Singer-but-not-songwriter

 Insane as it may seem, there is a book titled How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ’n’ Roll. Also, the song “American Pie” insists that “the music” died when Buddy Holly did. In 1959.

In the book, the author explains that rock was written by pros and sung by teenagers who could sing but not write songs. That has been the template for pretty much forever, with one group of people composing and another group performing. True for pop, jazz, gospel, and much of classical. Even much of folk music was performances of traditional, older material. Some people did perform their own work, of course, but the real idea was to hand that part of the job to the experts-- the same why an architect did not build the house, nor did the carpenters ink the blueprints. Two separate jobs.

Then along came The Beatles and ruined everything by knowing how to sing and write their own songs! Now, neither those non-singing composers nor those non-composing singers could get work!

Well, the Rock Hall kinda wants to have it both ways. On the one hand, they honor those Brill Building songwriters who, pre-Beatles, wrote and composed the rock music of the 1950s, as Ertegun (previously “Non-Performer”) winners.

On the other, they almost entirely induct Performers who write their own material. Only maybe 20 or so— of 200+ acts inducted as Performers— predominantly performed what was handed to them.

So… where are the rest of those? All those non-singing songwriters wrote all those songs for someone to sing. If it was OK to write but not sing... why is not OK to sing but not write?

And it’s not true that all of such acts are pre-Beatles. Some of them are Motown acts. Even some major rock acts were more vocal interpreters than writers.

Which is fine. It’s just strange that not being able to write songs doesn’t disqualify you from being inducted…

…until it does.

Update: Tina Turner, who to my knowledge did not pen her hits, was Inducted in 2021.  

Did We Run Out of Early Influences Already?

As with the Non-Performers/Ertegun Award, the Hall seems to have lost steam in giving out the Early Influences Award.

It was given every year, from the inaugural year— 1986— to 2000.

Then, not for nine years, until 2009. It can be understood if, during that time, people just assumed that anyone worth receiving it already had.

But then, they started giving it again… every three years, for some reason: 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018…

In fairness, it is potentially possible to run out of people who one can say both lived before rock music was a “thing” and also contributed to its development. Reasonably speaking, they would have had to be active between 1920 (the early days of blues and jazz) and 1950, probably in the US… and have not just performed, but likely recorded and been broadcast somewhat widely.

Still, it’s hard to fathom that-- even with those narrow parameters-- only 33 people qualify.

Rock pulls from so many other genres, and in so many ways. Rock is not just about the music— it’s about stage presence, dance moves, costuming, vocal inflections, and that rock attitude and energy that electrify.

Certainly, we can look across a three-decade span in one of the most musically fertile places in world history and come up with someone every year to who contributed to rock music.

I have an idea. The Hall began inductions in 1986, and as of this post's first posting, it has inducted the class of 2020. That’s 34 years of inductions. And, as of 2020, there are 33 Early Influencers.

So let’s call that “close enough for jazz” and just say that the Hall has inducted, at least on average, one Early Influence per year.

How’s about, then, going forward, they induct one more Early Influence every year, to keep the average going… until they really run out.

https://www.cleveland.com/life-and-culture/erry-2018/11/53debedacc4690/rock-roll-hall-of-fame-20-earl.html

Update: in 2022, they Inducted music preservationist Elizabeth Cotten, who like Pete Seeger kept the old songs alive by always singing them. 

In 2023, Link Wray, an early rocker, was inducted as an Earl Influence after multiple nominations.

“Later” Influences

It is one of the impressive things about the Rock Hall, that it recognizes that the music it honors did not come from nowhere. Its “Early Influences” category honors just that— the roots of rock.

Thus far, these influences have been shown to be blues, country, folk, gospel, jazz, doo-wop… everything from New Orleans stride to Western swing. One notable exception is classical; not a few inductees incorporated classical themes, modes, and even specific pieces into their music, sometimes their entire oeuvres (how’s that for classical?).

Wouldn’t it be something to see Bach or Beethoven inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

In any case, other genres didn’t stop influencing rock, once it got going. Artists emerged in the late 1960s and since who, while not rock, were borrowed from by rock. 

Since they weren't "early" influences, they can't go in that category. They were "later" influences...

Now, the Hall recognizes this, and inducts such artists as… Performers. But some of them are so far away from rock that— unlike rap or country— they don’t even fall under the overall banner of “popular music.” I mean, jazz, classical, movie scores, and modern and experimental music (like what Philip Glass does).

There are already enough categories, but I wonder if these artists don’t belong in the catch-all “Musical Excellence” category, instead of taking some of the precious few slots available each year for Inductees who play, y'know, rock 'n' roll.

https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/pop-songs-sample-based-on-classical-music/

Update: The Hall seems to have really embraced this idea. In 2021, they Inducted two-- Gil Scott-Heron, who was an Early Influence on rap... and Kraftwerk, an Early Influence on electronic music. 

Then in 2022, they Inducted Harry Belafonte, an Early Influence in world music (well, its influence on rock, anyway-- world music had existed for a while). 

In 2023, the Hall inducted DJ Kool Herc, another rap pioneer, into this category, alongside Link Wray, an early rocker. 

Folk Heroes

Folk music is in the Rock Hall. At least several of those acts that perform both folk and folk-rock, as well as those clearly-rock acts that draw heavily from folk.

Those who performed predominantly folk music, though… even some of them are in, even though they don’t necessarily rock that hard.

There are maybe a handful of folk and folk-rock acts that could, and should, still be inducted, though. And especially for those who were part of the Greenwich Village and Laurel Canyon scenes, time is running short for inducting them, um, pre-posthumously (humously?).

Folk had several major influences on rock. One was making rock socially aware. Folk music has always been tied to the news and the needs of the people, and rock can get somewhat self-involved and self-indulgent; folk music, along with blues, helped it grow a conscience.

When you want to "bring it down for a minute," you play one of your rock songs unplugged, on an acoustic guitar (now, who thought of that first?).

Folk, in the global sense, also introduced other cultures, languages, and instruments into rock.

And many rock songs began life as folk songs. Read through the titles of songs of Alan Lomax’s field recordings for the Smithsonian, and Carl Sandburg’s American Songbag book, and you may be surprised at the number of titles you recognize from your classic rock stash.

For the most part, the Rock Hall has done right by folk music, inducting such acts as both Early Influences and more recent ones as Performers (it needs to follow the same pattern with blues.) With the induction of, as I said, perhaps a half-dozen more acts, the Hall can comfortably say it incorporated the acts we could reasonably expect to be included.

I can also think of a few, who, if added, would really show that the Hall knew its stuff. These are the ones that true folk fans and critics know are a big deal, even if they aren’t household names.

http://www.thefolkmusichalloffame.org/

Update: Carole King got in as a performer in 2021, which makes her the first in twice, but in two categories. 2022 saw the induction of Harry Belafonte and Elizabeth Cotten as Early Influences. Is Belafonte a "folk" musician, though? Yes, world music is a folk idiom, and he performed (and preserved) traditional songs on acoustic instruments. Just because the folks aren't white doesn't mean the music isn't folk, folks.

Country Music in the Rock Hall?

Some country musicians are in the Rock Hall, mostly as Early Influences. And… that’s fine. County music has its own Hall of Fame that predates the Rock Hall by decades (it was chartered in 1964). As of 2017, 11 acts are in both Halls.

So it’s not like country musicians don’t get recognized (also, they have the CMAs and other recognitions).

I can only think of one or two acts who are solidly “country” whose appeal is wide enough to get into the Rock Hall, and a handful of country-rock acts who aren’t in who could or should be.

But, unlike rap artists, no country acts seem to be clamoring to get in, and none of the country fanbases seem to be banging down the doors for their pet act to be inducted, either. One wonders if that would make them seem less “country” to others who care.

That said... this article pitches 11 more country musicians to add:
https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2017/02/11_country_artists_to_consider.html

Update: One of the biggest entertainment stories of 2022 dealt with this! Dolly Parton was nominated. She declined. Then she found out that non-rock acts are regularly inducted, so he said: OK, induct me if you want. Throughout, the Hall never changed its tune-- she was nominated and would stay so, despite her initial wishes to the contrary. Spoilers: she was inducted. Her reaction was pure Dolly: "I guess I'm a rockstar now!"

2023 saw the Induction of Willie Nelson. I did not see as much of a fuss about this being made as with Dolly, which in a way in a shame-- but in another way means she normalized the idea, big time. 

So that's 2 more from the above link's list. I looked at it again and of them, and I can see, getting in: Garth Brooks (sheer popularity), Merle Haggard (rock attitude), Patsy Cline (as an Early Influence), and Glen Campbell (for Musical Excellence-- he was a sideman first, a member of the storied Wrecking Crew, and certainly the breakout star from among that bunch of talented people.)

Not on the list is Vince Gill, who has toured with the Eagles since Glen Frey's passing.