Ringo Starr, Green Day, Bill Withers enter Rock Hall of Fame

[Lite Beer]

Ringo Starr, Green Day, Bill Withers enter Rock Hall of Fame
By TOM WITHERS

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is welcoming its newest class, featuring a Beatle, three punks from California and a guitar god from Texas.

Ringo Starr, who found unexpected stardom as a frontman after the Beatles broke up, was honored Saturday night as the hall inducted an eclectic group of musicians who have influenced generations.

Starr, previously enshrined with the Beatles in 1988, is being inducted along with pop punks Green Day, soul singer-songwriter Bill Withers, underground-rock icon Lou Reed, bluesy guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and The "5'' Royales.

Adored by fans, Starr was the steady beat behind the world's most celebrated group and the 74-year-old is the last of the Beatles to have his work outside the band recognized. Starr is being inducted by Paul McCartney, whose influence helped get his former drummer enshrined. Starr put out a string of pop hits, including "It Don't Come Easy," ''Photograph" and "You're Sixteen."

He may not have had the musical shops or artistry of McCartney or the late John Lennon or George Harrison, but Starr managed to stay in the limelight and still tours with his All-Star Band.

McCartney told Rolling Stone magazine that he and Lennon wrote songs that featured Starr to keep their fans happy.

"We wrote the line, 'What would you do if I sang out of tune?' for him," said McCartney, referencing the opening line to "With A Little Help From My Friends." ''When you think about it, how many people in rock and roll can sing? But Ringo can deliver a song."

Brash and belligerent, Green Day blasted onto the music scene just as Seattle's grunge sound was growing stale. Lead singer/guitarist Billy Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool borrowed took riffs from punk pioneers like The Stooges and Sex Pistols, flavored them with some power chords and pop hooks and helped redefine a genre.

The trio's album "Dookie" won a Grammy and Green Day went on to make "American Idiot," a punk-infused rock opera that later became a Broadway hit.

Withers was inexplicably left off the hall's ballot for years, perhaps an unfortunate oversight. But the 76-year-old, who walked away from the music industry in the 1980s, is now part of musical royalty with a catalog of timeless songs like "Lean On Me" and "Ain't No Sunshine." Stevie Wonder will induct the 76-year-old Withers, who may perform publicly for the first time in decades.

Reed was both daring and provocative as a songwriter and lyricist, pushing boundaries with ballads about forbidden subjects like drugs, prostitution and suicide. Reed's songs like "Walk On The Wild Side," ''Vicious" and "Heroin" remain vibrant today. Although he died in 2011, Reed continues to influence a young generation of musicians touched by his rebel ways.

Sadly, Vaughan died at the height of his career. Armed with a signature Stratocaster, the Texas bluesman was a dynamo on six strings. Best known for songs like "Pride and Joy" and "Look At Little Sister," he won a Grammy for his mesmerizing cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing." John Mayer will induct Vaughan and join Gary Clark Jr. on stage for a blistering set of Double Trouble tunes.

For the third time, the induction ceremony is being held at Cleveland's legendary Public Hall, where thousands of fans will undoubtedly scream "I Love Rock and Roll" along with Jett, who is expected to perform her Top 40 classic along with her hard-charging band.

Jett helped found The Runaways, a band that broke down barriers for women in rock. With The Blackhearts she did even more with a loud, unapologetic style that empowered girls and boys.

Jett's thrilled she'll be honored in a city where she's felt a deep connection.

"If I'm going to be inducted, Cleveland is where it should be," she told The Cleveland Plain Dealer. "I don't find Cleveland to be a kind of place that puts on any airs, and I don't either."

HBO will broadcast the event on May 30.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-04-19

[JetsetBkk]

Wow! Brilliant! Excellent!

(Who the **** is Green Day?)

[samsensam]

ringo starr; really?! bit part and not very good drummer in the beatles, and...?

[Ulysses G.]

Green Day are excellent. Check them out.

[Anthony5]

ringo starr; really?! bit part and not very good drummer in the beatles, and...?

Maybe they had to choose between Ringo Starr and Boney M?

[Chicog]

ringo starr; really?! bit part and not very good drummer in the beatles, and...?

Spoken like a true ignoramus.

He was the anchor behind one of the biggest bands in the world, and has made 18 solo albums since, with a host of stars who choose to play with him.

He might not be Bill Bruford but a solid, accomplished rock and roll drummer he most certainly is.

I think Pete Best just spreads these rumours because he's so bitter.

[HerbalEd]

ringo starr; really?! bit part and not very good drummer in the beatles, and...?

It's the Hall of FAME ... not the Hall of TALENT ... and he was/is very famous, and there's no denying his place in R&R history. Plus, he wrote Yellow Submarine. ;-)

Edited April 19, 2015 by HerbalEd

[willyumiii]

ringo starr; really?! bit part and not very good drummer in the beatles, and...?

Ringo was the perfect drummer for the Beatles.

A bit part???

Who are you, and what part have you ever played?

Just saying....

[JetsetBkk]

Green Day are excellent. Check them out.

Just did - pretty dämn good!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXxvXiy4xvA

[Ulysses G.]

ringo starr; really?! bit part and not very good drummer in the beatles, and...?

It's the Hall of FAME ... not the Hall of TALENT ... and he was/is very famous, and there's no denying his place in R&R history. Plus, he wrote Yellow Submarine. ;-)

Lennon and McCartney wrote Yellow Submarine, but Ringo did a great job of singing it. Ringo only wrote 2 Beatles songs -'Don't Pass Me By' and 'Octopus's Garden' - but he sang some really good ones and he wrote and sang some good ones as a solo artist later on. I would say that he was the least talented member of the Beatles, but that is still pretty good.

Edited April 19, 2015 by Ulysses G.

[Smurkster]

Green Day are most certainly not excellent

[marrmrrs]

I hope old Ringo pinches himself every morning and thinks how lucky he is...He is not the best drummer in the world.. Hell!! He was not even the best drummer in The Beatles!!.. (old joke!!).. I was in Liverpool last year and took a private Beatles tour and was amazed at the number of people who did not have good word to say about him... He was not well liked!!..He does not interview well,,,, Peace & Love!!!???

[BadBouy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ROGOHNSEBs

[bendejo]

I hope old Ringo pinches himself every morning and thinks how lucky he is...He is not the best drummer in the world.. Hell!! He was not even the best drummer in The Beatles!!.. (old joke!!).. I was in Liverpool last year and took a private Beatles tour and was amazed at the number of people who did not have good word to say about him... He was not well liked!!..He does not interview well,,,, Peace & Love!!!???

He did have a song "The Luckiest Guy in the World" that was about his good fortune.

Every anecdote I've heard about Lennon involved what a not-very-nice person he was. A few years ago McC said some thing like "He was my friend and I loved him dearly but sometimes he could be a manipulative swine" and the fans came at him with an excrement storm.

[redandyellow]

Ringo looks a lot better than some of his contemporaries, who now largely sport faces that look like a can of squished A-- holes ( examples: Keith Richards, Stephen Tyler..)

Edit: Ringo looks a lot better than some of his contemporaries, who now have mugs like the cadaverous Keith Richards, circa 1984..

[Smurkster]

You can argue whether or not Ringo deserves his spot in the hall, what you cannot argue about is Ringo's place in history and his place in the Beatles. Anyone talking about Ringo being the "MOSt dispensable man in the Beatles" that's ok, i forgive them, they obviously do not know enough about the Fab Four. Ringo was in many ways a rock to the group. During the days of fighting and bickering..John, George and Paul didn't get a long and all really didn't enjoy each other, what was the constant? everyone loved Ringo and he really wasn't a part of the bickering (except when he quit for a brief period during the white album) Richard Starkey was a rock and a VERY important element to the Fab Fours success...again does he deserve to be inducted solo into hall of fame? I don't know. But he certainly isn't a bit player or indispensable...

We won't see a force quite like the Beatles for a long time if ever, they were not just a Musical group but arguably the most important social phenomenon in the latter half of the 20th century...and Richard Starkey was and REMAINS big part of that...

plus, I doubt there is a 74 year old on TV that looks as good as he does....precisely because he ISNT swilling Lao Khao and Leo's....

Edited April 20, 2015 by Smurkster

[Ulysses G.]

what was the constant? everyone loved Ringo and he really wasn't a part of the bickering

Good post. Especially this. Ringo WAS well liked - at least by the rest of the band.

[webfact]

DRUMMERWORLD

Ringo Starr: http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Ringo_Starr.html

[up-country_sinclair]

Nothing against Ringo Starr, but by any realistic measure he doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame as a solo artist. As a member of the Beatles, of course he should be there.