A
lot has been said about the famous Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, started
up back in the mid '80s by Rolling Stone mag founder Jann Wenner,
Atlantic Records mogul, the late Ahmet Ertegun, who was one
of the historic U.S. based record company guys, and the late, amazing
Fillmore East/West founder Bill Graham. There’s been so
much political talk in the air about how the Rock And Roll Hall Of
Fame favors certain musicians and not others. The fact that The Moody
Blues and Yes aren’t considered inductee material does a disservice
to the millions of rock and yes, rock and roll fans around the globe
who love the incredibly monumental music of both bands. Of course,
not every great band will be instantly inducted but sadly, even legendary
groups like The Ventures and Dave Clarke Five, both inducted in early
2008, had to wait until the best guy in the band was either dead or
too sick to make the ceremony held each year in NYC. All this can
temporarily be forgiven thanks to an incredible, three DVD set release
on Time Life called Rock
And Roll Hall Of Fame + Museum Live.
The 3 DVD installment of what seems like an eye-opening series
of 9 amazing CDs, this first ever look at the Rock Hall’s live
inductions on DVD features a range of pretty amazing, never before
seen moments from the yearly Rock Hall ceremonies. There is actually
a nine DVD box set version of this series, however the three DVD box
reviewed here—including the Light My Fire, Sweet Emotion and
Start Me Up discs—kicks with the second year of the Rock
Hall on January 21, 1987 with Bruce Springsteen inducting Roy
Orbison, followed by a performance of “Oh Pretty Woman”
with Roy and Bruce sharing lead vocals and a svelte looking Brian
Wilson bopping away in the background. Other highlights on the
first Light My Fire DVD included in the 3 DVD box includes
the March 15, 2004 induction of George Harrison
as a solo artist, followed by Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne,
Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Dhani Harrison
performing “Handle With Care,” with a tip of the hat to
Roy Orbison, and a blistering guitar heavy “While My Guitar Gently
Weeps” with Jeff Lynne, slide guitarist Marc Mann, Tom
Petty and some more incredible electric guitar soloing from
Prince. The induction
of
The Beatles in 1988 by Mick Jagger featured that awkward,
yet unforgettable scene featuring George Harrison, Ringo Starr,
Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and Julian Lennon followed
by a rave-up version of “I Saw Her Standing There” with
George, Ringo, Mick Jagger, Neil Young, Jeff Beck, Les
Paul and more! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg on
the Light My Fire DVD. Talk about history and so it goes throughout
all three DVDs, with inductions and follow up performances featuring
Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Doors,
Santana, The Byrds, Fleetwood Mac, Crosby
Stills & Nash, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones,
Jefferson Airplane, Traffic, The Mamas And The Papas
and much, much more. In addition to the inductions and follow up performances,
each DVD set also has loads of bonus material and documentary footage,
spread over all three DVDs including backstage and rehearsal clips
shot in special effect grainy, vintage looking b&w. For instance,
on disc one alone, induction speeches include Paul McCartney inducting
John Lennon in 1994, Elton John inducting The Beach
Boys
in 1988 (featuring that infamous, insane Mike Love rant following
Brian Wilson's beautiful speech), while disc one documentary footage
includes rehearsals from Cream (1993), Crosby Stills & Nash in
1997 and so on. The packaging is great and the 3 DVD set also features
a pretty extensive booklet with full credits. Ever wonder about the
amazing occurrences that went on at these blue-blooded Rock And Roll
Hall Of Fame events at the famous Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan? Catch
up on 20+ years worth of rarely seen footage of the biggest names
in the pop and rock world on this amazing expose of what may be an
imperfect, yet thoroughly captivating Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame history.
The 3 DVD set is very cool but pop history buffs will want the complete
9 DVD box set with up to date inductions with The Ventures
and Dave Clark Five in 2008 and Jeff Beck in 2009. www.RockHallDVD.com
