My Name is Ringo and I Play Drums

It's like my record collection is actually sitting in this room. Billie Joe Armstrong ~ Greenday

I thought it would be hard to make the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction better than 2014 ... not true. Saturday night in Cleveland, I witnessed amazing music, inspirational speeches, hilarious candor, and a love of music that makes every inductee and fan a part of one big family. Here is a recap of the 30th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction from Cleveland.

The evening started with a  rocking beginning when Joan Jett and the Blackhearts took the stage to sing Bad Reputation, Cherry Bomb with Dave Grohl (a sweet payback from her shredding with Nirvana last year), and Crimson and Clover complete with songwriter Tommy James.

And say what you will about Miley Cyrus, she's got spunk and a love and respect for Joan Jett. Her speech was filled with smoking pot in a bathroom paid for my Oprah, an almost international incident, and a true outpouring of respect from one female musician to another.

And a very appreciative Joan choked back tears and gave the first of many moving speeches of the night. I come from a place where rock and roll means something. It means more than music, more than fashion, more than a good pose. It's a language of a subculture that makes eternal teenagers out of all who follow it.

The first of the blues inductions followed with stirring rendition of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band hit Born in Chicago. While members Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield have since passed, their surviving members each talked about being a part of such a unique, multi cultural group that transcended the music bounds. The surviving members, many of us questioning what a band that hasn't played for over 40 years would bring to the stage - but we were all pleasantly blown away.

 

 

 

 

I sometimes think he's on tour and is going to come back soon, he said. Then I remember that I'm never going to be able to see him again. ~Jimmie Vaughan

And finally, the reason why I took a spontaneous pilgrimage to Cleveland: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. John Mayer spoke from the heart about Stevie. He spoke about Stevie the musician:

He was the ultimate guitarist...It’s a rage without the anger; it’s devotional; it’s religious, Mayer said. It was as otherworldly as Hendrix, but where Hendrix was coming down from outer space, Stevie came up from below the ground. He was the ultimate guitar hero, and heroes live forever.

Double Trouble members Chris Layton, Tommy Shannon, and Reese Wynans remembered meeting Stevie and echoed their love for Stevie and his dedication to his craft.

And finally it was big brother Jimmie Vaughan's turn. Hi I'm Jimmie Vaughan and Stevie Ray was my little brother. Jimmie shared the stories of his little brother, sneaking into his room and playing his guitar when he had told him not to. But what Jimmie didn't capture was how much his little brother looked up to him. How proud he was and how he wanted to be like him. What would happen through Stevie's sobriety was the, in Jimmie's words: Every day, I wake up clean and sober and I think of my brother. In the end, little brother taught big brother.


Gary Clark Jr, Doyle Bramhall, Double Trouble and Jimmie Vaughan (c) PCarlson 2015

In a fitting tribute, Doyle Bramhall, Gary Clark, Jr, Double Trouble, and Jimmie Vaughan played Stevie's hits Pride and Joy and Texas Flood, before Jimmie played his own tribute to Stevie, Six Strings Down.

The moment many a fan was waiting for had arrived: Green Day. While, like some, I questioned why they were being inducted so early, it became extremely obvious the influence Green Day has on so many. Punk scene newcomers, Fall Out Boy introduced Green Day:

Billie Joe’s signature snarl and strong, sarcastic lyrics, that eternally youthful voice, those bright, open chord structures. The way a silhouette of him playing guitar would be as recognizable a posture to any punk rock kid as Michael Jordan's mid-air dunk is to sports fans. Mike Dirnt! And those bass lines…up there with the likes of James Jamerson and Jaco Pastorius as one of the most identifiable bass players since the invention of the instrument. Tré Cool…you have a drummer named Tré fucking Cool. That is the coolest thing ever.
 

And even before they played one note from the album we all had to get in 1994, the speeches from aforementioned members relayed to me the same exact sentiment of why we were all in the Cleveland Hall to begin with, concluding with Billie Joe Armstrong's moving speech:  

I'm truly fortunate. You know, I've always loved rock & roll music. I always have. Soon as I opened my eyes and took my first breath, I'm a fan. And that's the one thing that I'm going to close with is that I love rock & roll.

We were then treated with three Green Day classics, American Idiot, When I Come Around, and Basket Case.

Most didn't think they knew who the next inductees were, until they saw Leon Bridges soar into Dedicated to the One I Love and  When a Man Loves a Woman. The 5 Royals were never considered superstars even in the 1950's, but over time, their influence to rhythm and blues cannot be denied.

And for the most moving moment of the night, Patti Smith and Laurie Anderson speaking about legend Lou Reed. It was fittingly poetic in only a way Patti Smith could be when she recalled how she was in Rockaway when she was told her dear friend Lou Reed had died. She talked about Lou's friendship, his own questioning of self, and the value and art he brought into this world:

 

His consciousness infiltrated and illuminated our cultural voice. Lou was a poet, able to fold his poetry within his music in the most poignant and plainspoken manner. Oh, such a perfect day. Sorry. [Crying] Such a perfect day. I’m glad I spent it with you. You made me forget myself. I thought I was someone else. Someone good. You were good, Lou. You are good.

Next, Lou's wife, the artists Laurie Anderson spoke lovingly about Lou her love and Lou the artist. She keeps his spirit alive and his memory will always be close.

Lou really knew the difference between himself as a writer and himself a person and as a rock & roll star. He’d shift between his roles with such skill. He could take his fame off like one of his leather jackets, or, he could just decide to use it. The fame, itself, was heavily important. Lou’s genuinely proud of what he’d done and could really appreciate his own work. And, tonight, he would have been so immensely proud to be a part of this.

 

Karen O and Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeahs joined by Beck gave us great versions of Satellite of Love and Vicious.

 

 

What would be one of the funniest and semi-historical moments of the night was up next.
Stevie Wonder introduced 1970's star Bill Withers, a man who simply walked away from a career because he felt he deserved better - and he did. The man gave us some of beautiful hits such as Harlem, Ain't No Sunshine, Lovely Day, and Lean on Me. But he had not performed for over 25 years.
His speech was laced with wit, references to the Big Bang Theory, and Judge Judy. Possibly my favorite line of the night came from Withers himself, when referencing many of the sobriety speeches and rehab references that occurred during the night, when he said This has got to be the biggest AA meeting in the Western Hemisphere.

Withers escorted his friend Stevie Wonder to the stage and sat close to him as Wonder sang a powerful Ain't No Sunshine, as we waited to see if Bill would sing. Alas, he sat next to the background singers when John Legend came on stage to sing Use Me. However, we all got our music wishes granted, when three-quarters of the way through Lean on Me, Bill Withers joined John Legend and Stevie Wonder and sang a few words.

And to cap the already spectacular night, we got the Beatles. Paul McCartney spoke highly of the drummer would replaced Pete Best, saying, sharing how he regarded Ringo upon first meeting him, as a grown up musician:

And Ringo was like a professional musician. We were just like, slamming around and doing stuff, but he had a beard — that's professional. He had the suit. Very professional. And he would sit at the bar drinking bourbon and seven. We'd never seen anyone like this. This was like, a grown-up musician.

Thank you. My name is Ringo and I play drums. His speech was filled with memories of joining the band and mention of Paul and George. After playing the Shirelles hit, Boys with Green Day and his hit, It Don't Come Easy,  we got our Beatle reunion and superjam moment when everyone joined Ringo and Paul onstage for With a Little Help From My Friends.

But that wasn't the end. While everyone was walking off stage, Paul grabbed Ringo's hand, and just like they did in 1964, they raised their hands up and bowed deep. We go the infamous Beatle bow and life, for many music fanatics, was complete.

 

Ramada Inn on 8th Avenue

Ever wonder some of the stories that went into your favorite albums? Not all albums are just written and recorded. If it were only that simple.

Aerosmith - Rocks Aerosmith's fourth studio album Rocks, could have been entirely different had Steven Tyler not lost the lyrics to it in a cab. Slash, Kurt Cobain, James Hetfield, and Nikki Sixx are just some of the artists that affirm Rocks was one of the albums that pushed them to play music. According to Steven Tyler:

Out of some of the worst times the best songs have come. I had all my ideas to the Rocks album in a manilla envelope. The whole album was finished and I left all the lyrics in a cab. I lost the whole thing, all the words to the songs. I had to go back to the Ramada Inn on 8th Avenue and sit with the headphones and bring it all back. I got about 50% of it. Can you imagine what was in that cab that went into the wastebasket?

Yes, can you imagine. Out of that we got songs like Back in the Saddle, Last Child, Nobody's Fault and Lick and a Promise. Now we have computers of course, but remember back in the 70's it was pad, paper, and lots of tape on the reels.

Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run was recorded, albeit begrudgingly, in Africa. The crew endured the numerous shots needed for travel, band members quitting, poor conditions, tensions with the locals and poor recording sessions. Miraculously, after getting back into the studio in London, it would endure to become one of McCartney's best works. Band on the Run, Jet, Let Me Roll It, and one of my favorites, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five graced this third album by Wings. John Lennon had this to say to Rolling Stone Magazine on the album's release in 1973:

Band on the Run is a great album. Wings keep changing all the time. It doesn’t matter who’s playing. You can call them Wings, but it’s Paul McCartney music – and it’s good stuff.

 

Doors Morrison Hotel   It's not so much the album but the album cover. 1246 South Hope Street was the location of the Morrison Hotel - and the band snuck in to take the infamous cover shot after the owners declined permission. Roadhouse Blues, Waiting for the Sun, Peace Frog, Blue Sunday, Ship of Fools, Land Ho!, Indian Summer, and Maggie Magill are just some of the gems on this penultimate Doors album recorded with Jim Morrison. 

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik  Recorded in what was rumored to be Houdini's haunted house in 1991, this was the band's breakthrough album. It was that wonky time where grunge and heavy metal were co-existing and then out came this funkadelic, passionate, sexual album (that I had to find at a flea market because it had the parental advisory sticker). Their biggest hit off the album, Under the Bridge, almost didn't make the album. Lead singer, Anthony Kiedis wrote a poem about despondency, tension in the band, and his past heroin addiction. He assumed it didn't fit the overall vibe of the rest of the album when asked to pen a song with the lyrics.

Otis Redding - Dock of the Bay  Some artists never get to see the completion of the album. Otis Redding was working on his album Dock of the Bay in 1967. Three days before Redding died in a plane crash, he recorded (Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay. The whistling at the end of the song was a placeholder for lyrics yet to be written. The producer left it in the recoding that was the first posthumously released song to reach #1 in the US. This version is without the embarrassing overdubs of seagulls.  

Michael Hutchence - Michael Hutchence -Again, this is another posthumously released album. The circumstances surrounding Michael Hutchence leading up to his death were the brunt of all of his lyrics. Songs about love, loss, sadness, and the need for going away filled the album that would be finished by producers and Hutchence's close friend, Bono. The album is his unrequited plea for his soul.



George Michael - Faith Michael's first solo foray was only a success because of the amount of time he spent
perfecting ...every ...single...word. In a time where digital recording was not at the forefront, this was still painful. Songs were written at the microphone because if there was a word that was not seamlessly introduced to the song, it was removed and replaced. And if that replacement meant re-writing a sentence and re-recoding, then so be it.

 

Clash - London Calling Recorded in a church in North London,  the title's namesake came from when Joe strummer lived in Germany as a child. Each BBC broadcast would begin with "London Calling." The album was recorded in a dire time in England, politically, socially, economically, and musically. The songs are not straight forward punk, but a mix of reggae, jazz, and The album is their legacy, with songs such as London Calling, , Spanish Bombs, Guns of Brixton, and Train in Vain. The cover pays tribute, in a very post-punk era way, to Elvis Presley's first release.

 

Grateful Dead - Rocking the Cradle, Egypt 1978

 

We almost didn't get to hear this concert because of the poor quality. However, digital re-mastering be damned, and maybe it was the lunar eclipse on the third night of September 16th,we finally were gifted the tapes and video in 2008. The Dead only ever played in Egypt these three nights in their entire career. They played in the shadow of the Great Pyramids to those, the few who could attend. While not one of the best Dead shows ever played, it captures something (kind of like the Pizza Tapes) that we knew was out there, but just couldn't get our hands on.

Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog  This is such an important album in the history of grunge. The band was created in Tribute for Mother Love Bone singer, Andrew Wood, who had died of a drug overdose. The band, and his roommate, Chris Cornell, were all moving on but they wanted to do something. The result was a band and album named after a song lyric from the song Man of Golden Words. The band was an amalgam of Soundgarden and what would become Pearl Jam, including singer Eddie Vedder. While Hunger Strike would be the song that most remember, it was Say Hello 2 Heaven that is most poignant.

And finally - this is an apple amongst oranges, but here is the story behind a song. Written, performed, and recorded only mere days before Janis Joplin would die from an overdose, the song was inspired by a beat poet and written in Port Chester, NY and sung not even a day after it was penned at the now re-opened Capitol Theatre.

So the four of us walked to a bar about three minutes away called Vahsen’s [at 30 Broad St.]. At the table, Janis and Geraldine bonded, and all of us were getting into it. At some point, Janis sang out, “Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz.” Earlier, in San Francisco, Janis had heard Michael McClure’s song and it stuck with her. But she couldn’t remember the rest of it.Wall Street Journal: The Story Behind Janis Joplin's Mercedes Benz. Marc Myers

You never know what history may show up at your show.

 

*Kudos to my anti-plurite co-worker and Hoaward Stern for inspiring this post.