Do you think Warren Zevon should be in the R&R HOF?

The HOF is bizarre. The artists inducted every year continue to be more random and of disparate genres. I am surprised Zevon isn't in, given his ties to many HOF favorites and his critical acclaim...but the fact that one of his most famous interpreters was just inducted (Linda Ronstadt) after many years of eligibility, it doesn't look like he will any time soon. The criteria isn't strictly record sales OR critical acclaim, so you can never use that as a basis for induction. It just seems that the HOF board comes up with who they want and it is a very political process that also has commercial considerations for the show and broadcast. Unfortunately having any "art" hall of fame is impossible...it is possible in sports because performance is able to be assessed with performance statistics.

 

As a big Zevon fan and Kiss detractor, I fully agree with this analysis.

 

and don't forget the very prolific sex pistols.

 

well said, but i don;t know about "better", close though.

 

100% right on, here is the whole thing, simply genius:

Grandpa pissed his pants again
He don't give a damn
Brother Billy has both guns drawn
He ain't been right since Vietnam

"Sweet home Alabama"
Play that dead band's song
Turn those speakers up full blast
Play it all night long

Daddy's doing Sister Sally
Grandma's dying of cancer now
The cattle all have brucellosis
We'll get through somehow

"Sweet home Alabama"
Play that dead band's song
Turn those speakers up full blast
Play it all night long

I'm going down to the Dew Drop Inn
See if I can drink enough
There ain't much to country living
Sweat, piss, jizz and blood

"Sweet home Alabama"
Play that dead band's song
Turn those speakers up full blast
Play it all night long

 

Not before:

The Moody Blues
Jethro Tull
Johnny Rivers

 

Yeah,
where the hell is LINK?
That's the biggest reason for me to not care (along with all these artists that are not rock and roll getting in it).

I like Warren Zevon well enough,
but no Link Wray?
The hall means nothing without Link in it.

 

Sure.

 

Yeah, that's it, really. The older I get, the more I'm at a loss as to why anyone needs validation for what particular artists they personally appreciate. To me, it only shows a lack of confidence in their own musical judgement and taste. And I care not a whit what the public at large thinks - I have the music, and that's all that matters to me.

Do I wish more musicians like Zevon - whose music has certainly enriched my life - were better known and received more recognition? Sure, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. The work is out there, for those who wish to discover it.

 

lets face it, the whole ROCK hall of fame stopped being that when they started letting non rock acts in
ps if they make a waren zevon bio pic and it needs publicity, that's when he'll get in
and agree hes the last person who would care about this nonsense

 

MMEB being compared to TDN is apples and oranges. Sure MMEB had hits with Dylan and Springsteen songs (mostly better than originals) but they could rock out. MM with his keyboard skills alone belong. For example.......Dylan never sounded better.

 

?

Did you really ask that?

Answer to posting: yes.

 

I like what you've said, but I think the GB test eliminates far too many prospective inductees, then. I don't think you have to change the course; riding the tide and just making people happy counts for something.

And I love Excitable Boy and Sentimental Hygiene...just as good, IMO.

 

I'm not sure if he qualifies. It's the Hall Of Fame, not the Hall Of Talent.

 

It counts for a lot in terms of having a great career, doing good work, but if we're making a HOF and museum dedicated to telling the big picture story of the history and development of rock and roll for visitors decade and decades hence, it's impossible to put in everybody who made people happy, that's the whole universe of acts. There has to be some reasoning for why an act is important enough that their story needs to be told as part of the big story.

 

not half as good as Bachman and Cummings.TheGuess Who should have been put in years ago

 

I like the Guess Who, but Zevon was a better writer than both of them put together. Of course thats just my opinion.

But its a good opinion.

 

He would set the place on fire rather than join. BUT to lump him in as just another artist shows some serious lack noodle by some people. He is the subject of one of the greatest rock biographies ever written. The guy was a real outsider, not a fake outsider stance taken by others. He was an outsider not looking to get in (unlike many others have listed). He observed life from and through the bottom of a cynics whisky tumbler. Cruel, tender and full of **** by equal measure. Whilst some were Learning to fly he was Learning to flinch. Not a genius but an honest, flawed ugly-beautiful who looked for tenderness on the block. Listen to him as just another singer/songwriter and you won't get it. So please don't put him in the hall of fame. He is so much better than that.

 

I was just kidding.Honestly I don't know him past "Werewolves...

 

Or especially this:

And if California slides into the ocean
Like the mystics and statistics say it will
I predict this motel will be standing
Until I pay my bill

Don't the sun look angry through the trees
Don't the trees look like crucified thieves
Don't you feel like Desperados under the eaves
Heaven help the one who leaves

 

I think he should be.

Great writer.

 

I saw David Lindley perform last night. He played weissenborns, bouzouki, and ouds. He is perhaps the most eccentric, funniest, and one of the most talented musicians in rock. I was literally exhausted after the show from laughing so hard.
He opened the show with, "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me", and told how Zevon wrote it for Jackson Browne, who complained to him about being unable to keep away all the girls who were chasing after him.

 

I don't think so. It's a Hall of Fame, with fame being the operative word. Your argument is right for your definition, but my argument is different.

To support your definition: Zevon's contribution to the LA singer/songwriter framework is crucial to the "genre". In support of mine: he's famous, people love his music.

 

That's fair! Just listen to Excitable Boy.

You'll like his sense of humour!

 

I'll dust an old comment of mine again: Warren should be in the R 'n' R Howl Of Fame...ahoooooooooooo