Hall of Fame Takes Cleveland

The 24th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony was the loudest and most raucous ever ”“ and not just because Metallica and Run-DMC were among the honourees. For the first time since 1997, the event was held in Cleveland, home of the Hall of Fame’s museum, and the city went nuts: Almost 6,000 stomping, cheering local fans got to attend the ceremony, which had never previously been open to the public. And more than ever before, it felt like a rock concert. Cleveland celebrated with a week’s worth of shows and parties, and the museum was thrown open to the public for free.

“It was fucking awesome to include the fans,” says Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. “It brought the whole evening to another level. I was overwhelmed that Metallica somehow fit into the whole thing.” He and his bandmates flew in 150 of their friends to celebrate the occasion and held a party of their own the night before the ceremony.

Other inductees included guitar god Jeff Beck (who entered the Hall as a solo artist ”“ he was previously inducted as a Yardbird), rockabilly pioneer Wanda Jackson, soul journeyman Bobby Womack, and Little Anthony and the Imperials. Celebrated in the sideman category were Muscle Shoals keyboardist Spooner Oldham and Elvis Presley’s rhythm section ”“
drummer DJ Fontana and the late bassist Bill Black (both inducted by the E Street Band’s Max Weinberg and Garry Tallent). “There’s nobody here that sounds like somebody else,” says Womack, inducted by his old friend Ron Wood. His highlight? “Metallica ”“ I was knocked out!”

Past ceremonies have been heavy on drama ”“ only two members of Van Halen showed up in 2007, and everyone from Mike Love to members of Blondie to the Attractions have thrown tantrums. But this year’s vibe was warm: Metallica were all hugs and smiles when they reunited with bassist Jason Newsted, and Run-DMC’s Reverend Run and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels overcame past conflicts to pay tribute to the late Jam Master Jay, whose mother, Connie Mizell, was on hand. “We love each other,” says DMC, who reminisced about rehearsing in the Mizells’ Queens living room.

Eminem ”“ dressed in a Run-DMC-style black leather-and-fedora outfit ”“ made a rare public appearance to induct the group, citing it as a life-changing inspiration. The rapper, who is gearing up to release a new album on May 19, looked impressively fit ”“ he was spotted running for an hour or so on a hotel treadmill the morning of the event, trainer and bodyguard in tow. “When I was a kid growing up in Detroit, I didn’t know what I wanted to be yet, and then came Run-DMC,” Em said in his speech, before getting one of the night’s biggest laughs: “I remember being in ninth grade when Raising Hell came out,” he said. “Two years later, I still remember being in ninth grade when Tougher Than Leather came out.”

Backstage, Run and DMC explained that their appropriation of rock sounds and styles came naturally. “We didn’t rap over rock records to get white people or to get rock & roll recognition,” DMC says. “It was loud. It was us. Everybody else was soft, rhyming over disco.”

A beaming Jimmy Page inducted fellow Yardbird and childhood friend Beck, calling him “the most incredible soloist of our time.” From the stage, Beck saluted Presley’s band ”“ Fontana, Scotty Moore and Black ”“ as early influences: “We used to sit and just dribble over your playing.”

If Run-DMC proved that a DJ can be a band, Beck showed that an electric guitar can be a lead singer ”“ a point he made again during a performance with Page: Beck transformed Robert Plant’s ”˜Immigrant Song’ vocal melody into a flashy guitar solo. The two men then blazed through the 1967 instrumental ”˜Beck’s Bolero.’ “It felt like a chunk of the Yardbirds, a chunk of Zeppelin, a chunk of me,” Beck marvelled backstage, noting that he would love to tour with Page someday.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea, his hair coloured snow-cone blue, gave an impassioned induction speech for Metallica. “[Their sound was] this beautiful, violent thing that was unlike anything I had ever heard before in my life,” he said. “Whatever the intangible -elements are that make a band the best, Metallica has them.” Taking the stage, the band was openly emotional, with vocalist James Hetfield thanking his children for “teaching me how to love.”

In the best tradition of Hall of Fame jams, the event ended with an insane blast of guitar firepower that brought together three generations of hard rock: Metallica played ”˜Train Kept A-Rollin’ ” with Beck, Page, Joe Perry and Wood all bolstering the chugging riff (along with three bass players: Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, Newsted and Flea). “This is like rhythm-
guitar heaven,” said Hetfield.

For all of the artists, the induction was a validation of their lives’ work. “What I did back then, it was a little scary,” says Wanda Jackson, who was among the first female rock singers, tutored personally by Presley. “But it was right and good ”“ and now we’ve proven it. If Elvis was here, he’d say, ”˜Way to go, girl.’ ”