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.
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.
The next inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class of 2012 is the Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan, a staple of the 60s who intersected with a legion of living legends.
Donovan was a friend, fan, and collaborator with members of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin. He hung out with Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. And he was a staple of both the folk and flower power movements. He stood in plenty of giants’ shadows but cast a decent sized one himself.
Among the backing bands that weren’t inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with their frontmen, The Crickets seem to have gotten the rawest deal.
While Buddy Holly did release a solo album before his death, his first release was credited to a proper band — The Crickets. That album, 1957’s The “Chirping” Crickets, is considered one of the great early rock records and an inspiration for countless other artists.
Meet Me In Montauk 