. Seems like LS has had at least some influence all the way up to the present. ---
**Author:** ![sulamith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@sulamith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sulamith)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/33 "2005-03-23T14:47:12Z")
I guess alot of people miss the more sensitive, thoughtful songs in favor of the two over-played ones, and then they take those at face value. It’s not like they are a very complicated band to “get”. That’s, to me, what makes Ronnie Van Zant a true poet and artist, as rough around the edges as he was. He wrote about what he knew, which was the world outside his backdoor, and he stayed true to it. That’s the mark of any great artist. I have been boning up on a bit of LS history, and I read that he wrote Gimme Three Steps in about 15 minutes following the incident that inspired it, and that Simple Man was written about one of the gutarist’s relationship with his mother, Curtis Loew is a composite of many of the old black bluesmen Ronnie was exposed to growing up. Those songs ring so true because they are about real things, real feelings. That Smell is eeriely prophetic, as is Freebird. Swamp Music tells of the simple pleasures of life in the country, and Working for MCA and Don’t Ask Me No Questions deal with record industry issues. So real, and very touching. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/34 "2005-03-23T15:03:29Z")
Imagine the sheer joy of a Hall of Fame all-star performance of “Sweet Home Alabama,” should Lynyrd Skynyrd ever be inducted. The opening strains alone would send the crowd into a frenzy. I bet Neil Young would jump at the chance to handle the vocals. [Here’s a link to that old USA Today column about Lynyrd Skynyrd’s exclusion from the HoF.](http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2002-10-16-lynyrd-skynyrd_x.htm) From that article: > [@](#): > > Little about Skynyrd’s music was ever as obvious as it seemed. Detractors dismissed the band as rednecks, but such songs as the anti-handgun Saturday Night Special and That Smell, which warned of the dark side of substance use, told a different story. They were intelligent songs that engaged and challenged the group’s audience. Gimme Three Steps contradicted the band’s macho swagger by suggesting there was a time to fight and a time to turn tail and run. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/35 "2005-03-23T15:23:08Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > I wouldn’t put Heart, Pat Benator, Styx, or REO Speedwagon in the RR HoF. > > Van Halen, yes. They were very influential, hugely successful, and critically admired. The others, not so much. > > But let me repeat: WARREN ZEVON. I hate Lynyrd Skynyrd and I love Warren Zevon, but I’d put LS in the Hall of Fame and probably not Zevon. Warren Zevon was great, but in terms of popularity and influence he isn’t in the Top 1000 of rock and roll acts, and his songs were not examples of instrumental genius a la Steve Vai or even Van Halen. I think you have to base your decisions on more than just “I personally think this guy rocks.” ---
**Author:** ![Sweetums](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Sweetums](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweetums)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/36 "2005-03-23T15:27:47Z")
The “House of Bogus” as I call the RRHOF, lost me whan they inducted the Bee Gees, but have failed to include the likes of Warren Zevon, and Skynyrd. ``` Please explain to me why the Bee Gees (the people who the saying "Disco Sucks" was designed to target) have made a more significant contribution to something called rock and roll, than Skynyrd. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/37 "2005-03-23T15:36:11Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > While they weren’t the first to use a horn section in rock, they were certainly the most popular group to employ it in more than one single; plus, if you ask me, they did the best work with it. > [@](#): > > And they don’t give a damn about any trumpet playing band. It ain’t what they call rock 'n roll. Speaking of which, is there any love for Dire Straights? ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/38 "2005-03-23T15:46:02Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > …Parliament-Funkadelic…but not really what I think of when I think rock and roll. > > The ones not included?..STYX > REO Speedwagon Get thee to an otologist ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/39 "2005-03-23T18:51:08Z")
You know, the fact that so many possibly-worthy groups aren’t in may explain why some of them aren’t in there. Five performers per year for 20 years is going to leave some people out. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803/40 "2005-03-23T19:13:13Z")
Bingo. The RRHOF is just playing catch up, and it will take decades, possibly centuries, for this to happen at a 5/year rate. They should do a mega-super-induction every 4 years or so like the Olympics, throw a massive party, and roll in a couple dozen groups. If I had my druthers, I’d rename the whole building into the “Alice Cooper Hall of Pretenders to the Throne.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-lynyrd-skynyrd-get-in-the-r-r-hall-of-fame/295803.md?page=3)