Peter Frampton, Joni Mitchell, the Police, Bo Diddley, Elton John, the Allman Brothers Band, Devo, Neil Diamond, and the Eurythmics, are among the artists to have recordings inducted this year into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Billboard reported, “Recordings are voted on each year by a special member committee, with final approval by the academy's national board of trustees. Counting these 26 titles, the Hall, now in its 47th year, encompasses 1,114 recordings. Recordings become eligible 25 years after their release.”
Peter Frampton told us that the multi-platinum success of Frampton Comes Alive! only five years into his solo career, put a great strain on him artistically, and at a time when he desperately needed guidance on how to handle his career — it was nowhere to be found: “As (writer) Cameron Crowe put it, 'It was like Peter was strapped to the nose-cone of a rocket, he went through the ceiling of the sky, got out, stood there and realized there was nobody else there at all. He was totally alone.' And that pretty much sums up the way I felt.”
Elton John spoke about how the big screen provided a second life for “Tiny Dancer”: “'Tiny Dancer' is one of my favorite Elton John / Bernie Taupin songs — and from one of my favorite albums, Madman Across The Water. And it was written about Bernie's first wife, Maxine. I've always played it on and off, y'know, throughout my career, and obviously with the film, Almost Famous, which Cameron Crowe made. I mean, there was this great sequence and 'Tiny Dancer' featured very heavily in it. It came as a renaissance for the song and for my music to people who hadn't really heard. . . young kids who hadn't really Elton John before.”
Sting's Police classic, “Every Breath You Take” topped the U.S. charts for eight weeks, and in 1984, snagged him the coveted Grammy for Song Of The Year. He explained that the process of songwriting today means far more than it did during his '80s hitmaking heyday: “When I was younger and writing music, everything I did seemed to be commercial. I seemed to have my finger on the pulse and so it was easy. As I get older, I, I feel I don't have my finger on that commercial pulse — but, at the same time, I think the music means more to my soul. I make music because it's its own reward. So, it's nice to have a hit record. It's nice to get royalties and all of that stuff, but music feeds my soul and it does so increasingly.”
The complete list of 2020 Grammy Hall of Fame inductees are:
Frampton Comes Alive!
Peter Frampton
A&M (1976)
Album
Clouds
Joni Mitchell
Reprise (1969)
Album
Eat A Peach
The Allman Brothers Band
Capricorn (1972)
Album
“Every Breath You Take”
The Police
A&M (1983)
Single
“I'm A Man”
Bo Diddley
Checker (1955)
Single
It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
Public Enemy
Def Jam (1988)
Album
“Miserlou”
Dick Dale & The Del-Tones
Deltone (1962)
Single
“Pancho And Lefty”
Willie Nelson And Merle Haggard
Epic (1982)
Single
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
Devo
Warner Bros. (1978)
Album
“Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good)”
Neil Diamond
Uni (1969)
Single
“Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)”
Eurythmics
RCA (1983)
Single
Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
Columbia (1968)
Album
“These Boots Are Made For Walkin'”
Nancy Sinatra
Reprise (1965)
Single
“Tiny Dancer”
Elton John
Uni (1972)
Single
“Walkin' After Midnight”
Patsy Cline
Decca (1957)
Single
“Wipe Out”
The Surfaris
Dot (1963)
Single
“Devil Got My Woman”
Skip James
Paramount (1931)
Single
“Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite”
Machito
Mercury (1950)
Track
Capitol Presents The King Cole Trio
The King Cole Trio
Capitol (1944)
Album
“Carolina Shout”
James P. Johnson
Okeh (1921)
Single
“How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live”
Blind Alfred Reed
Victor (1930)
Single
“I'll Fly Away”
The Chuck Wagon Gang
Columbia (1949)
Single
“I'm A Man of Constant Sorrow”
The Stanley Brothers & The Clinch Mountain Boys
Columbia (1951)
Single
“Oh Mary Don't You Weep”
Swan Silvertones
Vee-Jay (1959)
Single
Piano Rags by Scott Joplin
Joshua Rifkin
Nonesuch (1970)
Album
Zodiac Suite
Mary Lou Williams
Asch (1945)
Album