Finally, Deep Purple are inducted into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame!
The heavy-metal progenitors behind ‘Smoke on the Water’ and ‘Hush’ were finally inducted, though surprisingly late, into the Hall by Lars Ulrich in April.
Aside from these pioneers, three other bands and two artists were also inducted: hard rockers Cheap Trick; rockers “with horns” Chicago; gangsta rappers N.W.A.; guitarist Steve Miller, and songwriter Bert Berns.
For those who didn’t watch the induction, here are some highlights.
Kendrick Lamar had the honour of inducting his rap predecessors N.W.A. into the Hall.While most used a teleprompter, Lamar only used his as a reference, giving an impressive freestyle speech about each member of the group.
Of DJ and producer, DJ Yella, Lamar stated he “provid[ed] some of the illest breaks, cuts, scratching, that only the most elite – I said elite – Compton MCs can spit over, you dig that?”
“Dre has provided N.W.A with unapologetic production made on high-level soundtracks for hardcore lyrics.”
Rapper MC Ren had words of “nothing but honesty, spoken from a true tone of a Compton resident.”
And Ice Cube was honored as a “storytelling genius. Every bar had us hanging over our seats. Punchline, delivery, detailed imagery made you get just a small glimpse of how it was growing up in the city of Compton, you dig what I’m saying?”
Eazy-E was inducted as “a true mastermind. A businessman, an incredible entertainer. His persona was unmatched.”
While some are sceptical of rappers being inducted into a hall for rock bands and musicians, Ice Cube said, “Rock ’n’ roll is a spirit. We had the same spirit as punk rock, the same as the blues.”
“…please welcome to the stage and to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, give it up for Deep Purple.”
Metallica drummer, Lars Ulrich, shared memories of seeing Deep Purple as a child, speaking about both past and current members. Of the late, and legendary, Jon Lord, “Let me emphasize this, Jon Lord was the first to truly amplify and destroy the Hammond organ.”
And of Ritchie Blackmore’s new way of playing the guitar, “What he did with the guitar did not seem feasible.”
As for Bert Berns, the late songwriter of many popular hit songs, like ‘Twist and Shout’ and ‘Under the Boardwalk’, the songwriter was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by guitarist Steven van Zandt.
Berns also produced and arranged for other artists, including, but not limited to, Neil Diamond, The Isley Brothers and The Drifters.
Unfortunately, the Berns’ career ended at just 38 years of age in 1967, when he passed away from heart failure and rheumatic fever. Despite the brevity of his career, Berns had an extensive and far-reaching output that is still felt to this day.
Van Zandt stated,
The event finished with inductees and other members playing Cheap Trick’s rendition of ‘Ain’t that a Shame’, originally written by Fats Domino in 1955. A puzzling song to finish with since it is not one of Cheap Trick’s best-known songs, made worse by some faulty microphones. Why did they not finish by jamming some legendary Deep Purple- that is Smoke on the Water- reminding everyone why this deserves to be inducted in the first place?
Luckily, the jam shifted into fifth gear and real rock was being belted out. Watch Chicago’s horns pitch in, Steve Miller play guitar behind his head, and Roger Glover shred the bass.
