The third non-performer inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class of 2012 was Cosimo Matassa, a New Orleans-born sound engineer and studio head who played a key role in the early rock records of the 50s and 60s.
It was in Matassa’s New Orleans studio that Fats Domino recorded 1949’s ‘The Fat Man,’ a record considered by some the first rock-n-roll song. It was also the first rock-n-roll song to sell a million copies.
The Los Angeles hard rock band Guns N’ Roses released just six albums during a contentious decades-long run marked by infighting, drug abuse, and concert riots. They also managed to sell more than 100 million albums worldwide, and release the highest-selling debut album in United States history.
All of that added up to induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the band’s first year of eligibility. It was a well-earned honor, even if the band members themselves claimed not to want it.
Glyn Johns is one of three behind-the-scenes talents inducted into the 2012 class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (the first was Tom Dowd, covered earlier this week).
The English Johns has worked with some of the most famous artists of all time, including the Mount Rushmore of British rock acts: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Kinks. Sub in Led Zeppelin for one of those if you’d like.
He also put his stamp on the work of legendary American artists such as Bob Dylan, The Band, and the Eagles.
The next inductee into the 2012 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class is another of the backing bands that didn’t make it in with their frontmen. This one is the Famous Flames, the outfit that featured James Brown for the first decade of his career.
The Famous Flames were created by singer-songwriter Bobby Byrd, a childhood friend of Brown’s. Brown joined the lineup after the original lead singer died in a car accident. Brown soon became the undeniable frontman, and the group’s first five albums were attributed to James Brown and the Famous Flames.
Today’s featured Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee is not Derek and the Dominos. Nor is it Eric Clapton, who is a member of the Hall three times over but not with this band (he’s in as a solo artist as well as with Cream and The Yardbirds).
Instead, I chose this song to acknowledge its producer, Tom Dowd, one of the few Rock Hall members who made it in for his engineering and producing resume.
Dowd was inducted in the Musical Excellence category, which is reserved for less heralded artists who likely won’t make it in through the voting process. These inductees are chosen by a special committee.
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