Rhonda Vincent Notches Another Entertainer of the Year Win at Bluegrass Awards

I’m hoping Emmylou Harris is finally inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. She’s still an absolutely incredible talent even after all these years, and I can’t think of anyone else more deserving.

As far as the HOF goes, the idea that they induct 3 people every year is pretty ridiculous. The fact they divide it up into such specific timeframes is even more ridiculous.

that being said, there are plenty of people who should be in there who aren’t. I’d probably put David Allan Coe, Gram Parsons, Billy Joe Shaver, and Townes Van Zandt towards the top of the list.

My HOF predictions:

Tom T. Hall
Emmylou Harris
Hank Jr.

HOF Prediction: Gram Parsons

and then apes will rule the earth….

Chris N,

those are pretty good picks. how does the pre-WWII and post-WWII thing work? Is that the timeframe of their career of the time of their birth? June would be a post-WWII artist according to career time wouldn’t she?

So you guys don’t think its too likely for Gram or DAC huh?

You’re probably right about both Gram and DAC unfortunately, but it’s quite the stretch for the HOF to argue that a person who died in his 20’s due to substance abuse isn’t HOF material.

poor DAC, super-overlooked all the time. Don’t you think that he’ll eventually get in? After he’s dead maybe? I mean, outside of Cash, he’s probably the artist who has the most street-cred and he’s probably the only “legend” who is pulling a young, new audience to country who are passionate about music.

Tom T. Hall is rad as well.

Ben–I don’t believe the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum itself argues that Gram Parson shouldn’t be in the HOF. Parsons is represented as part of the permanent exhibit there, but otherwise I don’t think you hear the HOF as an institution publicly or privately advocating for membership one way or another.

As for the annual selections, the CMA sets the criteria and a CMA special committee makes the selections. The committee members are kept secret, I believe.

The HOF museum and the non-profit foundation that runs it is simply the place where the Hall of Fame plaques are displayed and its members honored, within the context of country music history. Obviously, since Hank Williams was elected the first year, someone in their 20s who died of a drug overdose already is in the HOF.

Paul–Mel Tillis was elected to the HOF in 2007.

There’s a lot of deserving people on all these lists, and more, especially old-timers like Charley Poole, the Stanley Brothers, the Stonemans, etc.

Bradley Kincaid definitely should be in the Hall of Fame.

Parsons tends to bring out polarizing arguments–a lot of people worship him, a lot of others consider him far over-rated. Of course he didn’t have the impact of Hank or Jimmie Rodgers. But if that were the criteria for getting into the HOF, it’d be an awfully small group.

I think Parson’s voice had a lot of soul and emotion to it, which made up for its limitations, and several of his songs and performances had a powerful affect on a lot of artists and listeners. He deserves his place in American music history for how he drew on aspects of country, soul and rock to create a style of fresh style, something that drew on tradition but was of the moment, that resonated with a lot of people.

Does he deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, though? I don’t think his place is as secure there as many others, including those he influenced, like Emmylou. But I think Paul underestimates Parsons impact on country music, from the Eagles to Rodney Crowell to Dwight Yoakam to Lucinda Williams–and on and on. It’s a long list. If you consider the impact of the Eagles and Emmylou, two acts that wouldn’t have done what they did if not for Parsons’ influence, then Parsons’ role becomes even more important.

So I think a good argument can be made that Parsons deserves his spot there. But I also think its doubtful he’ll get it.

Wasn’t he the Partridge Family’s manager?

i love rascal flatts!!! they are amazing.
i saw them in concert in september.
watch the video!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OziZG4fWuv4

everyone needs to go see them in concert, its amazing. i love them!

Paul,

The top of the all-time overrated list?????????

Holy smokes man!

you might as well have slapped my mama.

Seriously though, it is an excellent insight that one of Gram’s strengths was as a conduit to traditional country music.

That being said, I think that he had a profound influence on many country musicians, not just rock musicians, it just depends on how you look at it.

Naturally, Dwight, Emmylou, and Rodney Crowell, come to mind, but also most of the Alt-Country and Americana scene artists have been influenced by Gram. Sure he was a conduit, but his take on country music was distinct and captivating enough to give him the position of respect that he has. He’s like a beacon of authenticity to the crowd out here in LA. And I think that he’s earned that position.

You can argue that because he’s influenced artists who are pitched under the label of Americana (Like the Hacienda Brothers for example) rather than artists who are marketed under the country label (Like Rhett Atkins or Keith Anderson) that his influence becomes insignificant to the country hall of fame, but I think that if we limit what we consider to be an impactful career on the basis of whether or not it influenced this generation of nashville pop-ac country performers, that most great country artists from the past would have to be eliminated from consideration.

In the California country scene alone, Mike Stinson, Dave Gleason, and David Serby are all deeply, deeply country, and in a very present way (read: they are not throwback, vintage acts) and all 3 are deeply influenced by Gram.

My point is that Gram’s influence isn’t all Alt-Country, which is essentially country rock. His influence is still very prevalent among artists who are working within the honky-tonk genre, as well as acoustic acts that emphasize the high-lonesome sound, in other words, artists are are working very hard to preserve and innovate along the lines of traditional country music.

In view of that, the fact that Sugarland probably don’t know any Gram songs means absolutely nothing to me in terms of weighing his impact and influence on country music.