The Country Music Hall of Fame inductees have been announced!
Modern Era: Toby Keith
Veteran Era: John Anderson
Recording/Touring Musician: James Burton
Very bittersweet for Keith, who died hours before being elected into the Hall of Fame.
Another excellent class all around.
Thrilled, obviously, for the John Anderson induction, though we miscalculated on his Veteran vs Modern Era status. Kix Brooks did a lovely job on his introduction this morning, and Anderson’s fascinating career is so deserving of this recognition.
And, perhaps controversially, I’m not mad at the Toby Keith induction. On talent and impact, he was an undeniable force in the industry for a full two decades, and his output was often great. Do I think the way he conducted himself in the mid-aughts irrevocably damaged the genre? Surely: The quantitative data on what has happened to women in the post-Chicks fallout are clear and damning, and Keith perpetuated and escalated a lot of that. His legacy is a complicated one, but it’s one that nonetheless is central to the history of country music. There are others I’d have inducted before him– including The Chicks– but he absolutely belongs in the CMHoF.
I agree with the Toby Keith observations. I made similar ones elsewhere earlier.
As I also noted elsewhere, I was surprised that James Burton wasn’t inducted earlier, just on the strength of his contributions to all those late-’60s Merle Haggard recordings.
No problem with these choices. Since we had two women inducted last year, I figured this year would be back to the men.
Huge fan of Toby Keith and understand the choice to bring him in this year.
I started writing on the Facebook post sharing the article that Keith dying hours before the accountants informed the Hall he’d been elected was the greatest tragedy I could think of regarding the Hall of Fame…and then I remembered Naomi Judd.
Couple that with Jerry Lee Lewis being so far advanced in age and illness and I just get more frustrated with the slow pace of inductions. Buarton is currently fighting cancer, too.
The other thing that is a problem, besides the glacial pace at which they induct, is the division between who is deemed “Modern” and who is deemed a “Veteran”. I think they consider the minimum limit of an artist’s career 25 years before they consider them Hall worthy, which is fair enough (the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s career minimum is also 25); after that, however, whether the artist is of the Modern era or is, to my mind, anyway, a Veteran is a side issue, and should be set aside for the impact they had on the genre at large and on other artists. Too many legendary artists, many of whom passed away decades ago, are still not in; and others who would certainly be worthy of induction and are still alive (e.g., Linda Ronstadt) are battling health problems, and themselves may not even be around if they get the call.
As for Toby Keith–he ought to be there, but hopefully he is remembered for more than just “Courtesy Of The Red, White, and Blue” and his unnecessary, over-the-top feud with the Chicks. And James Burton–well, when your career includes work with Rick Nelson, Gram Parsons, Glen Campbell, Emmylou Harris, and The King, you deserve it 200% (IMHO).