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HarryHew
@harryhew
Billy Joel has written a letter to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominating committee urging them to (finally) put Warren Zevon on the ballot. Announcement is Wednesday. Whatever happens, God bless everybody involved with this campaign. From the LA Times: latimes.com/entertainment-
All this comes amid an effort by a number of musicians and industry types to get Zevon onto the ballot for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which will announce nominations Wednesday for its 2023 class of inductees. Among the boosters is Billy Joel, who recently wrote a letter to the hall’s nominating committee urging them to consider Zevon, who became eligible for induction in 1994 but has never made the ballot. (Rock Hall rules say an artist or band becomes eligible 25 years after the release of their first commercial recording.)
“I just wanted to put in my two cents of supporting Warren Zevon to be included,” Joel tells The Times. “If anyone deserves to be, he does. He was a real original, and I don’t know if that’s appreciated enough.” Joel, who was inducted into the hall in 1999 and who says he’s written similar letters on behalf of Joe Cocker and Cyndi Lauper, remembers seeing Zevon perform in the late ’70s at a club near Philadelphia. “The first minute I saw him, I was knocked out. He was like the crazy brother I never had. He was fearless, and it stuck with me. I never thought he got the attention he deserved.”
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HarryHew
@harryhew
Replying to
@harryhew
And in other Zevon news: "Andrew Slater, the veteran record producer and music manager who produced several of Zevon's late-'80s LPs, is at work on a film project about Zevon with the cooperation of the late singer's family."
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HarryHew
@harryhew
Replying to
@staticbluebat
Zevon's never even been put on the ballot! I say this every year: Just put him on the ballot. If the voters reject him, fine. But good God he's at least earned the right to be considered.
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HarryHew
@harryhew
Replying to
@mrmet6286
I love John Prine and he should absolutely be in the RRHOF, but he's at least been nominated before. He was nominated for the Class of 2019 and unfortunately didn't get enough votes. Zevon has never been put on the ballot.
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Jerry David DeCicca
@blackswansband
Replying to
@harryhew
Two things: I'd love to see Slater make a film- his role in WZ's life & music is significant. And love Mr. Bad Example. And... Springsteen could get him his own wing w a single text.
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HarryHew
@harryhew
Replying to
@blackswansband
What's weird is Springsteen's manager, Jon Landau, was chair of the RRHOF nominating committee for decades. Just stepped down last yr. Landau's an avowed Zevon fan & his brother David was once Zevon's bandleader. Landau leaves & WZ finally gets on the ballot? Hard to understand.
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HarryHew
@harryhew
Replying to
@hmgotlieb
I read Wenner's memoir solely to see if he'd address his vendetta against Zevon. He recounts making a request of Jackson Browne, after which Browne told him: You owe it to me now to put Zevon in the Hall. Treats it like a cute story. Refuses to take accountability for anything.
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HarryHew
@harryhew
Replying to
@ChiBluesHistory
There's a tape of Bob Dylan in 1984 talking to Artie Mogull, A&R guy who supported him early on. Mogull goes, "Did you hear Big Mama Thornton died yesterday?" Dylan is devastated. "Oh, NO! Oh, I could *feel* that. Did she really? Oh, maaan. I was just listening to her."
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