Carole King Vs. Stevie Nicks For The Rock Hall Of Fame

Stevie Nicks is the first woman to be enshrined into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame twice: first, for her accomplishments with Fleetwood Mac and now for her solo career.

Getting straight to the point, I contend that on her own Nicks is, at best, a borderline case for the hall. There are female artists with more chart action and greater influence who haven't even been nominated.

Many of Nicks' top selling singles were duets and to me that detracts from her overall accomplishments. Would she have had the same success without Don Henley, Tom Petty, and Kenny Loggins? What did Nicks do on her own that Carly Simon, Tina Turner, Carole King, and others haven't? Historically, unless you're Joni Mitchell, female singer-songwriters have always gotten the short end of the stick.

Carole King is already one of the hall's most worthy members and she was rightfully inducted with Gerry Goffin as part of the phenomenal songwriting team that influenced so many recording artists in the 1960s. Giants such as The Beatles and Aretha Franklin covered their songs. Anybody with a modicum of pop music knowledge doesn't need me to to go over her resume. Ask any recording artist who has already been inducted into Cleveland's shrine and and they'll tell you the same thing.

King should be in the hall as a solo artist just for Tapestry. You can sing the praises of Nicks' Bella Donna all you want but when you compare each one's best album it's no contest. King's has gone down in history as a truly seminal work. It feels like there are hundreds of female singer-songwriters performing today and Tapestry is a big reason why. The album was so influential that she can almost be credited with starting that whole rock sub-genre by herself. Mitchell was highly influential too but King's record seemed to be the one that was on everyone's turntable back in the day. After her 1971 classic became a hit, it became common for young women to pick up a guitar (or in King's case, a piano) and follow their muse.

I'm not dumping on Nicks. I was a Fleetwood Mac fan and "Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around" and "Edge of Seventeen" are both pretty cool tracks. But since people are making a big deal out of Nicks being the first woman to be inducted twice it should go to someone who deserves the honor more. After all, the rock hall's criteria for induction is based on "the influence and significance of the artists' contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll." If King doesn't qualify, no one does. Can you say the same about Nicks?

ADDENDUM: Carole King was eventually voted into the hall as a performer with the class of 2021. 

Comments

  1. Peter1:08 PM, December 17, 2018

    I totally agree. With the duets, she's borderline. Without them, she's really done nothing. I didn't think there were that many Stevie Nicks fans out there to get her in, but I was wrong...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9:53 PM, January 25, 2023

    But Stevie’s songs have greater longevity and continue to get air play. She has withstood the test of time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10:09 PM, October 26, 2023

    Stevie is better.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

WHAT'S HOT TODAY!

Slower Than Slow: 16 RPM Records

Image
Have you ever heard of a long forgotten vinyl format, the 16 2/3 RPM record? They were half the speed of the 33 1/3 RPM albums that were the traditional standard for recorded music. Most record players in the 1950s and 1960s came with a speed setting to play these long forgotten discs that were considered novelties even during the years they were available. Because most, but not all, 16s had big holes and were 7" in diameter many of them were mistaken for 45 RPMs and at that size the speed allowed for up to 20 minutes of playing time per side. However, there was no true standard size and they were also manufactured to be 9, 10, or 12 inches in diameter, and these larger records played even longer. Just like the other speeds and formats 16s could be played one record at a time or stacked on a changer for continuous play. Radio stations often used the discs for pre-recorded radio shows containing interviews, dramas, and documentaries. More frequen
Read more

Chicago: An Album By Album Analysis Of The Terry Kath Era (1969 - 1977)

Image
The original lineup of Chicago has always been one of my all time favorite bands. My affection for this great horn band is such that I want to discuss all of the albums they recorded before Terry Kath's unfortunate and accidental passing. Their debut album is now forty years old, and it's followup is not far behind, yet their music endures to this day. * * * * * Everyone Must Own * * * * Excellent * * * Good * * Fair * Poor * * * * * Chicago Transit Authority (1969) - Whether they were playing screaming psychedelic hard rock, jazz, blues, or love songs, everyone in the band proved they were worthy of the huge mass success that followed CTA 's release. The band's ability to play anything and play it well is the hallmark of their debut album. The stars are Robert Lamm, Terry Kath, and the horns, and even Peter Cetera demonstrates he can be a rock and roll animal when he wants to be. The standout tracks are Lamm's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It
Read more

Laurie London - He's Got The Whole World (In His Hands) (1958)

Image
Today we're going to discuss an almost totally forgotten hit record along with a little bit of related Billboard chart history. The inspiration for this post came about while sorting through some extremely old 45s that I didn't remember I owned. I've had "He's Got The Whole World (In His Hands)" by Laurie London - a rare, popular, gospel hit - in my record collection since my childhood, even though it wasn't really mine. The single belonged to either my mother or my grandmother who lived with us. I played it once in awhile because I was always allowed free access to their records, and it was eventually absorbed into my collection. Despite the name, teenager Laurie London (born January 19, 1944) was a boy singer who - at age thirteen - became a one-hit wonder in his native UK and in America the following year. Information about London is sparse. Details vary depending on the particular website you're reading, but according to Wik
Read more

Louis Armstrong - Louis In London (2024)

Image
Louis In London is a live album of a concert Louis Armstrong and his All-Stars recorded for the BBC on July 2, 1968. It was first aired by the network on September 22, 1968. Armstrong died in 1971 and his health was already taking a a sad turn when this concert took place. It's often been called his last great performance because his health deteriorated significantly shortly thereafter, and his ability to tour was severely limited. When the great tumpeter and singer received a tape recording of his London show he marked it "for the fans" because he was so proud of it. He also made copies on his recently installed high-end Tandberg tape system for each member of the All-Stars. In 1970, nine of the thirteen tracks from this new CD were released on LP as  Louis Armstrong's Greatest Hits Recorded Live  on Brunswick Records in both America and in the UK. The CD was digitally transfered form the original BBC telecast recording and no
Read more

Why Do 45 RPM Records Have Big Holes?

Image
Today we're going to find out why 45 RPM records have much larger holes than 78s and 33s. Believe it or not I often wondered about this burning question when I was collecting hundreds of these little seven inch gems back the 1960s. According to several websites, including Answerbag , the reason for the large hole used by 45s was simple. It was difficult for the old 78s, with their smaller holes, to find their way onto jukebox spindles. The large hole effectively eliminated that problem. Strangely, seven inch 45s were often pressed with the smaller holes used for LPs in many countries outside the United States, especially in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Overseas the inserts (commonly know as spiders) were manufactured into the large holes at the factories but they could be punched out if desired. The Beatles' British single of "Love Me Do," pictured here, is a typical example. Why were the spiders built into English 45s? I was unable to fi
Read more