Your 2007 Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame inductees are...

I know the Allman Brothers are in but if Duane Allman isn't inducted separately for his work as a sideman he should be.

 

Is Jimmy Page in as a sideman? Nicky Hopkins? The MG's?
Duane's a great grab. He should be in just for Boz Scaggs' "Loan Me A Dime."

 

'The Message' was the most influential song in hip-hop.
And I think the exact opposite on the Yes-Wakeman deal.
Yes=yes
Wakeman=no

 

Page? No. (and probably never will be)

Hopkins? No (should be, most definitely)

The MGs? Yes, as a band. (Things I know from being part of the Indiana University system -- Booker T. got his masters' in music at IU in 1967. His concentration was... trombone.)

Someone mentioned Lenny Kaye earlier, re Patti Smith. You could make a case for him, not so much as a sideman, but as a writer and archivist (he's responsible for the "Nuggets" series.)

Television would probably be in as a pioneer (not only the first band at CBGBs, but they helped build the stage, too) if the band hadn't blown apart so fast.

And, whoa, speaking of sidemen -- how is Al Kooper NOT in the RRHOF? He might be the biggest omission. Played organ on "Like a Rolling Stone," played sessions from the Rolling Stones (he was the french horn on "You Can't Always Get What You Want" on down), discovered Lynyrd Skynyrd and produced their first few albums. As an A&R man for Columbia, took the Zombies' "Odessey and Oracle" out of the dustbins and nursed "Time of the Season" as the band's biggest hit. Super Sessions. Founded Blood, Sweat & Tears. The man has done everything. Just to name-drop, I interviewed him a few years ago, and he's a funny and great guy. Very sad, though -- he lost two-thirds of his vision about five years ago, and he had to give up teaching at Berklee at Boston, and now most of the time he's homebound.

 

No love for his work with Gary Lewis and the Playboys?
I love the story he tells about how he faked his way into the "Like A Rolling Stone" recording and became the indelible hook of it.

 

Re: "This Diamond Ring" -- I couldn't include everything!

The best part about the "Like A Rolling Stone" story is that Kooper had his guitar on his lap, and then heard the other guitarist play, and realized he would never, ever be playing guitar on that session. That was the first time Kooper met Mike Bloomfield.

 

The way I heard Kooper tell it, Bloomfield didn't even have a case for the guitar. Just sat down, wiped the snow off it, and began to play.
Big props to Bob for hearing Kooper and telling them to turn the organ up.

UPDATE -- Come to think of it, producers get pretty short shrift here, too. Where's Glyn Johns? Gamble and Huff? Where the hell's TOM DOWD, for pity's sake.

 

Is Sir George Martin in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? I think Phil Spector is.

 

Aren't Howard Jones and Orchestral Manuevers in the Dark eligible now?
What about the Screaming Blue Messiahs and Jane Loves Jezebel?

 

KISS had a hand in getting Van Halen a record deal, but no way should KISS get in while they are still alive.

 

Obviously, Funy Boy Three and Kajagoogoo should both be in.

 

Not before Haircut 100 and A Flock of Seagulls.