1993-01-12 Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, CA

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Bruce, Robbie Robertson (of The Band), Benmont Tench (of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), Roy Bittan, Don Was, and Jim Keltner are the backing band for John Fogerty for his performance upon Creedence Clearwater Revival's induction to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The following day, Bruce provides the induction speech for Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony

Bruce´s speech inducting Creedence Clearwater Revival into the Rock´n´Roll Hall of Fame

In 1970 suburban New Jersey was still filled with the kind of sixties spirit Easy Rider made us all so fond of. I'm referring to the scene where Dennis Hopper gets blown off his motorcycle by some red-neck with a shotgun! A weekend outing at the time was still filled with the drama of possibly getting your ass kicked by a total stranger, who disagreed with your fashion sense. Me and my band worked on Route 35 outside of Asbury Park, at a club called the Pandemonium. They'd recently lowered the drinking age to eighteen with the logic that if you were old enough to die you were old enough to drink!

And so it was five 50 minute sets a night and rarely a night without a fight. The crowd was eclectic; rough kids just out of high school who hadn't been snatched up by the draft yet; Truck drivers heading home south to the Jersey pines who weren't gonna make it (not that night at least), and a mixture of college and working girls, women with bouffant hair-dos, and a small, but steady hippy contingent. Tough crowd to please all at once! We played behind a U-shaped bar that was just three feet and spitting distance from many of the patrons who came to just drink and stare and hassle the band.

Into New Jersey came the music of John and Tom Fogerty, Doug Clifford and Stu Cook - Creedence Clearwater Revival; and for three minutes and seven seconds of Proud Mary a very strained brotherhood would actually fill the room. It was simply a great song that everybody liked and it literally saved our asses on many occasions! Creedence started off in the long jamming tradition of other San Francisco bands, realized it wasn't their road, quit cold, and went on to great things· Green River. Bad Moon Rising, Down On The Corner, Lodi. Fortunate Son, Who'll Stop The Rain, Born On The Bayou, it wasn't only great music, it was great dance music, it was great bar band music. I remember in the late seventies I'd be out in a club and I'd watch some band struggle through one of my songs and then just sort of glide effortlessly through a Creedence Clearwater tune. It used to really piss me off!.

Anyway I stand here tonight, still envious of that music's power and its simplicity. And they were hits, and hitsville was reality and poetry and a sense of the darkness of events and of history. Of an American tradition shot through with pride, fear. paranoia and they rocked hard. Now you can' t talk about Creedence without talking about John Fogerty. On the fashion front, all of Seattle should bow! John was the father of the flannel shirt! And as a songwriter only few did as much in three minutes. He was an old testament, shaggy haired prophet, a fatalist; funny too. As Clint Eastwood said "A man's got to know his limitations". But I can say I've never met anyone who took 'em so seriously! He was severe, he was precise, he said what he had to say and got out of there. He was lyrically spare and
beautiful. He created a world of childhood memory and of men and women with their backs to the wall. A landscape of swamps, bayous, endless rivers, gypsy women, back porches, hand dogs chasing ghosts, devils, bad moon's rising. straight out of the blues tradition. He turned it into a vision that was all his own and in Doug, Stu and Tom he had the band that could back it up.

What makes a great rock band is a funny thing - its not always the obvious things. You can't ever really know what makes a great band tick. Its not about what the players are exactly like. All I know is he had Tom Fogerty's relentless rhythm guitar and Doug and Stu's great rhythm section and John's songwriting and singing. All I know is they played great together. I bumped into John one day on Mulholland Drive and we laughed about how far he was from the bayou and I was from the New Jersey turnpike!

Creedence made music for all the waylaid Tom Sawyer's and Huck Finn's, for a world that would never again be able to take them up on their most simple and eloquent invitation which is "If you get lost, come on home to Green River". So let me end by saying that in their day Creedence never got the respect they deserved. Who would have thought that in sixty-nine, before the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, Strawberry Alarm Clock or Electric Prunes, Creedence would be inducted into a Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame, if there was ever gonna be one. They committed the sin of being too popular when hipness was all. They played no frills American music for the people. In the late sixties and early seventies they weren't the hippest band in the world - just the best.

And anyway so let me finish by saying "Congratulations men for a job well done" and to all the nay sayers "Ha, ha, ha they told you so!" So Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, Jeff Fogerty (accepting for his dad, John Fogerty) congratulations, glad to induct you into the Hall Of Fame.
^{[Taken from For True Rockers fanzine, Autumn 1993 issue].}

^{Compiled by : Serge Vangin.}

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A Night of Reunion, Animosity, Absence : Pop music: Hall of Fame inductees Cream played together for the first time in 23 years, but Creedence Clearwater Revival did not. Van, and Jim, Morrison were no-shows.

The joke at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony was that there was more chance of the late Jim Morrison showing up than the reclusive Van Morrison.

So, let's finally put those recurring "Jim Morrison is still alive" rumors to rest.

If the troubled yet charismatic singer and poet, who led the Doors and his generation on a search for truth in a psychedelic age, didn't surface at the Century Plaza Hotel on Tuesday night for this emotionally charged occasion, you know he's indeed safely encased in a grave in Paris (where he was buried after a fatal heart attack in 1971).

Who could pass up the night the record industry inducted your band — and seven other recording acts — into the Hall of Fame? Wouldn't you want to take your place alongside such illustrious rock names as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and the Beatles?

And even though the other Morrison was a no-show (something about prior commitments in Europe), you can bet he may someday regret missing the chance to participate in what was a night of frequently enchanting rock 'n' roll magic and memories. Even the elusive Sly Stone found his way to the podium, along with other honorees Cream, Ruth Brown, Etta James and the surviving members of the Doors, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers and Creedence Clearwater Revival. (Inducted in special categories were TV host Dick Clark, singer Dinah Washington and record producer-executive Milt Gabler.)

There are bound to be complaints once more that the induction ceremony — held outside of New York for the first time — was too long: a four-hour affair that ended at 1 a.m.

But if length is a problem for you on a night when Cream is giving its first public performance in more than two decades and John Fogerty is joined by Bruce Springsteen and Robbie Robertson for three of his Creedence Clearwater Revival hits, you probably don't understand why there's a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the first place.

The speeches, which occupied the first three hours of the program, were sometimes stirring, sometimes mundane. The music, which highlighted the final hour, was consistently stirring — reaching an emotional peak perhaps during the closing Cream segment.

Unlike the past seven induction ceremonies in New York, the inductees and guests weren't called on stage at the end for a largely spontaneous jam session — a practice that produced some marvelous musical match-ups some years, but which degenerated other years into unfocused free-for-alls with frequently minor artists hogging the microphone.

To avoid a repeat of that chaos, Robbie Robertson, a cinch for future Hall of Fame induction himself as a member of the Band, designed a more formal musical program for Tuesday's affair.

During the induction portion of the evening, Brown (joined by Bonnie Raitt) and James each performed one number, while the vocal group Boyz II Men delivered "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" in honor of Frankie Lymon (who died in 1968) & the Teenagers.

The night's centerpiece, however, was the final hour when the Doors, Fogerty and Cream each performed three numbers.

Eddie Vedder, whose aggressive antics as a front man for the band Pearl Jam are sometimes so excessive that he looks like a man who has seen too many Jim Morrison videos, was surprisingly restrained as he joined the three surviving members of the Doors on lead vocal.

Realizing this was their night, Vedder simply filled in for Morrison rather than competing for attention as keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Kreiger and drummer John Densmore reprised "Roadhouse Blues," "Break on Through" and the group's first Top 40 hit, 1967's "Light My Fire."

The audience gave the Doors — considered by many to be the most important rock band ever from Los Angeles — a standing ovation and settled back for an expected reunion of Creedence Clearwater Revival: singer-guitarist John Fogerty, bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford. But it wasn't to be.

Creedence — whose original line-up also included the late Tom Fogerty on rhythm guitar — broke up amid bitter personal and professional differences in 1972, and the wounds still aren't healed.

Fogerty, the group's main creative force, joined Cook and Clifford on stage during the induction ceremony, but he vetoed any trace of reunion later, during the performances.

Instead, it was guitarists Springsteen and Robbie Robertson at his side as he kicked off his set with the socially conscious "Who'll Stop the Rain."

They were backed by the evening's house band, led by bassist Don Was and including Jim Keltner on drums plus Roy Bittan and Benmont Tench on keyboards. With Robertson on lead guitar, Springsteen also joined on rhythm guitar and backing vocals as Fogerty continued with rousing versions of "Green River" and "Born on the Bayou."

After another standing ovation from the estimated 1,400 fans at the black-tie dinner, Eric Clapton's guitar introduction to "Sunshine of Your Love" signaled the start of Cream's historic reunion performance.

With Jack Bruce on bass and Ginger Baker on drums, the blues-based trio demonstrated, as they did in the '60s, how exciting sheer virtuosity can be in rock. The performance — which included "Born Under a Bad Sign" and "Crossroads" — was understandably ragged, but Clapton's guitar work was eloquent as always, offering a soulful extension of his brilliant stylings of the '60s.

As much as the music itself, Cream's performance was touching as a symbol of rock 'n' roll survival — both the enduring power of the music and the opportunity for musical creators to be able to accept the affection and salute of a record industry that was forever changed by their collective imaginations.

In that spirit, the absence of Jim Morrison seemed all the more poignant. As one of his old bandmates said when asked before the ceremony about whether the rebellious rocker would have attended such a formal affair: "Absolutely… . he would have loved it. Jim never felt that we had made it as big as we should have made it. He wanted it to be like the Beatles and the Stones."

^{By Robert Hilburn via The Los Angeles Times.}

Playing in Reunion, Cream Is the Finale Of Rock Ceremonies

A searing three-song reunion of Cream, the British psychedelic blues-rock band that last performed publicly in 1968, was the finale and climax of the eighth annual Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Eric Clapton on guitar, Jack Bruce on bass and Ginger Baker on drums tore into two classic blues songs, Albert King's "Born Under a Bad Sign" and Robert Johnson's "Crossroads," along with Cream's own blues "Sunshine of Your Love," revamping the trio's old arrangements and playing with the improvisational spark that made Cream's concert-length jam sessions legendary 1960's events. "If the three of us can be together again," Mr. Bruce said, "anybody can be together again." Backstage, Mr. Bruce had said of the group's bitter breakup, "I'm completely happy that we all split up because we're all still alive."

The ceremony, held on Tuesday night at the Century Plaza Hotel here, was the first to take place outside New York. California was the obvious choice not only because Los Angeles is a music-business center, but also because four new members of the Hall of Fame had California roots: the Doors and Etta James from Los Angeles, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Sly and the Family Stone from San Francisco. The ceremony will return to New York next year.

Along with Cream, the other new members of the Hall of Fame are the rhythm-and-blues singer Ruth Brown, the Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison, the doo-wop group Frankie Lymon and the Teen-Agers, the jazz and blues singer Dinah Washington (honored as an early influence on rock) and two nonperformers, Dick Clark of "American Bandstand" and Milt Gabler, who produced "Rock Around the Clock," Louis Jordan and Billie Holiday. Of the living new Hall of Fame members, only Van Morrison did not appear to receive his award; he sent a fax apologizing for "work commitments in Europe."

The evening was, as always, a combination of reminiscences and wisecracks, sincere tributes and aw-shucks acceptances, wariness about a museum of rock and pride at the recognition. "Until very recently I didn't believe in this institution," Mr. Clapton said. "I didn't believe that rock-and-roll should be respectable." Ms. James, who has been a blues, rhythm-and-blues, funk and soul singer, said she no longer had to worry about being "neither fish nor fowl." "I know what I am now," she declared. "I'm rock-and-roll."

"I wanted to be in the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame," Dick Clark said, and went on to describe himself as someone with "little or no musical talent" who was "about as white bread as you can get." Mr. Clark said that his constant costume of suit and tie made rock-and-roll look safe to suspicious parents and pressure groups.

Jimmy Merchant of the Teen-Agers recalled that it took 26 takes to record "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," the effervescent 1955 hit single for which he and the other surviving Teen-Ager, Herman Santiago, expect to receive millions of dollars in belated royalties after winning credit in court.

Members of the Hall of Fame must have made their first recordings 25 years before they are voted in, so this year's ceremony harked back to 1967 and the summer of love. "Remember getting high?" said Ray Manzarek, the Doors' keyboardist. "Remember taking the psychedelic substances?" The three surviving members of the Doors performed with Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam singing Jim Morrison's parts; Mr. Vedder fixed the grammar of "Light My Fire," changing "If I was to say to you" to "If I were." Sly Stone, famous for not showing up for concerts during the 1970's, arrived on stage after the other members of the Family Stone had made their speeches. He said little more than "thank you" and "see you soon."

Creedence Clearwater Revival, whose three surviving members accepted an award together, did not perform as a reunited band; John Fogerty, the group's songwriter, was backed by Bruce Springsteen and J. Robbie Robertson on guitars along with the evening's house band. Mr. Springsteen, praising Creedence Clearwater Revival's "no-frills American music for the people," added, "On the fashion front, all of Seattle should bow. John was the father of the flannel shirt."

Hollywood production values arrived at this year's ceremony, which drew about 1,400 performers and music-business executives who paid $750 a ticket and up. The previous seven ceremonies, all at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, have been documented on video but presented more as private galas than as television material. "This is not a television show," said Ahmet Ertegun, co-chairman of Atlantic Records and chairman of the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. Yet as part of its efforts to raise money for the construction of the Hall of Fame museum, library and theater in Cleveland, the foundation may assemble a network television special from its annual ceremonies, and on Tuesday night the setup included television-style lighting and mobile cameras. At past ceremonies, a free-for-all jam session concluded the evening, but on Tuesday each performer played its own short segment.

It has been six years since Cleveland was selected for the Hall of Fame complex, designed by I. M. Pei. "It will allow us to exhibit rock-and-roll not as some kind of static idea but something that lives and exchanges with its audience," said Bob Krasnow, chairman of Elektra Entertainment and executive vice president of the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. "It will include video, state-of-the-art sound and every kind of technology you can imagine pushed to its limit."

But construction has repeatedly been delayed while the foundation, created by music-business figures, tried to finance the project, leading to what Jann S. Wenner, editor and publisher of Rolling Stone and vice chairman of the foundation, called "a certain skepticism" about whether the hall would be built. On Tuesday, Gov. George M. Voinovich of Ohio and Mayor Michael R. White of Cleveland announced that construction was to begin in April and a formal ground-breaking ceremony would to be held in June. The project is now estimated to cost $92 million.

The foundation has raised $48 million from corporate sponsors and other sources and has contributed $5 million of its own money. Mr. Wenner announced that Sony Music and Warner Music were each contributing $1 million. The Ohio is expected to add $37 million from a bond issue to be repaid by other corporate sponsors, pending final approval from the State Legislature. The officials said they hoped the 150,000-square-foot complex would be completed in two years. Mr. White said he wanted the induction ceremony to be held in Cleveland in 1996.

^{By Jon Pareles via The New York Times.}

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