A

lan Freed was not around to
accept his honor at the first
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
induction ceremony during 1986 in
New York, but it was only right to
include the late radio personality who
popularized the term in the inaugural
class.
The Pennsylvania native was also
the first Jew to enter the Rock Hall.
There have been many since, in
multiple categories; suffice to say
that from performers (Bob Dylan,
Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Diamond,
Carole King, many more) to exec-
utives (Leonard Chess, Clive Davis,
Bill Graham, Seymour Stein, Don
Kirshner, Jac Holzman), songwriters
(King and Gerry Goffin, Jerry Leiber
and Mike Stoller, Doc Pomus) pro-
ducers (Phil Spector, Jerry Wexler,
Milt Gabler) and managers (Brian
Epstein, Jon Landau, Irving Azoff),
there’s been no shortage of representa-
tion in the Rock Hall’s 39 classes.
This year’s induction ceremony
took place on Oct. 19 in Cleveland —
where the physical Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame and Museum resides — and
included an Early Influence honor
for the late British blues musician
Alexis Korner, along with Musical
Excellence Awards for Detroit’s MC5
and Motown songwriter-producer
Norman Whitfield and Motown exec-
utive Suzanne DePasse. A primetime
highlights special will air at 8 p.m. Jan.

1 on ABC.
Discussions about the Rock Hall,
however, involve not only who’s in
but who’s not. This year’s class fea-
tures a few names that have long been
considered slights (Peter Frampton,
Foreigner, Ozzy Osbourne) while
debates continue about dozens of oth-
ers fans feel are overdue. With that in
mind, we thought it was a good time
to consider Jewish candidates who
are still on the runway. There are a
great many of those, of course, but 18
seemed like the appropriate number
to put on the table for this occasion.

WORTHY INDUCTEES
Leonard Bernstein: Not somebody
you think of when you say rock
‘n’ roll, but given the Hall’s broad
perspective on who’s eligible, why
not? The late Bernstein’s enormous
impact on American music — music
period, classical and popular — is
unquestioned, and his score and
soundtrack work have certainly hit
audiences beyond the orchestra halls.
And let’s not forget his insightful
and respectful treatment of rock in
his 1967 CBS special Inside Pop: The
Rock Revolution. Classical is one area
that Rock Hall has not really traipsed
yet; Bernstein would be a fitting first
choice.

Blood, Sweat & Tears: Founder
Al Kooper received an Award for
Musical Achievement last year, but a

strong argument could be made for a
full-band induction. BS&T was one
of rock’s first bands with a self-con-
tained horn section, and it was a
commercial juggernaut during the
late ’60s and early ’70s with hits such
as “Spinning Wheel” and its arrange-
ments of Brenda Holloway’s “You’ve
Made Me So Very Happy” and Laura
Nyro’s “
And When I Die,” along with
three consecutive Top 10 albums.
Steve Katz, Jerry Weiss, Fred Lipsius,
Lou Soloff and Bobby Colomby merit
inclusion alongside their friendly
rivals in the band Chicago.

Don Was: Plenty of producers —
from Phil Spector and Jerry Wexler
to Motown’s Holland-Dozier-Holland
and, this year, Norman Whitfield —
have entered the Hall. Oak Park native

Was (nee Fagenson) certainly has the
credentials, with four Grammy awards
(including Producer of the Year, Non-
Classical in 1995) and a resume that
includes work with the Rolling Stones,
Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, the B-52’s,
Brian Wilson, Iggy Pop and a great
many more. On the performing end,
Was co-founded the Detroit group
Was (Not Was) and is also part of Bob
Weir’s Wolf Bros as well as leading the
Pan-Detroit Ensemble.

The Dictators: This ’70s punk
troupe was like an AZA chapter that
managed to stay together into college
(at the State University of New York
at New Platz) with Ross “The Boss”
Friedman, Andy “
Adny” Shernoff,
Scott Kempner, Mark “The Animal”
Mendoza (nee Glickman) and
Handsome Dick Manitoba (Richard
Blum) churning high-octane music
that was every bit as important as
the New York Dolls, the Ramones
and other contemporaries of the
CBGB’s scene. Records such as “Go
Girl Crazy!” “Manifest Destiny”
and “Blood Brothers” still hold up,
and Friedman and Shernoff are still
leading a version of the band.

Art Garfunkel: He’s in as part
of Simon & Garfunkel (1990), but
partner Paul Simon’s solo induction
in 2001 raises a question of whether
his frenemy of more than 70 years
should be accorded the same honor.
Garfunkel hasn’t had Simon’s level of
solo success or the critical acclaim of
a Graceland album, but he’s scored
a few hits (“
All I Know,” “Wonderful
World,” “My Little Town” with Simon)
and still enjoys regard as one of the
great voices of the pop music era. He’s
still going at 82, too, most recently in
tandem with son Art Garfunkel Jr.

Richard Gottehrer: One for the
Musical Achievement Award or
behind-the-scenes Ahmet Ertegun
Award. Gottehrer — who left law
school for a music career —wrote
indelible hits such as “I Want Candy,”
“Hang on Sloopy,” “My Boyfriend’s
Back” and scores of others, and
produced artists such as Blondie,
the Go-Go’s, Marshall Crenshaw, the
Fleshtones, Robert Gordon and more.
He also founded The Orchard, which
remains one of the industry’s largest

38 | OCTOBER 24 • 2024 J
N

ARTS&LIFE
MUSIC

GARY GRAFF CONTRIBUTING WRITER

HALL OF FAME
HALL OF FAME

Jews
Jews

in the

Which Jewish musicians are still waiting to get in?

Don Was

MIRYAM RAMOS