I went home tonite after the University Place Tree Lighting and I watched HBO’s 25th Anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  The show was in New York.  It was awesome!  There was a laundry list of inductees that performed; Jerry Lee Lewis started off the show with “Great Balls of Fire.  Crosby, Stills and Nash, Bonnie Rait, Smokey Robinson, Jeff Beck and Stevie Wonder, were also there.  Stevie covered Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel” it was great, he broke down a little during the song, no doubt due to the recent passing of the great Michael Jackson one of Rock and Roll History’s best, and an icon to say the least. 

BB King was also there I think he did a little diddy called “The Thrill is Gone.” It was neat to see all of the outfits of those that were really dressed up.  I heard a lot of really great hits that reminded me, I needed to “retro-fit” my Ipod.  Sting sang “Roxanne and duoed with Stevie doing “People.”  It was a show to behold.  I like all types of music but I really think that Rock and Roll is cool now and through the years.

They showed video clips from all the years of rock and roll of the past.  Paul Simon did “Call Me Al,” I loved that song as a kid.  During this 3.5 hours musical extravaganza something really hit me, I already knew this but, musicians are really weird.  They make all kinds of strange movements to the music and have all kinds of musical ticks, it’s very fun to watch.

“Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles was played by Paul Simon and back ups perform by Crosby, Stills and Nash.  It’s so weird what singers sing about and how they tend to make reference to other things.  Sometimes you might think you know what a song is about and you could be totally wrong. 

If you haven’t gone to youtube and listened to 10,000 Fire Flies by Owl City,  It’s a happy little song as far as I can tell, it’s probably about something else but I like it nevertheless.  

Have you ever written a note or letter and then looked at it a long time later to find out you felt a little silly about some of the stuff you said or the way you said it?  I got the feeling that some of these singers felt that way about some of their songs. 

Simon and Garfunkel performed ”The Silence of Summer which Steve nor myself knew they sang.   The show started at 10:30 or 10:00 I can’t remember but it ran until 1:40am.  Not too sure if I’m going to make it through the whole thing.

Ray Charles, Ruth Baker and Laverne Brown were highlighted.  Aleta Franklin’s  R-E-S-P-E-C-T was also video clipped.  We saw images of many musical greats, many from before my time.  A little trivia I was not aware of, George Harrison died of cancer in 2001.  It was apparently related to cigarettes.  I found a picture of his death certificate online at whyquit.com. 

Annie Lenox was there too.  She sang with Aretha.  Aretha was also recently featured at the Christmas tree lighting in Rockefeller Center in New York City earlier this week.  Is it just me or has Aretha Franklin gotten a lot bigger?  Also Annie Lennox was wearing a t-shirt that says HIV Positive.  This is because she is apparently boasting of her fouderism of a cause called SING.  It’s purpose is to raise money to support South African women and children that suffer from being HIV positive.  Ridiculous if you ask me.  Why isn’t she helping someone in her own country?  Maybe she’s originally from South Africa. 

 Metallica was there and sang with Lou Reed who was booed a bit upon coming onstage.  Did you know that James Hetfield suffers from from Tinnitus?  Apparently he has subjected himself to a lot of loud music throughout his lifetime.  Perhaps one of the best appearances of the show was Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica together.  Ozzy was just crazy, full of energy and it’s phenomenal to find out he’s 61.  From the Kink’s, Ray Davies performed with Metallica as well.  It was great to see so many of the Hard Rock greats.  Next up after Metallica was U2.  I was not aware that the lead singer was a leprechaun.  By that I mean that they are all from Ireland.  I personally am in love with Ireland and the people and most of all their accents.  I can’t get enough of them, man or woman doesn’t matter. 

Patti Smith performed with Bruce Springsteen and U2, they also performed one of U2’s greatest hits “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”  Bono from U2 made a statement that music no matter where you are from stands for liberation.  I agree with that statement.  By the way Bono also wears a hearing aid, unless those skin colored things are like for music coordination somehow.  But I don’t think they are.  Most of the time those things have bouncy cords like a telephone.

Mick Jagger came out and sang “It’s Just a Shout Away” along with Fergie form Black Eyed Peas.  I can’t imagine the limos lined up outside with this cast.  Mick Jagger is so animated it’s funny to watch him, he’s like a standing, walking, seizure. LOL.  

Buddy guy was introduced by Sting and he is some guitar player, let me tell you.  He did a blues piece from way back, I’m guessing.  Jeff Beck said that in the 60’s Guy was an inspiration to him and even to Jimmy Hendrix. 

ZZ Top was also there with Jeff Beck.  Only one of the performers of the group though, not sure why not all three.  He and Jeff Beck did a tribute to Jimmy Hendrix.  Then Jeff played “I Read The News Today” by the Beatles. 

Bruce Springsteen introduced Sam Hall.  Then they played “The Ghost of Old Tom Joad” Tom Morello from Rage against the machine was there.  By the way, he kicks ass on guitar.  Steve sat shocked in dismay.  He does some crazy insane stuff down in the body of the guitar.

Next up was John Fogerty from CCR; Creedence Clearwater Revival if you’re not familiar. 

Bruce and John played one of Roy Orbison’s hits “Pretty Woman”.  I am too tired to watch any more so I am going to bed.  It was a great show.  Hope you caught some of it, if not, hope you enjoyed the blog.

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