Yes, Deep Purple and the Zombies bring a healthy dose of U.K. psychedelia to the 2014 nominees list for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Also nominated are the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, whose sonic explorations of the 1960s include the raga-rock mindblower “East-West,” and genre-spanning art rocker Peter Gabriel.
Other acts identified with the 1960s are Linda Ronstadt, the Meters, Link Wray and Cat Stevens.
Yes, Gabriel and the Zombies are first-time nominees. Yes has been a notable and puzzling omission to the Rock Hall, perceived, perhaps, as a genre snub of progressive rock. Last year’s induction ceremony saw Rush make the cut, though, bringing the first taste of prog to the institution.
Other nominees are Hall and Oates, Nirvana, the Replacements, Chic, KISS, N.W.A. and LL Cool J.
Fans once again are offered a voice, however small, via a Rock Hall online poll. Yes and Deep Purple were among the top early vote getters.
Procol Harum disappeared from the Rock Hall’s shortlist after first appearing in 2012.
Yes, the Rock Hall noted, fused “the cinematic soundscapes of King Crimson with the hard rock edge of the Who and the soaring harmonies and melodies of Simon and Garfunkel. … Album-side length epics like ‘Close to the Edge’ and ‘The Gates Of Delirium’ represent the (prog) genre at its absolute finest.”
Deep Purple’s “onslaught of sound along with such contemporaries as Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, led rock critics to coin a new musical genre: heavy metal. … Epic chart singles ‘Smoke on the Water’ and ‘Woman From Tokyo’ sold Gibson Les Paul and Fender Stratocaster guitars in numbers that stagger the imagination.”
The Zombies’ “second and final album ‘Odessey And Oracle’ has earned its reputation … alongside such masterworks as the Beatles’ White Album and the Beach Boys’ ‘Pet Sounds.'” The Rock Hall noted the English band’s “studied, sophisticated, intricately arranged atmospherics” as well as its “triad of career-defining hits”: “She’s Not There,” “Tell Her No” and “Time Of the Season.”
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band “turned on the Fillmore generation to the pleasures of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, Willie Dixon and Elmore James.” Its Eastern-influenced epic “East-West” stands high on this web site’s list of the top psychedelic songs.
Peter Gabriel, as a solo artist, “blended synthesizers and a signature gated drum sound with an emotional honesty learned from soul music to create a sensibility that would influence artists from U2 and Arcade Fire to Depeche Mode.” Genesis was inducted in 2010.
Inductees are expected to be announced in December. The ceremony will be in April, this time in New York.
Yes and Deep Purple should get in the Hall of Fame.
I’m actually surprised most of these bands aren’t already inducted.
Out of this crop Deep Purple & Yes are probably most deserving to most people just for their longevity. I feel Yes are deserving nearly for their fist 3 LPs, same goes for DP’s first 3 lps plus their mach 2 or 3 lineups, Fireball & the Live/Tokyo double LP. FOR ME however the most brilliant and best band that deserves to be in are THE ZOMBIES. Problem with a band with only 2 official US LPs, not including their Euro EPs is to most a 3 hit band, one that turned down big money to reform after releasing their biggest 45, Time of the Season. Then listen to the box set ZOMBIE HEAVEN & vote for them. I could name a dozen better than the rest named.
I waited forever for the DC5 & Small Faces to get in. But what about the so-called American Beatles Bands e.g. – The Monkees and Paul Revere & The Raiders? As many 1960’s US hits as Beatles & Stones during the 60’s. The Rock Hall reminds me of The Grammy’s circa late 1970’s. Best New Artist the year Elvis Costello was nominated was some joke band, The Starland Vocal Band – a real one hit (?) outfit – Afternoon Delite. Haven’t watched or read anything about grammys since. But surely that band would fit perfectly with many of the elected Rock Hall bands. Will 2014-15 be their year?