Peter Frampton and Cheap Trick, Who Take the Del Mar Stage Together This Week, Belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!

We've all just witnessed another Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland at which Rolling Stone and US Weekly publisher Jann (pronounced "Yawn") Wenner and his minions once again declared who is worthy of this increasingly dubious honor and who isn't. The multi-headed monster known as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), about which I've ranted uncontrollably before, is becoming more of a joke with each passing year.

I don't want to denigrate any artists who've been selected. This year's inductee Bill Withers ("Lean on Me," "Aint No Sunshine") is a tremendous soul and pop songwriter and singer who graciously came out of semi-seclusion to take part in the ceremony. And inductees Joan Jett and Green Day are pretty cool, too. But I do have a thing or two to say about the RRHOF's preposterously subjective and exclusive induction process. And I have some thoughts about some of the artists who haven't been inducted. Namely: Peter Frampton and Cheap Trick

Since the first inductees were announced in 1986, the criteria for selection to the Rock Hall have been vague and inconsistent. Is it a critics' award? A fans' award? Both? Neither? And who ultimately makes the final decision?  Wenner's douchey committee of self-appointed arbiters of All That Is Cool includes music critics and music industry types, as well as a group of musicians and performers who seem to take cannibalistic pleasure in dissing and dismissing others with more talent.

There are all kinds of glaringly obvious omissions to the Hall, including undoubtedly at least one of your favorite artists. I could write a book about all the great individuals and bands that have been slighted by Wenner and his caviling cabal. But there are no two artists more deserving of induction than Frampton and Cheap Trick, who'll be performing together in a rare double headlining bill at the Del Mar Fair on Wednesday, June 10 (I know, the fair's official name now is the San Diego County Fair, but I still call it the Del Mar Fair and always will). 

Is the Rock Hall's committee really going to stick with its story that The "5" Royales, a fine R&B group in the 1950s, belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame more than Frampton, who was the biggest rock star in the world in the 1970s? Frampton boasts the most popular live rock and roll record in history, has plenty of serious musician cred' as one of the music industry's top studio guitarists, and is co-founder of the legendary British rock-blues band Humble Pie. Frampton and Cheap Trick both embody everything that is great rock and roll. The fact that neither has been inducted is both laughable and untenable. 

Appropriately, both artists reached megastar status with live albums. It took Frampton Comes Alive in 1976 for Peter to reach rock and roll glory. Less than three years later it was Cheap Trick's turn to reach almost the same level of pop idolatry with Cheap Trick at Budokan. Rock music is all about what bands can do on stage, not in the studio. Bands like The Cars, for example, made great records, but they sucked on stage. Frampton and Cheap Trick are two of the greatest live acts in the history of rock music, and they remain crowd pleasers to this day. 

If you've never seen them, head out to the fair this week. You'll not be sorry, unless you're one of those clueless Frampton haters. Then yes, please stay home, stay out of the sun, and by all means listen to more Radiohead.

Do you feel like we do?

Peter wasn't a household name before the live record, but he had already earned his rock stripes. Years before he became the tan, toothy, shirtless rock God and subject of every teen girl's dreams during America's bicentennial summer, Frampton was a musical teen prodigy in the UK and founding member of Humble Pie, which never had that breakout radio hit but enjoyed a loyal following and some great records.

And arguably the best Humble Pie album was, yes, a live album, Performance: Rockin’ the Fillmore, from 1971. Expect to hear at least one or two Humble Pie tunes when Peter hits the stage this week.

After Humble Pie, Peter went solo and released four very solid records that were met with critical acceptance but only moderate sales. He toured relentlessly as a solo act and became almost famous. I saw him in concert during his pre-superstar era twice, including once as an opening act for Black Sabbath. With all respect to Ozzy and Tommi, Peter stole the show. 

Then in January of '76, the live album exploded into the pop culture consciousness. It remains the best live record in rock history. You can offer up your selections, and I wil respect them, but it really isn't even close. Peter owned the summer of '76. He was its soundtrack. While CBS aired the Bicentennial Minute and the New York Harbor geared up for the USA's big 200th birthday bash on the 4th of July, the songs of Frampton Comes Alive were playing in every teenager's bedroom stereo and radio on every block in every corner of the country. 

A generous, endearing and energetic performer, Peter connected with the post-boomer, pre-Gen X generation of which I am a proud member. We 'Tweeners, who are not annoyingly self righteous like the boomers but also aren't dysfunctionally cynical like Gen X'ers, were the perfect audience for Frampton's stoney optimism. He captured the 70s Zeitgeist. Girls wanted him and guys wanted to be him. I sure as hell wanted to be Peter Frampton. I learned the chords to five or six of his songs that summer, my first as a budding guitarist.

But beneath this rock star's tan chest and Jimmy Carter/Farrah Fawcett toothy smile, there was a gifted artist. Most musicians now know that Peter is one of the best rock guitarists of all time. But he's also an underrated vocalist with a tremendous tone in his voice, and an outstanding songwriter. And he's still making great music. He won a Grammy a few years ago for his excellent rock instrumental album "Fingerprints."

Full disclosure: I know Peter personally. We're not exactly best chums, but he played on one of my songs, "Survivors' Song," a celebratory, rocking tune I wrote for fellow cancer survivors everywhere. Peter is one of the kindest people I've ever met, in or out of the music business. But I knew he deserved to be in the Rock Hall long before I knew how good a person he is.

Ain't that a shame?

Equally deserving of a Rock Hall nod is Cheap Trick. With its combination of Beatley riffs, garage-band edges and tongue-in-cheeky humor, Cheap Trick was and is identified by the geeky genius of lead guitarist and songwriter Rick Nielsen and the effortless sex appeal of lead singer Robin Zander, one of rock's best lead singers. Period.

Cheap Trick was America's answer to The Who. Neilsen is to Pete Townshend what Zander is to Roger Daltrey. The difference is that Cheap Trick is at its core a fun-loving band. The Who on the other hand is and will always be defined by the more edgy but the undeniably brilliant Townshend.

Maybe if Nielsen and Zander were darker they'd get Wenner's attention? The things is, none of this matters. Thankfully, happily, both Frampton and Cheap Trick still love playing for people. They aren't in the Rock Hall, and while that matters to me, maybe it doesn't matter to them. But I'll bet secretly it does. Every artists wants acceptance and a little love.

I'll be at the "Del Mar" Fair on Wednesday night rocking out to "Show Me the Way" the ultimate summer anthem, "Do You Feel Feel Like We Do," which is an even better stadium rock epic than "Free Bird," and "Baby I Love Your Way," which if you could play on acoustic guitar in 1976, well, let's just say you were almost assured of getting a girlfriend.

I personally hope Peter also sings "I'm in You." It was the title track to the 1977 follow-up record to the live monster. Many critics panned the song, and the album. But I loved it. It's a great power ballad that deservedly reached #1 on the singles chart. And it brings back so many good memories for me. Peter rarely sings it. But if you're reading this, Peter, please play this one for me for old time's sake.

When Cheap Trick hits the stage, I'll "Want You to Want Me" and will "Surrender" and smile because "I'm a California Man." Those incidentally are three of the greatest examples of playful/powerful rock-pop ever to hit AM radio.

And as I do my air guitar thing in Del Mar Wednesday night and embarrass my family and friends, I'll be thinking how ridiculous it is that neither of these artists is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Shame. Typo? Nah. 

 

But Peter and Cheap Trick are in very good company.  

 

Chicago, Yes, Dire Straits, The Moody Blues, Thin Lizzy, Boston, Bad Company, Charlie Daniels, The Hollies, Moby Grape, The Steve Miller Band, Emerson, lake & Palmer, The Monkees, Peter, Paul & Mary, The Doobie Brothers, Gram Parsons, The Cure, The Guess Who, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Journey, Deep Purple, Jethro Tull,  and Iron Maiden are just a few who 'Yawn' Wenner has grumpily ordered to stay off his coiffured lawn.

Defending "Aloha": Filmmaker Cameron Crowe, as Always, is Classier and Smarter Than His Critics

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
You go, Cameron Crowe! In an unprecedentedly honest and unpretentious missive released to the public today, Crowe, the producer-writer-director of the much-maligned new film "Aloha," explains the allegedly controversial and supposedly racist casting choices he made for the movie. In so doing, Crowe, as usual, comes out looking classier and smarter than his misguided, hapless critics. 

For the record, I'm in the evidently small but thankfully vocal minority who loved "Aloha," which chronicles the life and loves of a troubled defense contractor (played by Bradley Cooper) who was injured and really screwed up in Afghanistan and is vying for redemption. 

Sure it's an imperfect film. There are some real problems with editing, dialogue, structure and even pacing that even a plebe would instantly recognize, let alone a crusty movie critic. And Cameron uses the hand-held cameras a little too much. It's rather dizzying. But overall this movie works for me. There are in fact some transcendently funny and touching scenes that are definitively Crowesque and rival anything from his "Jerry Maguire" or "Say Anything." 

It's one of those fun, messy classics that I promise you will improve as time goes by. Watch it again on TV in a few years and you will wonder why you hated it so much. Of course, like all of Crowe's work this film is a piece of populist cinema that is packed with the kind of humor, joy and compassion for which Cameron is best known. I saw the flaws, sure, but I still loved it. 

So you can pick up your stinkiest mud now, folks, and bring it. Really let me have it. You know, like: "OMFG, Reno, that movie totally freakin' sucked, man! What the hell are you thinking? Are you a total idiot or what!?" 

Cameron Crowe (left), Emma Stone & Bradley Cooper

If that's your best shot, save it. Here's the thing: Cameron's "crime" throughout his esteemed journalism and filmmaking careers has been simply that he isn't cynical enough. It just isn't trendy or cool to be happy. 

Cameron's work is not Pollyanna, there's plenty of conflict and sadness in his screenplays. Some actual darkness, even. But his Billy Wilderesque appetite for funnily and positively exposing the thankfully redemptive human condition are just too much to stomach for some of you innately dark-hearted movie critics, specifically, and all you artsy cynics in general.

In most of Cameron's movies, which I should say have been met mostly with raves despite critics' generally crabby disposition, everything really does sorta work out in the end. It's quite a risky concept, actually.

I'd read at least a half-dozen scathing reviews of "Aloha" before I even saw the film. I knew there were going to be problems. But as we watched, my wife and I kept looking at each other and shrugging in a sort of happy disbelief. Without words, we were saying to each other, "The hell with the critics, I am really enjoying this movie!"

Scene after scene touched us, made us laugh, and yes, made us cry. The cast is ridiculously good. Cooper is a movie star. Period. He's of the old-school variety: a charismatic, strong and just a little dangerous leading man with real depth. I believed him as someone who is suffering suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress (PTSD). 

Some have suggested that this performance is light years away from Cooper's Oscar-nominated one as Chris Kyle in "American Sniper." But is it, really? Both characters have dark sides but are trying to find their way back to the light. Both are hurting inside and both crave normalcy and love. Could this character have simply been Kyle after a few years back home, had Kyle not been tragically killed by another veteran?

And for the record, we thought Emma Stone was great. She gives an over-the-top, scene-stealing performance in all the best ways. Neither my wife nor me have even the slightest problem with her being cast as multicultural. Just chill, people.

What struck me most about this movie, in fact, was how culturally sensitive Crowe really is. He went to great lengths to learn about Hawaii's traditional culture and history and present that in the movie. Sure, the story focuses on a white male. Get over it, folks. 

Cameron even hired many well known and respected indigenous Hawaii locals for this film, including Dennis “Bumpy” Kanahele, the always outspoken Hawaiian nationalist and leader and head of state of the Nation of Hawaii group. He played himself. That casting took balls.

Cameron has nothing for which to apologize, folks. But he did it anyway. Because that's just who he is. Full disclosure here: I'm an avowed fan of Cameron's work, both his Rolling Stone magazine journalism and his films, and he and I have a history, of sorts. 

We got off to an interesting start more than two decades ago when I broke the stories of his involvement and at times conflicts with the real-life Clairemont High (San Diego) folks who were immortalized in Cameron's brilliant Fast Times at Ridgemont High book and film. 

I wrote about that for such publications as the San Diego Union, which Cameron now has posted on his website,  and for Premiere, the once-popular but long-defunct movie mag. That story is also posted now on Cameron's website. 

I also wrote about this when I was a correspondent with People magazine, telling the story of my old friend Andrew Rathbone, a globally known author of several bestselling computer books who was the basis for the "Rat" character in Cameron's film and book.  

Rathbone, who was the editor of our college newspaper The Daily Aztec at San Diego State University, has long-since forgiven Cameron for using Andy's real nickname in the book and movie, which of course made it easy for people to identify on whom the character was based. 

As Rathbone has told me, there are worse things than being a nerd in high school. For the record, "The Rat"in Fast Times was a kind-hearted kid, and not that much nerdier than any high school boy.

I did put Cameron in a rather uncomfortable position back in the day by asking him to share his thoughts about going undercover at a San Diego high school and writing about the kids he befriended. Some of those "kids," who were in their late 20s when I caught up with them for the stories I wrote, were not all that happy about being chronicled in the book and film. 

But that's all water over the dam now. It was never Cameron's intent to hurt anyone. And it has exalted the real-life Clairemont (Ridgemont) High class of 1979 to nothing short of legendary status.

I haven't spoken to Cameron for years, but he knows I admire him. He's a sensitive guy who has always tried to to be the peacemaker and do the right thing. And he's at it again. For the record, Cameron's a better man than me. If this were my film, I'd tell the mean-spirited bashers to take a hike.

But with characteristic patience, candor and thoughtfulness, Crowe, who hasn't a racist bone in his body, responds on his website to those who are absurdly bent out of shape over the multi-cultural character Allison Ng, portrayed by Stone:

A comment on Allison Ng
By Cameron Crowe

From the very beginning of its appearance in the Sony Hack, “Aloha” has felt like a misunderstood movie. One that people felt they knew a lot about, but in fact they knew very little. It was a small movie, made by passionate actors who wanted to join me in making a film about Hawaii, and the lives of these characters who live and work in and around the island of Oahu.

Thank you so much for all the impassioned comments regarding the casting of the wonderful Emma Stone in the part of Allison Ng. I have heard your words and your disappointment, and I offer you a heart-felt apology to all who felt this was an odd or misguided casting choice. As far back as 2007, Captain Allison Ng was written to be a super-proud ¼ Hawaiian who was frustrated that, by all outward appearances, she looked nothing like one.  

A half-Chinese father was meant to show the surprising mix of cultures often prevalent in Hawaii.  Extremely proud of her unlikely heritage, she feels personally compelled to over-explain every chance she gets. The character was based on a real-life, red-headed local who did just that.

Whether that story point felt hurtful or humorous has been, of course, the topic of much discussion. 

However I am so proud that in the same movie, we employed many Asian-American, Native-Hawaiian and Pacific-Islanders, both before and behind the camera… including Dennis “Bumpy” Kanahele, and his village, and many other locals who worked closely in our crew and with our script to help ensure authenticity.

We were extremely proud to present the island, the locals and the film community with many jobs for over four months. Emma Stone was chief among those who did tireless research, and if any part of her fine characterization has caused consternation and controversy, I am the one to blame.

I am grateful for the dialogue. And from the many voices, loud and small, I have learned something very inspiring. So many of us are hungry for stories with more racial diversity, more truth in representation, and I am anxious to help tell those stories in the future.

Thanks again

Cameron Crowe