The 1997 induction is where I call the “Folk years” because the majority of the inductees are mostly folk musicians. Even one inductee who wasn’t known for Folk music kinda started out as Folk musicians. 1997 was also the first year where the ceremony took place in Cleveland, although it took place in a private ballroom rather than a public concert hall that became known today.

Next to Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald (who still isn’t inducted yet), Joni Mitchell is perhaps one of the most influential female artist of modern music. There are no other words to say about Joni Mitchell other than she really deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. During that time, Mitchell was reunited with her daughter after she was forced to give her up for adoption so she skipped the ceremony to spend some quality time with her daughter.

Out of all the inductees in that year (and also of all time), Buffalo Springfield has to be one of the least deserving inductees in the Hall of Fame. I couldn’t think of how Buffalo Springfield is inducted other than it provided movies and TV shows a song whenever they want to emphasize how a scene is “THE 1960s”.

Speaking of bands that Stephen Stills is in, it was also the year that Crosby, Stills & Nash were inducted, making Stills the only individual who has been inducted twice in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the same year. And honestly, Stills is better off being inducted with just CSN because the trio (and sometimes quartet) has reached so many heights and did more to Folk Rock than Buffalo Springfield ever did. Also, it’s a coincident that two artists who recorded two well known versions of the song “Woodstock” were inducted the same year.

I mentioned on the first paragraph that one of the inductees isn’t well known for Folk music but they kinda started out as Folk musicians, which is why I think the Bee Gees got in easily than their Disco resume. In my opinion, I prefer the 60s version of the Bee Gees over the 70s version (I’m not a big fan of Barry Gibb’s falsetto), but I couldn’t deny that the Bee Gees’ disco songs are good.

Other than Folk artists, there was also the induction of The (Young) Rascals. The Rascals were probably the only rock group who didn’t adapt to psychedelia or other heavy sounds and still sustain success in the late 1960s. Although they wouldn’t be the first artists to vote for induction, they deserved it on the account of “Good Lovin'” being a bop.

The induction of The Jackson 5 still perplexes me. They aren’t that innovate like their Motown peers and I can’t think of only a few artist who can actually cite The Jackson 5 as an influence. My theory as to why they were inducted is because they wanted to induct Michael Jackson twice and also to get him in the Hall early. Which is ironic considering that Michael’s solo career would have finally become eligible the year after this ceremony.

Like Joni Mitchell, I don’t have any words to say about Parliament/Funkadelic other than they deserve to be inducted. Although it is outrageous that they were passed over the year before when they have finally become eligible, but better late than never. And, as it still stands, Parliament/Funkadelic holds the record as the band with the most inducted members of a band with 16 members.

On the other categories, there was also the induction of Syd Nathan in the non-performer category. Syd Nathan is known for founding King Records, the label that launched the careers of Hank Ballard, Joe Tex, and the Godfather of Soul himself James Brown. In the Early Influence category, there was the induction of Bill Monroe, aka the Godfather of Bluegrass, and Mahalia Jackson, who became one of the leading artists of the Civil Rights Movement.

Artists Who Have Been Nominated, But Weren’t Inducted This Year

There have been a lot of artists who have been nominated in 1997 that later got inducted later on so I’m gonna save up my analysis on their respective induction years, but I’ll be talking about three would be future inductees. 1997 was the year when Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and The Stooges got their first nominations. Although they would get be known in Rock Hall history as the artists who got multiple nominations to get inducted, at least the Nominating Committee were the first to recognize that they should be in the Hall of Fame this early.

There are only two artists that were nominated in 1997, but have still yet to be inducted. One of them is early 50s R&B group Billy Ward & The Dominos. If inducted, then Dominos member Clyde McPhatter would’ve been the first individual to get three inductions at the Hall besides Eric Clapton. Then there is the New Orleans Funk band The Meters. Since this was before iTunes, YouTube and other music streaming services, a lot of voters wouldn’t know who The Meters really were. They would appear on the ballot again in the 2010s, but they still have yet to be inducted.

Final Thoughts

The list of inductees are really good in my opinion. If they switch out a couple of inductees with other artists on the ballot, then I would say it’s a really great class. The actual ceremony though, I say the reception is mixed. Probably the fact they weren’t on the usual ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, the performances were boring at best.

Artists Who I Would’ve Voted If I Had a Ballot:

• Black Sabbath
• Crosby, Stills & Nash
• Joni Mitchell
• Parliament/Funkadelic
• The Stooges