Musically Excellent Voices

Several years ago, I was lounging about at home, listening to the Music Choice channel for Solid Gold Oldies.  Mixed in the playlist of songs I'd heard so many times was a song I'd never heard before.  "Hey Jean, Hey Dean" by Dean And Jean (not to be confused with Jan And Dean) came on, and I perked up my ears, as this was something relatively new for me.  It's an upbeat song about throwing a party when you're broke and on the verge of losing everything.  What I really noticed most about the song was that the heavy lifting in it seemed to be done by the background singers, who carried the entire chorus, as well as the fills in between lines of the verses--which kind of makes sense given the song was co-written by Ernie Maresca.  I'd almost bet those background singers had longer careers than either Welton or Brenda, the real names of Dean and Jean--much like Paul And Paula, whose real names were Ray and Jill.

When the Sideman category was created for the Class Of 2000, it was hailed as a huge success for the institution.  The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame was enshrining the session musicians who left an indelible mark on important records, whose styles of playing were almost as unique as fingerprints.  The Hall has inducted drummers, guitarists, bassists, pianists, saxophonists, and even a harmonicist.  But an important category of session contributors that has yet to be seriously acknowledged by the Hall is background singers, and that needs to change.

This is a position I've held even before the documentary 20 Feet From Stardom came out, but it's been amplified by it.  One of the people interviewed in the documentary (I think it was Lou Adler) went so far as to say the background singers were the record at times.  I think my opening anecdote takes that point nearly to the extreme, but there's a lot of truth to that idea.  When you think about the songs of the '50s through the '70s, and even beyond, a lot of the appeal, as well as the invitation to sing along, comes from the background singers.  If I say "Gimme Shelter," what's the thing you most want to extol about that song?  If you said anything other than "Merry Clayton," you're a lying sack a monkey doo.  The debate between Dion's solo career and his work with the Belmonts as being the more worthy of enshrinement has a few different facets to it, but I'd wager the work of the Del Satins on "Runaround Sue" giving it such a Belmonts' feel is a bit of a factor.  And how many of you have to pause yourself to remember that Curtis Lee was not the bass voice on "Pretty Little Angel Eyes"?  Sadly, the world has all but forgotten Arhtur Crier, as well as the rest of the Halos who filled in beautifully on the harmonies.  That's not even touching on the careers of the Blossoms or the Andantes.  Great backing singers make invaluable contributions to the songs we love, by adding harmonies and/or additional rhythmic cadence to a song, even if it's sometimes with nonsense lyrics.  And sometimes, their parts are the most fun to sing along to.

So why has the Hall not enshrined these singers?  Some of it may be as basic as not thinking of them as musicians.  When we talk about musical groups, it includes bands, but if we talk about bands, it won't include all groups.  If that previous sentence made perfect sense to you, then you know what I'm talking about here.  Even until now, I've intentionally refrained from calling backing vocalists "musicians" for this very purpose.  But singers are musicians.  Everyone can sing, right?  No, and even if everyone could, not everyone can sing well enough to make worthwhile contributions to the rock and roll landscape.  You don't need training to be a singer?  A lot of instrument players were self-taught.  Hell, I can play bass guitar.  Not well, mind you, but back in college, when my roommate was at class, I sometimes opened up his case and figured out how to play the bass riff from "With Or Without You."  Not with any official hand positions, but just by pushing the right string down in the right place and strumming it.  (Sorry Brad!)  I even touched on this during the nomination cycle for the Class Of 2012, particularly in reference to the Spinners: if shows like American Idol taught us anything, it's that being a singer does require actual musical talent, and those who are accomplished singers have every right to be called "musicians" as those who specialize in membranophonic, idiophonic, electronophonic, vibraphonic, or other aerophonic instruments.  I.M. Pei may have designed the museum to look more like a guitar than a larynx, but not looking like a spinnet hasn't kept Floyd Cramer from induction.  So, it's not a good reason to keep Lisa Fischer out either.  

Another possible reason may be that the era of backing vocalists has largely passed.  It isn't just because of my own predilections that my examples have largely been from songs recorded before 1970.  Modern music has seen a decrease in the usage of session singers in major hit records, and a lot of the big vocal groups of the past thirty years have been prefab, which the critics, and by extension the Rock Hall, have little to no respect for.  A lot of this is the decrease in demand, as rap and danceable pop music tend not to necessitate harmonizing, and rock bands are supposed to be as self-contained and in-house as possible in their musicianship (or at least have that image).  Some of this decrease is because of the technological advances that have also been able to edge out other varieties of session musicians as well, and some of it is just due to the financial realities of the music industry as it stands now where additional voices are often the easiest and first expenditures to cut when trimming the fat on a recording budget.  As the demand for session musicians seemingly nears extinction, the contributions of auxiliary vocalists appear to no longer be contributing to the evolution or perpetuation of rock and roll.  It seems to be a character trait of a previous generation.

That perception becomes especially detrimental in the context of the current era of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.  John Sykes is definitely looking to modernize the Hall, as he seeks to promote his definition of "rock and roll" as the "soundtrack of youth culture."  To make matters worse, these singers, who would have been excellent candidates for the Sideman category, may have an even tougher time becoming Award For Musical Excellence inductees, as that category teeters precipitously close to being little more than an alternative Performer category because the voting bloc won't do the NomComm and board's bidding.  The reimagining of the categories could very easily prevent any more session musicians from getting inducted because all the focus has shifted to using that category to appease Little Steven, Alan Light, Lenny Kaye, or any other member of the Nominating Committee.  Maybe not: we saw Randy Rhoads get inducted last year; however, it's also tempting to argue that Rhoads' induction was to placate Tom Morello and other metalheads on the committee as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Motorhead all perennially languish in the voting tallies.  We don't know, nor might we ever know, but we do know that the ceremony's real-time run time and subsequent broadcast time tend to play a factor in how many inductees we get.  And because of that, the new executions of both this and the Early Influence categories have the potential to stifle further conversations.  Again, hypothetically.  Much of this is still unknown.

What is known is that other than Patti Scialfa of the E Street Band, there is no AME inductee whose primary contribution was as a backing vocalist, and that makes backing vocalists another major oversight on the part of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.  Given the Hall's love of Elvis Presley, I would seriously argue for starting with the Jordanaires.  Hell, they were credited on many of his records of the '50s and '60s.  They could even be retconned as a Performer inductee like the Famous Flames and Midnighters were in 2012, but I believe that AME is much more likely given that they did session work for so many singers besides Elvis.  Also, part of me wants to see them in because they'd then be the only grouip to be inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame, the Gospel Music Hall Of Fame, the Vocal Group Hall Of Fame, and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.  That'd be wicked awesome, in my opinion.  But in addition to the King's singers, let's add the Queen Of Rock And Roll's backing singers, the Ikettes (I know, the irony, but still).  The Cookies would be a great selection too.  So would the Dreamlovers, if we can ever get some love for the Cameo-Parkway legacy.

Since LL Cool J was an Award For Musical Excellence inductee last year, I'm guessing the subcommittees that decide the other categories' inductees won't meet until after the voting deadline passes and all the votes are tallied.  And because this is a category decided entirely by a subcommittee, this is truly a matter where the Rock Hall could simply do it if they wanted to, presumably not answering to anyone.  So while the votes are still being cast and counted, I want to challenge the Award For Musical Excellence subcommittee to take a hard look and strongly consider inducting backing vocalists as part of the Class Of 2022.  It's a glaring oversight that you have the simple, unique, and presumably absolute power to correct.  They've spent their whole careers in the wings and shadows.  Long past time to bring them out and give them a few minutes of the spotlight at your ceremonies.