Congratuations to the Moody Blues on their election to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, finally. It’s more than a little surprising that this was the first year that the Moodies were actually nominated.
I think the rest of the choices were good ones as well.
I'm not a big BonJovi fan but he and his band did have an influence over the years. The Cars and Dire Straits also were influential.
Nina Simone is a good choice- although not tradtionally thought of as R&R but it's long been established that the definition used by the R&RHOF is a very wide definition of what is rock.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe is a good choice as an early influence as well.
There were some others as deserving but they will be back in the future.
It would be nice for Poco to be part of it but in the end there will always be those not in that should be and those in that probably should not be. It's at best an imperfect process to begin with and will never be anything else.
I was just going to post something about that. For years fans have been complaining about the Moody Blues getting snubbed, year after year. Now we can focus our attention on Poco! (Although I think we'll have to settle for the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, which isn't too shabby)
Saw the Rolling Stone documentary on HBO last month. Jann Wenner, Hall curator, being the primary figure. There was a mention of Poco with a photo of an article, with Richie Furay pictured, about their quest for a hit after four years of trying. It was in the program because it was Cameron Crowe's first RS by line. He was 16. Read it at Uncool.
referred to as "the original soul sister" and "the Godmother of rock and roll". She influenced early rock-and-roll musicians, including Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis.
Tharpe was a pioneer in her guitar technique; she was among the first popular recording artists to use heavy distortion on her electric guitar, presaging the rise of electric blues. Her guitar playing technique had a profound influence on the development of British blues in the 1960s; in particular a European tour with Muddy Waters in 1963 with a stop in Manchester is cited by prominent British guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Keith Richards.