Welching out on a legacy.

I promise I will not spend the rest of my blogging days bitching about the house that rock built, but I read something pretty disturbing today that made me quite mad.

Bob Welch is not in the rock and roll hall of fame.

Before you say "who?", "so what", or something else dismissive, know this: It may be the single biggest travesty in the history of that dipped in shit and steamrolled institution, maybe even bigger than dissin' Kiss.

Bob Welch carried Fleetwood Mac through 4 years of changing times, aka "The Bridge Period". This is the time after Peter Green and before Lindsey/Stevie, or 1970 - 1975. He maintained the brand to the best of his ability despite the ego's that made up the 'Mac, and in a way, dude kind of rocked.

Right now I am listening to the 'Mac's Bare Trees album, thinking about how killer it is, and being dumbfounded by this snub...

Fleetwood Mac was inducted in 1998.

Mac Members in the Hall?

• Peter Green - Duh... He is the shit of the shit.
• Jeremy Spencer - Ok... He was there with Pete. I give him that.
• Danny Kirwan - Yes... Hell yes. Albatross is bitchin, he was a great second fiddle to Peter.
• Mick Fleetwood - One of the most underrated rock drummers ever.
• John McVie - Bass line in "the Chain" enough justification for you?
• Christine McVie - She made lovin fun, didn't she?
• Stevie Nicks - I believe It could have worked had we had a chance...her loss I guess.
• Lindsey Buckingham - So amazing. I love his playing.

Criteria to be nominated for the R&RHOF? You must have played on a major label studio LP. Bob should be in on that fact alone. In fact, he played on 5 Fleetwood Mac albums. Consider this also: his last official FM record, Heros are Hard to Find, broke US top 40 Billboard Charts.

 Copied from Wiki:

Date	Album	US	UK	Additional information
September 3, 1971	Future Games	91	–	Debut album with Fleetwood Mac
March 1972	Bare Trees	70	–	Features the original recording of "Sentimental Lady"
March 1973	Penguin	49	–	–
October 15, 1973	Mystery to Me	68	–	Features "Hypnotized", written by Welch
September 13, 1974	Heroes Are Hard to Find	34	–	Welch quit Fleetwood Mac after this album
November 24, 1992	25 Years – The Chain	34	–	Compilation

He ran the band with Mick. He moved them to California. His Fleetwood LP's sold over 2 Million copies. He was also a platinum selling solo artist in the late '70's, and just for good measure, he fronted the criminally unknown band PARIS (which rocks my face off and just plain rules).

Bob's legacy is recorded, yet not carved in stone. I love/hate you hall of fame, but today I just hate you. They say it was his California style that got him the snub or possibly the lawsuit he had against his former band, who knows? Everybody sues eveybody in the music biz, right? Big deal. It is no reason to leave him out of the history books.

Sadly, Bob Welch committed suicide last year. He was struggling with chronic pain resulting from spinal surgery, and did not want to be a burden to his wife of 27 years. Rest in peace my brother.

They need to induct him posthumously. No fanfare is necessary, just his name on the wall alongside Peter Green's. It's the right thing to do.

 

Others not included in the hall despite there contributions to inducted artists:

Mark Evans
Bass; AC/DC; 1975 to 1977

• TNT
• High Voltage
• Dirty Deeds
• Let there be Rock
• '74 Jailbreak

What a bunch of dicks.... This guy should be in.


Dave Navarro
Guitar; Red Hot Chili Peppers; 1993 to 1998

• One Hot Minute
• Various Soundtracks

I am no Navarro fan outside of Jane's Addiction, but he was another bridge guy that got the shaft by the hall. That record sold 8 million copies.


Dave Mustaine
Guitar; Metallica; 1982 - 1983

• No Life 'Till Leather (demo)

Ok... I know... It was a demo, not a studio LP. I get it. I could go on about how he wrote material that appeared on the first two LP's. I could say that Dave was Metallica early on. Dave believes that one day his other band, Megadeth will get in. I am not convinced of that, but he is a legend that should be preserved, with Metallica. 'Nuff said.

There's more I am sure. Like the dude that replaced Joe in Aerosmith for an album, the Firm drummer that was in ACDC for 2 studio albums and a live LP, Mike Watt for being the man in the van with the bass in his hand (and a member of the Stooges), Richie Ramone and so on. These guys deserve better.




Should I tell you about my life? They say I'm a nerd of the world.

Quit dissin the Purple people.

How the hell is Deep Purple not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

I'll go one step further: They have never even been nominated. That's right, not even once.

Before I digress into how Rush has also never been nominated, or how Kiss gets shunned every year, I want to focus on Deep Purple.

I'll start by losing focus and listing some of the many artists that ARE in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

Beastie Boys - 2012
Red Hot Chili Peppers - 2012
Guns and Roses - 2012
ABBA - 2010
Metallica -2009
Run DMC - 2009
Madonna - 2008
John Melloncamp - 2008
Grand Master Flash -2007
REM - 2007
Patti Smith Group - 2007
Van Halen - 2007
Sex Pistols - 2006
Blondie - 2006
Lynyrd Skynyrd - 2006
Pretenders - 2005
U2 - 2005
Prince - 2004
AC/DC - 2003
The Clash - 2003
Tom Petty - 2002
Talking Heads - 2002
Ramones - 2002
Aerosmith - 2001
Queen - 2001
Michael Jackson - 2001
Earth Wind and Fire - 2000
and so on........

I mention the above artists for various reasons, some because they are technically not Rock and Roll of any kind, some because they were influenced by Deep Purple, some because they have no reason being in before Purple, but all because Deep Purple predates them...

Building a case:

• Exhibit A: Smoke on the Water

Deep Purple should be in the hall of fame on the back of Smoke on the Water alone. That song was the first riff ever played by MILLIONS of souls driven to play guitar. It is one of the most recognizable riffs ever created.

Smoke on the water holds a Guinness World Record for the most guitarists playing at one time (or something like that) and has actually broken the record 3 times since setting it in 1994. The most recent was in 2009 in Wroclaw Poland, when 6,346 guitar players gathered to play the song together.

The song itself was a pretty basic 4 note blues riff that Ritchie Blackmore (writer - guitar player) has dissed as "too commercial". I guess the commercial appeal of the song speaks for itself.

Released on the bands LP, Machine Head in 1972, and as a single in 1973, the song reached # 4 in the States, #2 in Canada, #21 in the UK and #20 in Germany.... Not to shabby.

• Exhibit B: Machine Head

One of the most beloved early metal/classic rock albums of all time, it reached # 7 in the Billboard LP Charts, and stayed in the top 200 for 118 weeks after it's release in 1972.

This gem features Smoke On the Water, Highway Star and Space Truckin'. 3 Staples of Rock music that define an era.

It is the 3rd album of the MK 2 version of the band, which could arguably be the version that gets into the House that Rock Built with no resistance.

• Exhibit C: Eligibility

Deep Purple released it's first LP in July 1968 making them eligible for nomination in 1993 (25 years after the release of their 1st album as according to the Hall of Fame guidelines).

• Exhibit D: Ritchie Blackmore

This man invented neo-classical modern rock guitar, period. When Clapton and Page were wanking to Robert Johnson, Blackmore was studying Beethoven. His playing inspired millions. His style was imitated by the likes of everyone from Uli Jon Roth to Malmsteen to basically everyone in Modern Prog music, especially of the Scandinavian variety.

Oh yeah, he wrote the most Iconic rock riff of all time.

Blackmore led Purple to heights most bands never will see, including co-headlining the Cal Jam in 1974 to 400,000 fans.

Acts that performed at the '74 Cal Jam in order of appearance:

• Rare Earth
• Earth, Wind & Fire
• Eagles
• Seals & Crofts
• Black Oak Arkansas
• Black Sabbath
• Deep Purple
• Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Every one of these bands should be in the hall for playing to 400,000 fans at one time in 1974. Call it the "Holy Shit" award or something. To date, only Earth Wind & Fire, Eagles and Black Sabbath are in the Hall of Fame.

Cal Jam may get it's own blog soon. I would love to find footage of Seals & Croft singing "Summer Breeze" to 1/2 million Sabbath fans.

If you find the YouTube bootleg footage of the GnR RnR HoF induction speech, Steven Adler actually calls out the Hall for not inducting Purple. That part of the speech was edited out of the HBO version. The executive producer was JannWenner. No surprise there, you elitist pig.

I would actually make the argument that Ritchie Blackmore could be in the Hall of Fame on his name alone.

The fact that this band has been ignored is stupid. Jann Warner, you are an asshole. Not only does Purple belong, they helped make Rock and Roll a respected art form. They brought classical music to Rock (with all due respect to Beatles producer George Martin's solo in "In My Life").

Just to recap..... Deep Purple is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. WHAT????

Until next blog.

Nerdin' at your back door.