"THE YARDBIRDS ULTIMATE!" - YOU NEED TO HAVE IT

It's crazy to think that Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page were all once members of the same band, The Yardbirds. Not at the same time, of course!

Clapton actually replaced original lead guitarist Anthony "Top" Topham early on in the band's career. The material they did with Clapton is among the best rock/blues/R&B you'll hear ever, their covers are up there with what the Stones were doing at the time. For my money, it's some of the best stuff Clapton has ever done. Clapton split after the band's big hit "For Your Love" (which he claims not to have played on) because it was too commercial (ironic, when you consider some of the things he's done in his solo career!).

He was replaced by Jeff Beck, ushering in a much more creative era for the band. This is when the band began moving in more jazzy and psychedelic directions.  It's my favorite era of the band.  Soon, Jimmy Page joined - as the bass player - but soon moved to guitar.  And then, Jeff was canned. Page's version of the band was pretty cool, but pretty much overshadowed by what he turned the band into - The New Yardbirds, later known as Led Zeppelin.

For years, The Yardbirds' legacy wasn't well tended, it was hard to figure out what albums to get, and even which guitarists were on which album.   But in 2001, Rhino combined all the eras of the band's career into one very well annotated collection, The Yardbirds Ultimate! I recommend this so highly.   I just listened to the whole thing, and was amazed, once again, by how great this band was.  What a tragedy that frontman Keith Relf is no longer with us - a Yardbirds reunion with Beck and Page, with Relf singing, that would have been amazing.

IMELDA MAY - "MAYHEM"

Imelda May is a singer who deserves your attention. I first became aware of her via her collaborations with Jeff Beck. They performed together at the 2010 Grammy Awards.  I thought that people may have thought that she wasn't singing live - I believe she was singing over a track of her own voice.  That wasn't because she can't sing "live": they were paying tribute to Les Paul and Mary Ford.  Les pioneered multi-track recording, and would double track Mary's singing on their records. Imelda's performance was a reference to that, which may have gone over people's heads.

Anyway, Imelda is a really good singer, totally influenced by early rockabilly and blues. With that combo and her cool voice and presence, you almost can't go wrong.

I think she's popular in her native Ireland.  Interesting that Ireland has such a great appreciation for these incredible American styles of music (remember The Commitments?). I think Americans may find her a bit too similar to Gwen Stefani, which would be a shame. There definitely are things the ladies have in common, but where I think Gwen sees everything through a '80s new wave lens (no disrespect) Imelda probably goes straight to the source (that said, she does a killer rockabilly cover of "Tainted Love").

Her album is kind of stylized, in the way a White Stripes or Mighty Mighty Bosstones or Stray Cats album is. The instrumentation kind of defines the music (her excellent backing band consists of guitar, upright bass, drums and trumpet).  But like the aforementioned groups, it's not a novelty: the album is good because the songs and the performances are. I don't know that there's a smash single there - and I think a band like this needs one to "break" in America - but I think if enough people are exposed to this record, they'll dig it.   There are a lot of different tones, she's good at rockers ("Mayhem"), mid-tempo tunes ("Bury My Troubles") and ballads ("Kentish Town Waltz").

If I was a music exec at HBO (I think I'd be a good choice for a gig like that!) I'd be figuring out ways to get Imelda and her kick-ass band performing on Boardwalk Empire, True Blood, hell, even Bill Maher's show. Maybe every other show too (other than Game of Thrones).  But don't wait for anyone else to push her music on you: pick up a song or two on iTunes, I think you'll thank me for it!

JEFF BECK GUITAR GOD

I've been listening to Jeff Beck's live album from last year, Live And Exclusive From The Grammy Museum, and I have to say that his guitar playing is just so unbelievable. And lyrical.

He does some of his own compositions, like "Hammerhead" and "Brush With The Blues," which are pretty badass.  But what really knocks me out are his instrumental covers of songs that originally featured iconic singers.  Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready." The Beatles' "A Day In The Life." The opera piece "Nessun Dorma."  "Over The Rainbow" for godsakes! How do you take Curtis, John Lennon, Judy Garland out of those songs, and make them work?  But Jeff does.  His band sometimes has a real '80s adult contemporary vibe (his drummer, Narada Michael Walden, who produced huge hits for Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey during that decade), and on paper, this sounds like it could be "muzak," but in fact, it really works.

One reason Jeff Beck probably isn't more popular than he is, is because he doesn't sing. But the reason musicians and hard core music fans love him so much is because his guitar does. This album is exhibit A, you should check it out.

SHOCK ROCK 101: SCREAMING LORD SUTCH AND THE SAVAGES

I've heard of Screaming Lord Sutch and The Savages, but didn't know much about them. I just read a pretty big feature on them in a recent issue of the great British music mag Mojo. Lord Sutch was a big influence on Arthur Brown, of the band The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, and also Alice Cooper... and via Alice Cooper, pretty much every other shocking rocker who followed.

Some musicians who did time in The Savages include: Jeff Beck, Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, John Bonham, Jimmy Page, Viv Prince of The Pretty Things, Mick Waller of The Jeff Beck Group, Mitch Mitchell of The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Nicky Hopkins, among others. So, I'm going to search out some of his music, but for now, check out this video of "Jack The Ripper."

He has a pretty interesting and sad story: he was also involved in politics, and suffered from depression, taking his own life in 1999. Read a tribute to Sutch from his former drummer Carlo Little (who was in an early version of The Stones, and was replaced by Charlie Watts) here.

JEFF BECK'S LOST MOTOWN ALBUM?

I never even knew that Jeff Beck recorded an album at Motown - the actual, legendary Hitsville studio where all the early stuff was recorded - until I read this interview with him on Rolling Stone's website today. This part of the interview didn't even make it into their current cover store (a great piece in itself, that features both Jeff and Eric Clapton). Anyway, the part the posted online today was pretty great, you should check it out.

TWO LIVE YARDBIRDS: JEFF BECK AND ERIC CLAPTON

Pretty cool of Rolling Stone to put two guitar legends on thier cover: for the first time, tourmates and fellow ex-Yardbirds Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton sit down for an interview together. I look forward to reading this.  I would love to see their show together, but I am sure it costs a ton of money.  Still, I bet Jeff Beck could coax some great performances out of Clapton (as Steve Winwood did when they toured together last year).

JEFF BECK: NEW ALBUM, NEW BAND

Jeff Beck has a new album coming out on April 13, Emotion and Commotion. I don't always love Jeff Beck's new music, but I appreciate that it's never lazy or contrived.  He does what he wants to do, not what is commercial, and he doesn't put out an album simply because he hasn't put one out in two years or whatever. He still really pushes boundaries, which you really can't say about many of his peers (and even former bandmates). The album features Jeff using an orchestra on a few songs, and working with a few different singers: Joss Stone, Imelda May (who sang with him at the Grammys) and Olivia Safe. After spending his entire solo career on Epic Records, this one will be on Rhino.  He also has a new touring band, which, surprisingly includes a former collaborator: drummer Narada Michael Walden. Walden is interesting: on one hand, he's done some really complex musical things, including working on Jeff's Wired album, but also records by Robert Fripp and Jaco Pastorius.  On the other hand, he produced #1 singles for Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and and Starship. Anyway, the rest of Jeff's band includes keyboardist Jason Rebello (who has been in Jeff's band for a few years), and bassist Rhonda Smith, who has played for Prince, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake and Little Richard.

As I've mentioned, Jeff will be touring with another ex-Yardbird, Eric Clapton, and then going on his own tour.

STEVIE WONDER, TENACIOUS D, DEAD WEATHER TO PLAY BONNAROO

Bonnaroo announced their 2010 lineup today. Like last year, it seems like they are having four headliners this year (the festival will be on June 10 - 13): The Dave Matthews Band, the sort of overrated Kings Of Leon, Stevie Wonder and Jay-Z. Also on the bill: Tenacious D, Weezer, The Flaming Lips (doing their Dark Side Of The Moon thing), Damien Marley and Nas, Norah Jones, Michael Franti and Spearhead, John Fogerty (he should be a headliner!), newly minted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jimmy Cliff, The Avett Brothers, Thievery Corporation, Tori Amos, Grammy-winners The Zac Brown Band, Les Claypool, John Prine, Steve Martin (yes, that one), Jeff Beck, The Dropkick Murphys, She & Him, Daryl Hall with a hip-hop duo called Chromeo (I gotta find out more about this), Jamey Johnson, Clutch, Kris Kristofferson, GWAR (what?), Tinariwen, The Gaslight Anthem, They Might Be Giants, Miranda Lambert, Calexico, Cross Canadian Ragweed and many, many more.

ROD STEWART: A HOPEFULLY HELPFUL GUIDE TO RECENT RELEASES

It seems like there's been a deluge of Rod Stewart releases over the past decade or so.  I'm here to help!  I've gone through a lot of the recent stuff to give you the low-down. I have mixed feelings about Rod. On one hand, he is one of the greatest singers in rock or pop music in the past fifty years, no question. On the other, he also seems like one of the laziest. He just doesn't seem to try hard anymore -- just my opinion.  I can't think of many artists with a farther gap between their classic stuff and their worst stuff. And it's not even like Bowie, where at least he is ambitious. Of course, Rod has a better voice, and probably like Sinatra and a lot of singers of that era, sometimes just stepping up to the mic and singing is enough.

I recently picked up The Rod Stewart Sessions 1971 - 1998, a 4 CD box set from Rhino that ostensibly gives an "alternate" history of what might have been in Rod's career, and also posts the theory that there isn't as much of a difference between the Rod of 1971 and the Rod of 1998. I gotta disagree with that. I have no doubt that Rod always wanted to be the biggest star in the world, and that's what he was aiming for -- not some kind of credibility that would please music critics. There are some real gems in this box set, spanning the entire '71-'98 period. A lot of it is stripped down versions of songs that made his albums, like his cover of The Isley Brothers' "This Old Heart Of Mine" and The Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody." And other stuff like his cover of Buddy Holly's "Maybe Baby" which was previously unreleased, as well as his version of Billy Boy Arnold's "I Wish You Would" (also covered by The Yardbirds). It also has a previously unreleased version of Bob Dylan's "Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar," from a previously unreleased 1992 album Once In A Blue Moon (which was shelved in favor of his MTV Unplugged... and Seated album. Incidentally, that album has just been released this week, exclusively at Rhino.com. My verdict is, I probably shouldn't have spent $60 on this because I'm not a big enough fan, but if you are, you'll like it. If you're just starting out with Rod, I would recommend instead the 1990 4-CD box set Storyteller, which has most of his biggest hits, plus some Jeff Beck Group and Faces material, and some lesser known stuff as well. If you don't want to dive in that deep, The Definitive Rod Stewart is a more recent 2 CD set. If you really want to hear Rod rocking, get The Faces career spanning 4 CD box set, Five Guys Walk Into A Bar. A shorter version is the single CD best-of Good Boys... When They're Asleep.

Rod's latest album, Soulbook, also released late last year, is the latest in a series of thematic covers albums. Of course, there is his Great American Songbook series, which yielded four volumes between 2002 and 2005 and saw him singing Sinatra-esque standards. It also saw him returning to multi-platinum sales, in an era where few of his peers could pull that off. I can't say that I'm very familiar with these albums, as I'm not a fan of the material. I did check out his 2006 album, Still The Same... Great Rock Classics Of Our Time. It probably should have been called "great SOFT rock classics.." because most of the songs were middle of the road mid-tempo songs. I'm not mad at that though: he's so great at singing that kind of thing. Even though he doesn't sound like he's breaking a sweat, he still does a great job on some of the tunes, like Bob Seger's title track and Van Morisson's "Crazy Love."

Soulbook is a bit like Motown or soul night on American Idol. Fine, but nothing you'd really want to buy, and the versions don't add anything to the original versions. The backing band, produced by Steve Jordan, sounds very L.A. There are a few guests on the album: Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Mary J. Blige and Jennifer Hudson, but it's not a duets album. If's fine, but it's hard to see the point. On one hand, it would be phony for Rod to record these songs like it was 1960-whatever, but on the other hand, it's just a bit (or more than a bit) too smooth. If you want to hear new takes on Motown classics, I suggest the Standing In The Shadows Of Motown soundtrack, which features MeShell NdegeOcello, Ben Harper, Bootsy Collins and Joan Osborne re-interpreting the label's classics (backed by the surviving members of the original house band, The Funk Brothers).

What's next for Rod? It seems like a Faces reunion isn't going to happen - I doubt Rod wants to deal with Ronnie Wood 's antics. I've read that he might be interested in working with Jeff Beck again. Beck actually told Rolling Stone that he'd be interested, but only if it was a serious album, not "a weekend blues album" (which is probably how Jeff would rate a Rod blues album in 2010). I've also heard that Rod would love to collaborate with The Black Keys, which is probably the coolest thing that he could do at this point. He should listen to Buddy Guy's Dirt Floor and B.B. King 's One Kind Favor, and then get with the Keys and make an awesome album. For now, we have the recordings of when he actually was awesome.

JEFF BECK AND ERIC CLAPTON TO CO-HEADLINE U.S. SHOWS

After playing some co-headlining shows in Japan, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck are going to do some gigs in the U.S., including one at Madison Square Garden February 18. This will be a bit different than Clapton's shows with Steve Winwood, where they played as one band for the whole show. Jeff and his band will probably do a set, followed by Clapton and his band, and then they'll play together. Clapton, for all of his stardom, seems to enjoy this kind of thing. Meanwhile, Jeff Beck is just kind of lazy when it comes to rehearsing. I don't mind saying this: Mr. Beck told me so himself. I saw him on his first tour in a long time back in 1989, he was co-headlining with Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble. Like these Clapton shows, it was billed as a "together and apart" type thing. It turned out Jeff and SRV did one song together, "Goin' Down," that was it. Years later, I saw him with Santana, and Carlos called him out from the stage, saying he'd love to jam with Jeff Beck, but Jeff didn't want to. I asked Jeff Beck about these, and he shrugged and laughed and said that he didn't like rehearsing too much. At least he was honest! Anyway, I am a big Jeff Beck fan, and I think Clapton always needs someone on stage who isn't a "yes, Eric" guy to kick his ass, and Jeff would be that guy. I doubt I'll be at the show though: it will probably be priced for millionaires. It'll be a "shake your jewelry if you're having fun" type thing. But I bet it will be a pretty cool show.

CATCH IT ON HBO: THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME CONCERT

If, like me, you aren't a millionaire and weren't able to attend the two-night Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert at Madison Square Garden last week and were really bummed about it, here's a small bit of consolation: HBO will be broadcasting highlights from the show on November 29 (and probably broadcasting repeats afterwards? I don't know, I don't have HBO). You can see the lineup at the right.

In 1995, I attended the "Concert For The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" celebrating the opening of the actual museum (the Hall of Fame existed in the abstract for years before the building was finally built and opened to the public). The lineup featured Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (an especially big deal, as they hadn't performed together in a few years at that point), Al Green, The Allman Brothers Band, Sheryl Crow, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, George Clinton & The P-Funk Allstars, John Fogerty (his first performance in a long time), Robbie Robertson (one of his only solo performances ever), John Mellencamp, The Kinks (I think it was their final public performance), Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Soul Asylum (who backed Lou Reed and then Iggy Pop). There were some cool combos: Bruce and The E Street Band backed Chuck and Jerry Lee (although I read that Bruce was unhappy with their performance), Bruce sang "Forever Young" with Dylan, Al and Aretha snag together, Sheryl sang with the Allmans, Larry Graham of The Family Stone performed with P-Funk, it was a pretty good time.

But last week's shows were even better. Rollling Stone wrote up both nights, which were filled with highlights. This time, Bruce & E Street (in top form as opposed to last time) backed up Sam Moore of Sam & Dave, John Fogerty and Darlene Love, plus they were joined by Tom Morello for "The Ghost Of Tom Joad" and The Clash's "London Calling." Wow. They also backed up Billy Joel on a few of his songs. Stevie Wonder collaborted with John Legend (who came to MSG straight from singing the National Anthem at Yankee Stadium at The World Series!), B.B. King, Sting, Smokey Robinson and Jeff Beck. Paul Simon collaborated with Dion and Little Anthony & The Imperials, and did a Simon & Garfunkel set after his solo set. And Crosby Stills & Nash were joined by Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor and Jackson Browne. That was just night one!

On night two, Aretha Franklin was joined by Annie Lennox and Lenny Kravitz, and Jeff Beck (filling in for Eric Clapton) was joined by Sting, Buddy Guy and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Then stuff got really crazy as Metallica took the stage. Opening with "For Whom The Bell Tolls," "One" and Bob Seger's "Turn The Page," they were then joined by Lou Reed for versions of The Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane" and "White Light/White Heat." Whoa. Then Ozzy Osbourne joined them for Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" and "Paranoid." Finally, Ray Davies for The Kinks' "You Really Got Me." Then it was U2, who played their own songs, but also backed Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith for "Because The Night." The Black Eyed Peas also joined u2, as did Mick Jagger for "Gimme Shelter" and "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of." Wow, I can't wait to see this on TV, and hopefully they release an album of this. And hopefully it will be more affordable than the DVD box set of induction ceremony highlights. (Get it here).

JEFF BECK REPLACES ERIC CLAPTON (AGAIN) (SORT OF)

Back in the day, Eric Clapton quit The Yardbirds because he thought that they were going too "pop" (he obviously hadn't predicted songs like "Lay Down Sally" and "Wonderful Tonight" in his future). He was replaced by Jeff Beck, and The Yardbirds became an even better band than they were before.

Now, Clapton has announced that he is dropping off of this week's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert at MSG because of gallstones. I'm sorry to hear that - and I hope he is feeling better soon. But pretty cool that Jeff Beck is playing instead. (Let's hope that Jeff doesn't do one of his legendary flake-outs and drop off - although then they might have to get Jimmy Page to play!).

I'd love to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shows (on Thursday night, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band and Stevie Wonder are on the bill, on Friday it is Metallica, U2 and Aretha Franklin), but I just can't afford the tickets.

ROCK HALL ANNOUNCES PRESENTERS FOR THIS YEAR'S INDUCTION CEREMONY.

This year's list of presenters includes Flea (Metallica), Eminem (Run-D.M.C.), Jimmy Page (Jeff Beck), Ron Wood (Bobby Womack), Smokey Robinson (Little Anthony & The Imperials), Paul Schaffer (Spooner Oldham) and Garry Tallent and Max Weinberg of The E Street Band (Bill Black and D.J. Fontana of Elvis Presley's band). They haven't come up with a presenter for Wanda Jackson yet. 

I think Flea is a weird choice for Metallica: it seems like he's just paying them back for performing at his Silverlake Conservatory benefit concert last year. I know The Red Hot Chili Peppers signed to Metallica's management a few years ago because they respected the way Metallica has handled their career; on the other hand, I thought that Flea was always kind of anti-metal and macho stuff. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Flea and the Chili Peppers, I just think it's a weird choice.  I would have gone with Dave Grohl, or Jerry Cantrell or someone a bit more metal. 

Eminem was sort of obvious for Run-D.M.C., but I would have gone with LL Cool J or Chuck D or The Beastie Boys or Q-Tip or Mos Def. But I know Eminem is a huge hip-hop fan, he'll probably come up with a cool speech. 

Jimmy Page is a great choice for Jeff Beck: I think it would be bad-ass if they reprised "Beck's Bolero" with John Paul Jones on bass and Zak Starkey on drums (filling in for Keith Moon). What would be even cooler would be if Ron Wood and Rod Stewart did they honors for Jeff, but I guess Rod would worry that that would only fuel the Faces rumors even more. 

Max and Gary were a good choice: I guess there's a chance that Bruce Springsteen will show up and the trio will do some Elvis covers. Anyway, the ceremony will air live on Fuse on April 4, I look forward to seeing it. 

CLASSIC ALBUMS BY THIS YEAR'S ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAMERS (and The Stooges)

Yesterday on OutQ, I talked about this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, as well as The Stooges, who should be getting in. But you may wonder, "OK, I'm interested in these artists, where should I start if I want to check them out?" I'm glad you asked! Here's my beginner's guide:

The Stooges: The Stooges don't have any kind of best-of retrospective. Which is fine, they really only made three albums, plus their comeback album, The Weirdness, in 2007. I'd say just start with their classic debut, The Stooges, from 1969. Just go in order from there! Fun House, from 1970, is also a classic. After that, they broke up, but then reunited with a slightly different lineup for Raw Power in 1973. That was their last album until The Weirdness. Of course, Iggy Pop had a pretty great solo career post-Stooges, and you can get an overview on the 2 CD set A Million In Prizes, which includes a bunch of Stooges songs.

Metallica also doesn't have a best-of, which is probably smart: when they finally release one, it will probably sell tens of millions... unless CDs are totally extinct. They may actually have missed a chance to make millions of dollars! Anyway, with them, I'd also start with their debut, 1983's Kill 'Em All. Then, their second album, 1984's Ride The Lightning and 1986's Master Of Puppets. That's their best music, right there. After that: 1988's ...and Justice For All and then I'd go with 1998's Garage Inc., a two disc set with all of their covers up to that point, and a full disc of newly recorded covers. After that, 1991's Metallica ("The Black Album") and 2008's Death Magnetic.

Run-D.M.C. has a couple of best-ofs, I think the best one is probably Greatest Hits from 2001. But really, I would just start with their debut album, 1984's Run-D.M.C., and then skip ahead to their third album, 1986's Raising Hell. Then, back to their second album, 1985's King Of Rock. Then their fourth one, 1988's Tougher Than Leather.

Surprisingly, Jeff Beck doesn't have many best-ofs, and I don't love the track list on the one that is still in print, 1995's The Best Of Beck. It only has one song from the original Jeff Beck Group, which included singer Rod Stewart and bassist Ron Wood. I'd rather spend the extra money on the 1991 3 CD box set, Beckology, which includes stuff from The Yardbirds and his entire solo career up to that point. Otherwise, I'd recommend getting the two albums by the original JBG, 1968's Truth and 1969's Beckola, and then Jeff's first instrumental album, 1975's Blow By Blow.

As for this year's other inductees, Bobby Womack, Little Anthony & The Imperials and Wanda Jackson, I'm not enough of an expert to make recommendations, but I'll look into them and hopefully make some recommendations in the next few months.

FRIDAY (NOT THURSDAY) ON OUTQ

Due to Larry Flick's interview schedule and my busy work schedule, I unfortunately won't be on OutQ Thursday. Which is a real bummer, because I want to take to the airwaves to blast the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, who will NOT be inducting The Stooges this year. I know Larry feels the same way. I'm very happy for Metallica, one of my favorite bands ever (when I was a kid, I thought they were talking to me on their albums), Run-D.M.C. and Jeff Beck. But if The Stooges don't deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, then no one does. Just looking over the list of inductees over the past few years, I ask this: has Leonard Cohen/Percy Sledge/Jackson Browne/Brenda Lee/Steely Dan/The Eagles really influenced more artists? I'll be on Larry's show Friday morning to talk about all this, and list the artists who wouldn't exist if it weren't for The Stooges' influence.

THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF SHAME (SLIGHT RETURN)

Once again, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have neglected to induct The Stooges. It is such an egregious oversight, I'm embarrassed for the organization.

To be clear, there are lots of artists who I think deserve to be in who aren't. Tom Waits. The MC5. Peter Gabriel. Bill Withers. Emmylou Harris. Gram Parsons. Motorhead. The list goes on.

But none of them changed the course of rock music the way The Stooges did. This is tough to imagine, but imagine a given band had never existed. How different would music be? How different would music be, say, had The Eagles never existed? I think commercial country music would be very different. Would rock and roll be very different? I don't know.

But here's a short list of artists who would probably not be the artists they are today without The Stooges: David Bowie, Patti Smith, The Pretenders, R.E.M., The Ramones, The Clash, Jane's Addiction, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana. That's off of the top of my head, there's so many more. And then imagine what music would be like without a Bowie, without a Patti, without Jane's Addiction. Hall of Fame voters, shame on you.

On the positive side, I'm happy to see that Run-D.M.C. and Metallica and Jeff Beck are going to get in. I am not one of those people who doesn't think hip-hop belongs in the Hall of Fame: I think hip-hop is rock and roll played on different instruments. I don't know how many hip-hop artists I think have the longevity and deserve to be in, but Run-D.M.C. certainly do.

I feel actual pride for some reason about Metallica's induction. When I was a kid, I felt like if you didn't understand Metallica, you didn't understand me. A lot of other kids felt that way too. Decades later, you realize how crazy that sounds, but when you're a teenager, that's the way it is. They belong in the Hall of Fame, no question.

And I've long been a fan of Jeff Beck - I love the first two Jeff Beck Group albums with Rod Stewart singing and Ron Wood on bass (for my money, it's the best stuff all of them ever did). I also love some of his instrumental stuff like Blow By Blow. Jeff's already a Hall of Famer as a member of The Yardbirds, but it's good to see him get his due for his solo career. If he performed at the ceremony with Rod n' Ron (who are working together again with The Faces), man would that be awesome.

I don't want to talk smack about the other inductees, Bobby Womack and Little Anthony & The Imperials, I realize they are both also influential artists.

JEFF BECK AND ERIC CLAPTON TO PLAY JAPAN

According to Rolling Stone's web site, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck are going to play some shows together in Japan - not co-headlining, but sharing the stage, as Clapton did with Steve Winwood last year.

It's surprising that Clapton, who used to be against too much looking backward, is doing these shows. But he's been looking back quite a bit in the past few years. In 2003, he joined John Mayall on stage at Mayall's 75th birthday concert - it was the first time they'd performed together since Clapton left John Mayall's Bluesbreakers four decades earlier. In 2005, Clapton reunited with Cream for dates in England and New York. While he couldn't reunite with Derek & The Dominoes (bassist Carl Radle and guitarist Duane Allman have passed away, and drummer Jim Gordon is serving a life in prision term), he recently did a Derek-centric tour featuring Allman Brothers guitarist Derek Trucks in his band. And he sort of resurrected Blind Faith last year for the shows with Steve Winwood.

Eric and Jeff were never bandmates - Jeff actually replaced Clapton in The Yardbirds, a band that Clapton doesn't discuss much (he didn't even show up to their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). Still, they have played together over the years, notably at The Secret Policeman's Other Ball in 1981. It will be interesting to see what material they'll play.

Jeff has a history of disappointing fans expecting collaborations: in 1989, he returned to the road after a long break, and co-headlined with Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble: each band was supposed to do its own set, and then they'd play together. They ended up just doing one song together - "Goin' Down" - every night. About a decade later, he co-headlined with Santana - Carlos Santana called him out from the stage every night, but still Jeff didn't jam with him. I got to interview Jeff Beck once, and asked him about this stuff. He just said, "I'm lazy, I don't like rehearsing too much, I don't know" and laughed. But hopefully these shows with Clapton will happen. I think it's been established by now that Clapton really needs to have someone on stage with him who can kick his ass, or he gets all snoozy.

THE STOOGES, RUN-D.M.C., METALLICA AND JEFF BECK ON THE ROCK HALL BALLOT

Today, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the artists on this year's ballot, and it looks like the next induction ceremony will really rock. The Stooges are nominated for the 15th

 (or so) time. If they don't deserve to be in, no one does. 

Run-D.M.C. is on the ballot in their first year of eligibility, and they're a shoo-in, in my opinion. They are to hip-hop as The Stooges are to punk. 

Metallica are eligible for the second time: they should have gotten in last year, but I'm sure they'll get in this year. It's cool that they're getting in right as they're releasing a great album (which I still need to write about). 

And I've been complaining about Jeff Beck not being in for about as long as I've been complaining about The Stooges. Yes, he's a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer as a member of The Yardbirds, but he deserves to be recognized for his solo career, especially the first two albums by The Jeff Beck Group. But hell, if Clapton is in for his solo career, Jeff Beck definitely deserves to be inducted. 

Also on the ballot: Chic, War, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Wanda Jackson and Bobby Womack. All great artists, but I think it is all about The Stooges, Run-D.M.C., Metallica and Jeff Beck.