If you weren’t lucky enough to be in the audience for the 25th anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concerts on October 29 and 30, 2009, you could still witness them via the Blu-ray of the shows that came out in the following year. And if you wanted to hear the music away from a TV, you could do so with the four-CD recording that first appeared in 2010. If you’ve had trouble finding a copy of the latter, the good news is that it has just been reissued.
We can argue about the wisdom behind the decisions to induct – or not induct – various artists into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. What seems undebatable is whether its annual induction ceremonies have been musically memorable. They certainly have been, especially since they have put legendary performers with disparate styles onto the same stage, often simultaneously and mostly in top form.
The best example of this was the Hall’s 25th anniversary extravaganza when the list of featured musicians reads like what you’d expect for a major rock festival. They include Jeff Beck, the Black Eyed Peas, Jackson Browne, Crosby, Stills & Nash, the Kinks’ Ray Davies, Dion, Fergie, John Fogerty, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger, Billy Joel, B.B. King, John Legend, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Darlene Love, Metallica, Sam Moore from Sam & Dave, Tom Morello, Ozzy Osborne, Bonnie Raitt, Lou Reed, Smokey Robinson, Paul Simon, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Sting, U2, Will.I.Am, and Stevie Wonder.
A large, motley, and luminous group, indeed. Nnot only did all these players perform, but they frequently did so in once-in-a-lifetime combinations. Dion sang his 1961 smash “The Wanderer” with Simon, for example, while Springsteen and his band joined Joel for a reading of Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology).” Jagger teamed with U2 for an emotive performance of the group’s “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” and Robinson soulfully delivered his “Tracks of My Tears” as a duet with Wonder. Metallica, meanwhile, shared the stage with Reed to interpret his “Sweet Jane” and with Davies to serve up his “All Day and All of the Night.” Watching performances like these, some in the audience might have wondered whether they were dreaming.
Among the many other high points of the shows: Springsteen’s reading of “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” which features knockout guitar fireworks by Morello; Darlene Love’s exuberant performance of “Fine, Fine Boy,” with an assist from the Boss; and Little Anthony & the Imperials’ spectacular acapella treatment of “Two People in the World,” the flip side of their 1958 hit, “Tears on My Pillow”; and Simon & Garfunkel, putting aside their differences for a note-perfect and stirring four-song performance.
If you missed a chance to add these concerts to your collection when they first appeared on CD, don’t make the same mistake again. This album is an essential purchase. And if you don’t own the Blu-ray, pick that up, too.
Also Noteworthy
Merle Travis, Mac Wiseman & Joe Maphis, The Clayton McMichen Story. Fiddler Clayton McMichen, who died in 1970 at age 69, isn’t well-known today. However, he sold many records in the early part of the last century and was a major influence on some latter-day country and bluegrass performers. Among them are three now-deceased giants of the genres: singer and guitarist Merle Travis, who got his start in McMichen’s band; singer Mac Wiseman; and guitarist Joe Maphis. In 1981, the three teamed with hillbilly-style musician Fiddlin’ Red Herron and bassist Jackson D. Kane to record a McMichen tribute album.
The set, which originally appeared only on vinyl, makes its CD debut this month in a remastered edition. The 26-track program, nearly half of which consists of instrumentals, includes McMichen’s “Peach Pickin’ Time in Georgia,” which Jimmie Rodgers recorded; “Sweet Bunch of Daisies,” a ballad that sold well for McMichen in 1927; and other numbers he performed, such as “Arkansas Traveler,” “Trouble in Mind,” “Carroll County Blues,” and “Sweet Georgia Brown.” All the musicians are in fine form throughout the recording, which should delight anyone with a fondness for bluegrass.
Jeff Burger’s website, byjeffburger.com, contains five decades’ worth of music reviews, interviews, and commentary. His books include Dylan on Dylan: Interviews and Encounters, Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon, Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounters, and Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters.
