At least it kept me busy.
(AV 31) Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Live (2009)
This is a massive 9 DVD set that includes live performances
from the first 25 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction ceremonies. At each ceremony all of the inducted acts are
invited to perform two or three of their classic numbers, frequently with
fellow musical superstars (especially Bruce Springsteen) deputising for
departed, estranged or deceased inductees.
New members are inducted by a fellow musician of their choice and then provide an acceptance speech. Each disk contains approximately an hour of live performances selected
from these ceremonies. The package’s outer cover provides no idea of each disc’s
contents other than a mouth watering list of the various acts whose performances
are included.
So far, so good. Unfortunately, the package makes for
frustrating viewing owing to the way in which the performances have been sequenced. The entire performance of any one act is not included
in its entirety; any that are have been spread across the various discs. Moreover, although each disc is titled, no real
theme is apparent in each disc’s selection except for Disc 6, titled I’ll Take
You There, a showcase of black acts. And
given the way black musicians are presented in the remaining 8 discs - usually supporting white acts or appearing in
otherwise all white superstar jams and with only Aretha Franklin given their
own track – this probably well intentioned showcase could be accused as
tokenism, or worse, pandering to racist purchasers. Women are also under represented in the
collection, but this is a consequence of the overall selection process rather
than any problem in compilation.
As a result, the key to enjoying this package lies in
selecting individual tracks. And there’s
some magnificent performances here, far too many to list here. My personal favourites include an awesome
version of Train Kept A Rollin’ performed by the combination of Metallica, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Joe Perry,
Ron Wood and Flea; Wilson Pickett’s In The Midnight Hour with backing from
Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band; Bo Diddley’s performance of Bo Diddley
backed by Robbie Robertson and Eric Clapton and, best of all, a sublime version
of the Beatles While My Guitar Gently Weeps initially by Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne,
Steve Winwood and Dhani Harrison which gets transformed to another level courtesy
of Prince’s inspired fretwork.
But there’s one other reason to purchase this set. Included in the extras for the first 8 discs
are randomly selected and arranged induction and acceptance speeches from the ceremonies. (Unfortunately, none of these are specifically identified in the packaging.) These provide some great moments of heartfelt
emotion, such as Bono’s wonderful induction of Bob Marley and Pete Townshend’s tribute
to The Rolling Stones in which he reveals the extent to which they influenced
The Who. And then, there’s also Paul
McCartney’s induction of John Lennon as a solo act in which he refers only to
Lennon’s work in The Beatles!
But some of the acceptance speeches are also memorable and
not all of them for their positivity. The two
most notorious acceptances - Mike Love’s
as part of the Beach Boys induction in which he baits a number of the superstar
members of the audience and the speeches by all the inducted members of Blondie
which revealed the extent of the rift between present day members Chris Stein,
Deborah Harry and Clem Burke as opposed to former members Gary Valentine, Nigel
Harrison and Frank Infante - are present
here. Brian Johnstone quoting Bon Scott
during AC/DCs induction was a nice touch, as was the members of The Grateful
Dead bringing out a life sized cardboard cut off of Gerry Garcia with them onto the stage. Hearing Johnny Ramone actually say something
nice about deceased Joey was a genuine shock but for mine the best moments were
listening to founder and Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner’s seeming
incomprehension whilst reading The Sex Pistols letter of refusal and Jeff Beck’s
humourous speech as part of The Yardbird’s induction. It went something like this; “I did record
other stuff after the Yardbirds. Someone said that I’ve a lot to be proud but I’m
not. They [pointing to the other members
of the band] kicked me out so f**k you!”
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